Retail Salespersons in Ohio
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$26,797
after federal, FICA and Ohio tax
Tax takes
$4,003
13.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,187
Ohio costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Ohio — 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
$30,800
Kept after tax
$26,797
Worth in national money
$29,187
State rank
42
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for retail salespersons is on the low side in Ohio. The middle earner gets $30,800. That is 42 of 51 states, and about 13.02% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 494 occupations Ohio publishes, retail salespersons lands at 474. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Ohio is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $30,800 the take-home is $26,797; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $29,187 would nationally. The average comes to $34,580, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For retail salespersons, Ohio sits in the lower band at $30,800, ranking 42 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 13.02%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Ohio, this work ranks 474 of 494 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 Ohio, on $30,800, is $26,797 — equivalent to $29,187 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 $34,580 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 | $24,210 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $30,800 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,020 |
| This salary | $30,800 |
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 Ohio | $26,797 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $26,928 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,476 |
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 | $30,637 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,786 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
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 retail salespersons in Ohio earn under $30,800 and half over. The published range runs $24,210 at the tenth percentile to $46,020 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Ohio the take-home figure of $26,797, from $30,800, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 474 of 494 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $29,187, the adjusted value of that $30,800 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Ohio. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 474 of 494 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for retail salespersons in Ohio, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $24,210 to $46,020; 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.
- Take-home for Ohio is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $26,797 from $30,800. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 474 of 494 locally.
- This $29,187 adjusted figure, worked from $30,800, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 474 of 494 in the state. The occupation ranks 474 of 494 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 $34,580, 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 $24,210 and the top tenth $46,020, so most people doing this work in Ohio sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Ohio is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $29,187 in national terms.
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; Ohio then takes its own share, leaving $26,797.
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 Ohio is $34,580. 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 ($24,210 to $46,020) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Ohio rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Ohio'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 $29,187 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 $26,797 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Ohio 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.