Security Guards in Idaho
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,777
after federal, FICA and Idaho tax
Tax takes
$6,523
17.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,758
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
$38,300
Kept after tax
$31,777
Worth in national money
$34,758
State rank
25
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Idaho sits in the middle of the pack for security guards. The median is $38,300, ranking 25 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Idaho, this one sits low: 406 of 476 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $38,300 you keep $31,777 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $34,758 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $44,100, since top earners drag the number up.
- Idaho occupies the middle band for security guards: a median of $38,300, ranking 25 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Security guards occupies position 406 of 476 in Idaho's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Retained pay in Idaho is $31,777 after the full tax stack, from $38,300. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $34,758 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $44,100 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Security Guards
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,030 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,300 |
| Top tenth earn over | $78,680 |
| This salary | $38,300 |
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 | $31,777 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,954 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$846 |
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 | $36,836 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,023 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 91 |
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 guards in Idaho earn under $38,300 and half over. The published range runs $32,030 at the tenth percentile to $78,680 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Idaho's $31,777, worked from $38,300. 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 406 of 476.
- One number stands for prices across all of Idaho, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $34,758, the adjusted value of that $38,300 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 406 of 476 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for security guards in Idaho, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $32,030 to $78,680; 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.
- The Idaho take-home of $31,777, on $38,300 for work ranking 406 of 476 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 406 of 476 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Idaho, so $34,758 — the adjusted value of that $38,300 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 406 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 $44,100 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $32,030 at the bottom tenth to $78,680 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $34,758.
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 Idaho's own levy, $31,777 remains.
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 Idaho is $44,100. 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 ($32,030) and the ninetieth ($78,680) 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?
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 $34,758 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 $31,777 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.