Social Science Research Assistants in New Hampshire
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$54,962
after federal, FICA and New Hampshire tax
Tax takes
$10,728
16.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$52,173
New Hampshire costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in New Hampshire — 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
$65,690
Kept after tax
$54,962
Worth in national money
$52,173
State rank
7
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for social science research assistants is strong here. New Hampshire's middle earner gets $65,690, putting the state 7 of 45 — about 5.97% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 488 occupations New Hampshire reports figures for, this is number 206.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $65,690 the take-home is $54,962. But New Hampshire costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $52,173 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is lower, $64,660, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For social science research assistants, New Hampshire sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $65,690, ranking 7 of 45 and running about 5.97% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- In New Hampshire's occupational distribution, social science research assistants sits at 206 of 488 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and New Hampshire income tax is $54,962 for social science research assistants, from $65,690. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $52,173. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $64,660 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Social Science Research Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,350 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $65,690 |
| Top tenth earn over | $93,030 |
| This salary | $65,690 |
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 New Hampshire | $54,962 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $54,962 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,386 |
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 | $65,690 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,305 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 105 |
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 social science research assistants in New Hampshire earn under $65,690 and half over. The published range runs $37,350 at the tenth percentile to $93,030 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 New Hampshire's $54,962, worked from $65,690. 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 206 of 488.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $52,173 uses one figure for the whole of New Hampshire. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 488 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 206.
- Figures are distribution medians for social science research assistants in New Hampshire, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,350 to $93,030; 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 New Hampshire take-home of $54,962, on $65,690 for work ranking 206 of 488 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 206 of 488 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $52,173, worked from $65,690, 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 New Hampshire address, on work sitting at 206 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $37,350 at the bottom tenth to $93,030 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $52,173 of national purchasing power.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $54,962 survives, because New Hampshire levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 45 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($37,350) and the ninetieth ($93,030) 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.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
New Hampshire's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $52,173 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
New Hampshire levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $54,962 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.