Recreational Therapists in Idaho
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,348
after federal, FICA and Idaho tax
Tax takes
$9,372
18.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,133
Idaho costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Idaho — 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
$49,720
Kept after tax
$40,348
Worth in national money
$44,133
State rank
41
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for recreational therapists is on the low side in Idaho. The middle earner gets $49,720. That is 41 of 48 states, and about 19.75% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 476 occupations Idaho reports figures for, this is number 283.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $49,720 you keep $40,348 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $44,133 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $54,920, since top earners drag the number up.
- For recreational therapists, Idaho sits in the lower band at $49,720, ranking 41 of 48 and trailing the national median by about 19.75%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In Idaho's occupational distribution, recreational therapists sits at 283 of 476 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay in Idaho is $40,348 after the full tax stack, from $49,720. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $44,133 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $54,920 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Recreational Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,920 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $49,720 |
| Top tenth earn over | $72,360 |
| This salary | $49,720 |
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 Idaho | $40,348 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,130 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$778 |
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 | $47,502 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$941 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 91 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Idaho earn less than $49,720. The published range is $39,920 up to $72,360, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Idaho the take-home figure of $40,348, from $49,720, 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 283 of 476 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $44,133, the adjusted value of that $49,720 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Idaho. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 283 of 476 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for recreational therapists in Idaho the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $39,920 to $72,360. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Idaho is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $40,348 from $49,720. 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 283 of 476 locally.
- This $44,133 adjusted figure, worked from $49,720, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 283 of 476 in the state. The occupation ranks 283 of 476 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $54,920, 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 $39,920 and the top tenth $72,360, so most people doing this work in Idaho sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Idaho sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $44,133 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 Idaho adds its own income tax on top — which is why $40,348 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 48 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 Idaho is $54,920. 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 ($39,920 to $72,360) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Idaho rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Idaho'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 $44,133 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 $40,348 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Idaho 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.