Retail Salespersons in Idaho
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,361
after federal, FICA and Idaho tax
Tax takes
$5,719
16.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,115
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
$35,080
Kept after tax
$29,361
Worth in national money
$32,115
State rank
22
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Idaho pays retail salespersons around $35,080 at the midpoint, 22 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 476 occupations Idaho publishes, retail salespersons lands at 437. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Idaho is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $35,080 the take-home is $29,361; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $32,115 would nationally. The average comes to $37,340, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For retail salespersons the Idaho median is $35,080, ranking 22 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within Idaho, this work ranks 437 of 476 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.
- Post-tax income for retail salespersons in Idaho, on $35,080, is $29,361 — equivalent to $32,115 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $37,340 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Retail Salespersons
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $26,330 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,080 |
| Top tenth earn over | $49,980 |
| This salary | $35,080 |
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 | $29,361 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,367 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$865 |
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 | $33,828 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,046 |
| 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 Idaho earn less than $35,080. The published range is $26,330 up to $49,980, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $29,361 take-home in Idaho comes from $35,080. 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 437 of 476.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $32,115 uses one figure for the whole of Idaho. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 476 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 437.
- Reported values are medians; for retail salespersons in Idaho the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $26,330 to $49,980. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $29,361, from $35,080, 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 437 of 476 locally, and the state ranks 22 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $32,115, worked from $35,080, 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 Idaho address, on work sitting at 437 of 476 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $37,340 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $26,330 and the top tenth $49,980, so most people doing this work in Idaho sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Idaho sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $32,115 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Idaho then takes its own share, leaving $29,361.
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 Idaho is $37,340. 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 ($26,330 to $49,980) 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 $32,115 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 $29,361 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.