Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors in Idaho
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,468
after federal, FICA and Idaho tax
Tax takes
$9,412
18.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,264
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
$49,880
Kept after tax
$40,468
Worth in national money
$44,264
State rank
22
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Idaho sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $49,880, ranking 22 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Against other work in Idaho, this sits in the middle: 281 of 476 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $49,880 you keep $40,468 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $44,264 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $51,350, since top earners drag the number up.
- Idaho occupies the middle band for refuse and recyclable material collectors: a median of $49,880, ranking 22 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Refuse and recyclable material collectors ranks 281 of 476 occupations in Idaho by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay in Idaho is $40,468 after the full tax stack, from $49,880. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $44,264 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $51,350 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,210 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $49,880 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,030 |
| This salary | $49,880 |
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 | $40,468 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,259 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$777 |
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 | $47,652 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$939 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 91 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $49,880 as a midpoint for Idaho, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $38,210 and the ninetieth is $58,030 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $40,468 take-home in Idaho comes from $49,880. 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 281 of 476.
- One number stands for prices across all of Idaho, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $44,264, the adjusted value of that $49,880 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 281 of 476 in the state.
- The Idaho median of $49,880 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $38,210 to $58,030. 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 $40,468, from $49,880, assumes a single Idaho 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 281 of 476 locally, and the state ranks 22 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Idaho, so $44,264 — the adjusted value of that $49,880 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 281 of 476 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $38,210 and the top tenth $58,030, so most people doing this work in Idaho sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Idaho is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $44,264 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 Idaho adds its own income tax on top — which is why $40,468 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($38,210 to $58,030) 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 $44,264 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 $40,468 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.
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.