Retail Salespersons in Georgia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$26,020
after federal, FICA and Georgia tax
Tax takes
$4,820
15.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$26,908
Georgia costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Georgia — 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
$30,840
Kept after tax
$26,020
Worth in national money
$26,908
State rank
41
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for retail salespersons is on the low side in Georgia. The middle earner gets $30,840. That is 41 of 51 states, and about 12.91% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 492 occupations Georgia publishes, retail salespersons lands at 462. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $30,840 you keep $26,020 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $26,908 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $33,980, since top earners drag the number up.
- For retail salespersons, Georgia sits in the lower band at $30,840, ranking 41 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 12.91%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Georgia, this work ranks 462 of 492 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Retained pay in Georgia is $26,020 after the full tax stack, from $30,840. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $26,908 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $33,980 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Retail Salespersons
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $22,590 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $30,840 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,430 |
| This salary | $30,840 |
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 Georgia | $26,020 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $26,960 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$836 |
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 | $29,670 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,011 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Georgia earn less than $30,840. The published range is $22,590 up to $46,430, 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 Georgia's $26,020, worked from $30,840. 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 462 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $26,908 uses one figure for the whole of Georgia. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 492 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 462.
- Reported values are medians; for retail salespersons in Georgia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $22,590 to $46,430. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Georgia take-home of $26,020, on $30,840 for work ranking 462 of 492 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 462 of 492 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $26,908, worked from $30,840, 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 Georgia address, on work sitting at 462 of 492 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 $33,980, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $22,590 at the bottom tenth to $46,430 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Georgia sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $26,908 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 Georgia's own levy, $26,020 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 Georgia is $33,980. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($22,590) and the ninetieth ($46,430) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Georgia'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 $26,908 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 $26,020 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Georgia 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.