Recreation Workers in Connecticut
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,559
after federal, FICA and Connecticut tax
Tax takes
$6,051
16.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,471
Connecticut costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Connecticut — 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
$36,610
Kept after tax
$30,559
Worth in national money
$29,471
State rank
18
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Connecticut is 18 of 51 states for recreation workers, with a middle wage of $36,610. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Connecticut this is lower-paid work. Of 482 occupations the state publishes figures for, recreation workers ranks 455. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $36,610 the take-home is $30,559. But Connecticut costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $29,471 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $41,150, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Connecticut ranks 18 of 51 for recreation workers at $36,610. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Connecticut reports, recreation workers ranks 455 of 482, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Connecticut income tax is $30,559 for recreation workers, from $36,610. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $29,471. ⚠️ 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 $41,150 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Recreation Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,010 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,610 |
| Top tenth earn over | $51,340 |
| This salary | $36,610 |
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 Connecticut | $30,559 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,596 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,043 |
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 | $35,319 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,680 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 104 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $36,610 as a midpoint for Connecticut, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $34,010 and the ninetieth is $51,340 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Connecticut the take-home figure of $30,559, from $36,610, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 455 of 482 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Connecticut, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $29,471, the adjusted value of that $36,610 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 455 of 482 in the state.
- The Connecticut median of $36,610 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $34,010 to $51,340. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Connecticut is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $30,559 from $36,610. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 455 of 482 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Connecticut, so $29,471 — the adjusted value of that $36,610 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 455 of 482 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $41,150, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $34,010 at the bottom tenth to $51,340 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Connecticut costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $29,471 rather than its face figure.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Connecticut adds its own income tax on top — which is why $30,559 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 Connecticut is $41,150. 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 ($34,010 to $51,340) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Connecticut rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Connecticut's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $29,471 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 $30,559 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Connecticut 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.