Social Science Research Assistants in Oklahoma
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$54,826
after federal, FICA and Oklahoma tax
Tax takes
$14,264
20.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$62,101
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
$69,090
Kept after tax
$54,826
Worth in national money
$62,101
State rank
1
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Oklahoma is one of the better-paying states for social science research assistants. The middle earner takes $69,090, which ranks 1 of 45 states with published figures. That is about 11.45% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Social science research assistants ranks 132 among 492 occupations Oklahoma publishes pay for.
- Here is where Oklahoma does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $69,090 you keep $54,826, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $62,101 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $75,960, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Oklahoma ranks 1 of 45 states publishing a median for social science research assistants, at $69,090 — about 11.45% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Position 132 of 492 in Oklahoma places social science research assistants 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 social science research assistants on $69,090 is $54,826. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $62,101 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 $75,960 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Social Science Research Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,140 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $69,090 |
| Top tenth earn over | $115,660 |
| This salary | $69,090 |
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 | $54,826 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $57,435 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,996 |
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 | $65,521 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,139 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $69,090 as a midpoint for Oklahoma, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $40,140 and the ninetieth is $115,660 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Oklahoma the take-home figure of $54,826, from $69,090, 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 132 of 492 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $62,101, the adjusted value of that $69,090 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Oklahoma. 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 132 of 492 locally.
- The Oklahoma median of $69,090 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $40,140 to $115,660. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Oklahoma is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $54,826 from $69,090. 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 132 of 492 locally.
- This $62,101 adjusted figure, worked from $69,090, 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 132 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 132 of 492 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 $75,960, 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $40,140 and the top tenth $115,660 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Oklahoma sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $62,101 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $54,826 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 Oklahoma is $75,960. 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 ($40,140) and the ninetieth ($115,660) 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 $62,101 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 $54,826 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.
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.