Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors in Wyoming
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,407
after federal, FICA and Wyoming tax
Tax takes
$7,413
15.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$45,578
Wyoming costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Wyoming — 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
$48,820
Kept after tax
$41,407
Worth in national money
$45,578
State rank
27
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Wyoming is 27 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $48,820. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Against other work in Wyoming, this sits in the middle: 275 of 433 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where Wyoming does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $48,820 you keep $41,407, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $45,578 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $47,170, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Wyoming ranks 27 of 51 for refuse and recyclable material collectors at $48,820. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Refuse and recyclable material collectors ranks 275 of 433 occupations in Wyoming 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.
- After federal, FICA and Wyoming income tax, retained pay for refuse and recyclable material collectors on $48,820 is $41,407. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $45,578 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $47,170 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,770 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,820 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,800 |
| This salary | $48,820 |
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 Wyoming | $41,407 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,407 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,968 |
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 | $48,820 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,589 |
| 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 Wyoming earn less than $48,820. The published range is $33,770 up to $58,800, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Wyoming's $41,407, worked from $48,820. 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 275 of 433.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $45,578 uses one figure for the whole of Wyoming. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 433 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 275.
- Reported values are medians; for refuse and recyclable material collectors in Wyoming the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $33,770 to $58,800. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Wyoming take-home of $41,407, on $48,820 for work ranking 275 of 433 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 275 of 433 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $45,578, worked from $48,820, 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 Wyoming address, on work sitting at 275 of 433 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $47,170, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $33,770 and the top tenth $58,800, so most people doing this work in Wyoming sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Wyoming is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $45,578 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $41,407 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 Wyoming is $47,170. 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 ($33,770 to $58,800) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Wyoming rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Wyoming'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 $45,578 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Wyoming levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $41,407 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.
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.