Social Science Research Assistants in Ohio
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,952
after federal, FICA and Ohio tax
Tax takes
$8,378
16.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$45,694
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
$50,330
Kept after tax
$41,952
Worth in national money
$45,694
State rank
37
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for social science research assistants is on the low side in Ohio. The middle earner gets $50,330. That is 37 of 45 states, and about 18.81% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 494 occupations Ohio reports figures for, this is number 290.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $50,330 you keep $41,952 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $45,694 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $54,650, since top earners drag the number up.
- For social science research assistants, Ohio sits in the lower band at $50,330, ranking 37 of 45 and trailing the national median by about 18.81%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In Ohio's occupational distribution, social science research assistants sits at 290 of 494 — 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 in Ohio is $41,952 after the full tax stack, from $50,330. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $45,694 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $54,650 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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 | $23,770 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,330 |
| Top tenth earn over | $104,420 |
| This salary | $50,330 |
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 | $41,952 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,620 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,835 |
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 | $49,499 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,219 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $50,330 as a midpoint for Ohio, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $23,770 and the ninetieth is $104,420 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Ohio's $41,952, worked from $50,330. 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 290 of 494.
- One number stands for prices across all of Ohio, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $45,694, the adjusted value of that $50,330 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 290 of 494 in the state.
- The Ohio median of $50,330 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $23,770 to $104,420. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Ohio take-home of $41,952, on $50,330 for work ranking 290 of 494 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 290 of 494 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Ohio, so $45,694 — the adjusted value of that $50,330 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 290 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 $54,650, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $23,770 at the bottom tenth to $104,420 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $45,694 in national terms.
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 Ohio adds its own income tax on top — which is why $41,952 of this wage survives to your account.
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.
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 $54,650. 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 ($23,770) and the ninetieth ($104,420) 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?
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 $45,694 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 $41,952 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.
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.