Recreation Workers in Ohio
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$28,054
after federal, FICA and Ohio tax
Tax takes
$4,366
13.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$30,556
Ohio costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Ohio — 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
$32,420
Kept after tax
$28,054
Worth in national money
$30,556
State rank
37
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Ohio pays recreation workers a middle wage of $32,420, 37 of 51 states and about 11.32% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Ohio this is lower-paid work. Of 494 occupations the state publishes figures for, recreation workers ranks 469. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Ohio is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $32,420 the take-home is $28,054; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $30,556 would nationally. The average comes to $34,350, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Ohio's $32,420 median for recreation workers places it 37 of 51 states, about 11.32% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation Ohio reports, recreation workers ranks 469 of 494, 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.
- Post-tax income for recreation workers in Ohio, on $32,420, is $28,054 — equivalent to $30,556 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $34,350 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Recreation Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $24,580 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $32,420 |
| Top tenth earn over | $47,220 |
| This salary | $32,420 |
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 Ohio | $28,054 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $28,229 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,506 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
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 | $32,202 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,821 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $32,420 as a midpoint for Ohio, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $24,580 and the ninetieth is $47,220 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Ohio's $28,054, worked from $32,420. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 469 of 494.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $30,556 uses one figure for the whole of Ohio. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 494 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 469.
- The Ohio median of $32,420 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $24,580 to $47,220. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Ohio take-home of $28,054, on $32,420 for work ranking 469 of 494 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 469 of 494 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $30,556, worked from $32,420, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Ohio address, on work sitting at 469 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $34,350 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $24,580 at the bottom tenth to $47,220 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Ohio is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $30,556 in national terms.
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 Ohio adds its own income tax on top — which is why $28,054 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 Ohio is $34,350. 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 ($24,580 to $47,220) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Ohio rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Ohio's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $30,556 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $28,054 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Ohio 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.