Recreational Therapists in New Hampshire
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$66,714
after federal, FICA and New Hampshire tax
Tax takes
$15,566
18.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$63,329
New Hampshire costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in New Hampshire — 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
$82,280
Kept after tax
$66,714
Worth in national money
$63,329
State rank
3
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- New Hampshire is one of the better-paying states for recreational therapists. The middle earner takes $82,280, which ranks 3 of 48 states with published figures. That is about 32.8% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 488 occupations New Hampshire reports figures for, this is number 123.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $82,280, tax leaves $66,714 — and because New Hampshire is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $63,329 would nationally. Here the average runs under the middle, at $78,410.
- New Hampshire ranks 3 of 48 states publishing a median for recreational therapists, at $82,280 — about 32.8% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- In New Hampshire's occupational distribution, recreational therapists sits at 123 of 488 — 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.
- After tax, $66,714 remains from the New Hampshire median of $82,280 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $63,329 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $78,410 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Recreational Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $53,060 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $82,280 |
| Top tenth earn over | $98,310 |
| This salary | $82,280 |
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 New Hampshire | $66,714 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $66,714 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,324 |
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 | $82,280 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,355 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 105 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $82,280 as a midpoint for New Hampshire, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $53,060 and the ninetieth is $98,310 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $66,714 take-home in New Hampshire comes from $82,280. 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 123 of 488.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $63,329 uses one figure for the whole of New Hampshire. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 488 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 123.
- The New Hampshire median of $82,280 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $53,060 to $98,310. 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 $66,714, from $82,280, assumes a single New Hampshire 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 123 of 488 locally, and the state ranks 3 of 48 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $63,329, worked from $82,280, 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 New Hampshire address, on work sitting at 123 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $78,410, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $53,060 at the bottom tenth to $98,310 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. New Hampshire costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $63,329 rather than its face figure.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $66,714 of this wage reaches your account, because New Hampshire takes no income tax from wages — but federal tax, Social Security and Medicare still apply exactly as they do everywhere else.
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 New Hampshire is $78,410. 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 ($53,060 to $98,310) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to New Hampshire rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
New Hampshire's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $63,329 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
New Hampshire levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $66,714 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
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.