Security and Fire Alarm Systems Installers in Oklahoma
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,271
after federal, FICA and Oklahoma tax
Tax takes
$8,969
18.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,481
Oklahoma costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Oklahoma — 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
$48,240
Kept after tax
$39,271
Worth in national money
$44,481
State rank
49
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Oklahoma is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $48,240, ranking 49 of 51 states — about 19.69% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 277 among 492 occupations Oklahoma publishes pay for.
- Here is where Oklahoma does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $48,240 you keep $39,271, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $44,481 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $51,830, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Oklahoma ranks 49 of 51 for security and fire alarm systems installers, with a median of $48,240 — about 19.69% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Position 277 of 492 in Oklahoma places security and fire alarm systems installers in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- After federal, FICA and Oklahoma income tax, retained pay for security and fire alarm systems installers on $48,240 is $39,271. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $44,481 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 $51,830 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Security and Fire Alarm Systems Installers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,760 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,240 |
| Top tenth earn over | $73,820 |
| This salary | $48,240 |
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 Oklahoma | $39,271 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,941 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,350 |
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 | $46,161 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,842 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
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 security and fire alarm systems installers in Oklahoma earn under $48,240 and half over. The published range runs $37,760 at the tenth percentile to $73,820 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Oklahoma the take-home figure of $39,271, from $48,240, 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 277 of 492 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Oklahoma, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $44,481, the adjusted value of that $48,240 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 277 of 492 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for security and fire alarm systems installers in Oklahoma, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,760 to $73,820; 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 Oklahoma is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $39,271 from $48,240. 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 277 of 492 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Oklahoma, so $44,481 — the adjusted value of that $48,240 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 277 of 492 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 $51,830 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $37,760 and the top tenth $73,820 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $44,481.
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 Oklahoma adds its own income tax on top — which is why $39,271 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.
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 Oklahoma is $51,830. 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 ($37,760) and the ninetieth ($73,820) 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?
Oklahoma'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 $44,481 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 $39,271 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Oklahoma 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.