Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors in Hawaii
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$44,560
after federal, FICA and Hawaii tax
Tax takes
$11,710
20.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,028
Hawaii costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Hawaii — 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
$56,270
Kept after tax
$44,560
Worth in national money
$41,028
State rank
14
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Hawaii pays this job a middle wage of $56,270, ranking 14 of 51 states and sitting about 13.24% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 437 occupations Hawaii reports figures for, this is number 272.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $56,270, tax leaves $44,560 — and because Hawaii is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $41,028 would nationally. Here the average runs under the middle, at $53,780.
- Hawaii's median for refuse and recyclable material collectors is $56,270, about 13.24% above the national figure and 14 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- In Hawaii's occupational distribution, refuse and recyclable material collectors sits at 272 of 437 — 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, $44,560 remains from the Hawaii median of $56,270 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $41,028 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $53,780 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,760 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $56,270 |
| Top tenth earn over | $65,740 |
| This salary | $56,270 |
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 Hawaii | $44,560 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $47,393 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,743 |
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 | $52,744 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$9,365 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of refuse and recyclable material collectors in Hawaii earn under $56,270 and half over. The published range runs $30,760 at the tenth percentile to $65,740 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Hawaii's $44,560, worked from $56,270. 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 272 of 437.
- One number stands for prices across all of Hawaii, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $41,028, the adjusted value of that $56,270 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 272 of 437 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for refuse and recyclable material collectors in Hawaii, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $30,760 to $65,740; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The Hawaii take-home of $44,560, on $56,270 for work ranking 272 of 437 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 272 of 437 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Hawaii, so $41,028 — the adjusted value of that $56,270 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 272 of 437 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $53,780, 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 $30,760 at the bottom tenth to $65,740 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $41,028 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Hawaii's own levy, $44,560 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 Hawaii is $53,780. 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 ($30,760 to $65,740) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Hawaii rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Hawaii's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $41,028 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 $44,560 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Hawaii 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.