Recreation Workers in Oklahoma
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$26,634
after federal, FICA and Oklahoma tax
Tax takes
$4,946
15.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$30,168
Oklahoma costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Oklahoma — 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
$31,580
Kept after tax
$26,634
Worth in national money
$30,168
State rank
41
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Oklahoma is among the lower-paying states for recreation workers. The middle earner takes $31,580, ranking 41 of 51 states — about 13.62% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Oklahoma, this one sits low: 450 of 492 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Oklahoma is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $31,580 the take-home is $26,634; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $30,168 would nationally. The average comes to $33,320, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Oklahoma ranks 41 of 51 for recreation workers, with a median of $31,580 — about 13.62% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Recreation workers occupies position 450 of 492 in Oklahoma's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Post-tax income for recreation workers in Oklahoma, on $31,580, is $26,634 — equivalent to $30,168 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 $33,320 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 | $21,330 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $31,580 |
| Top tenth earn over | $47,390 |
| This salary | $31,580 |
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 Oklahoma | $26,634 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $27,555 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,812 |
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 | $30,434 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,192 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $31,580 as a midpoint for Oklahoma, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $21,330 and the ninetieth is $47,390 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Oklahoma the take-home figure of $26,634, from $31,580, 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 450 of 492 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Oklahoma, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $30,168, the adjusted value of that $31,580 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 450 of 492 in the state.
- The Oklahoma median of $31,580 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $21,330 to $47,390. 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 Oklahoma is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $26,634 from $31,580. 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 450 of 492 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Oklahoma, so $30,168 — the adjusted value of that $31,580 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 450 of 492 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 $33,320 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $21,330 at the bottom tenth to $47,390 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Oklahoma sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $30,168 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 Oklahoma adds its own income tax on top — which is why $26,634 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 Oklahoma is $33,320. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($21,330) and the ninetieth ($47,390) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Oklahoma'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 $30,168 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 $26,634 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Oklahoma 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.