Public Safety Telecommunicators in Hawaii
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$45,105
after federal, FICA and Hawaii tax
Tax takes
$11,915
20.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,530
Hawaii costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Hawaii — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$57,020
Kept after tax
$45,105
Worth in national money
$41,530
State rank
22
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Hawaii is 22 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $57,020. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 267 among 437 occupations Hawaii publishes pay for.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $57,020 the take-home is $45,105. But Hawaii costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $41,530 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $58,910, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Hawaii ranks 22 of 51 for public safety telecommunicators at $57,020. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 267 of 437 in Hawaii places public safety telecommunicators in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Hawaii income tax is $45,105 for public safety telecommunicators, from $57,020. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $41,530. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $58,910 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Public Safety Telecommunicators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $44,350 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $57,020 |
| Top tenth earn over | $65,380 |
| This salary | $57,020 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Hawaii | $45,105 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $47,996 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,861 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $53,423 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$9,507 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $57,020 as a midpoint for Hawaii, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $44,350 and the ninetieth is $65,380 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $45,105 take-home in Hawaii comes from $57,020. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 267 of 437.
- One number stands for prices across all of Hawaii, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $41,530, the adjusted value of that $57,020 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 267 of 437 in the state.
- The Hawaii median of $57,020 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $44,350 to $65,380. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $45,105, from $57,020, assumes a single Hawaii filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 267 of 437 locally, and the state ranks 22 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Hawaii, so $41,530 — the adjusted value of that $57,020 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 267 of 437 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $58,910, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $44,350 and the top tenth $65,380, so most people doing this work in Hawaii sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $41,530 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Hawaii then takes its own share, leaving $45,105.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Hawaii is $58,910. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($44,350 to $65,380) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Hawaii rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Hawaii's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $41,530 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $45,105 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Hawaii income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.