Social Science Research Assistants in Oregon
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$43,378
after federal, FICA and Oregon tax
Tax takes
$13,393
23.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,422
Oregon costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Oregon — 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
$56,770
Kept after tax
$43,378
Worth in national money
$41,422
State rank
24
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Oregon sits in the middle of the pack for social science research assistants. The median is $56,770, ranking 24 of 45 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 489 occupations Oregon reports figures for, this is number 304.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $56,770, tax leaves $43,378 — and because Oregon is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $41,422 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $61,180, since top earners drag the number up.
- Oregon occupies the middle band for social science research assistants: a median of $56,770, ranking 24 of 45. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- In Oregon's occupational distribution, social science research assistants sits at 304 of 489 — 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.
- After tax, $43,378 remains from the Oregon median of $56,770 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $41,422 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $61,180 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 | $48,150 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $56,770 |
| Top tenth earn over | $85,110 |
| This salary | $56,770 |
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 Oregon | $43,378 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $47,795 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,762 |
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 | $51,273 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$9,388 |
| 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 Oregon earn under $56,770 and half over. The published range runs $48,150 at the tenth percentile to $85,110 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $43,378 take-home in Oregon comes from $56,770. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 304 of 489.
- Two cautions on $41,422, the adjusted value of that $56,770 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Oregon. 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 304 of 489 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for social science research assistants in Oregon, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $48,150 to $85,110; 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.
- Retained pay of $43,378, from $56,770, assumes a single Oregon filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 304 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 24 of 45 for it.
- This $41,422 adjusted figure, worked from $56,770, 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 304 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 304 of 489 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 $61,180 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $48,150 at the bottom tenth to $85,110 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Oregon costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $41,422 rather than its face figure.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Oregon then takes its own share, leaving $43,378.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 Oregon is $61,180. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($48,150 to $85,110) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Oregon rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Oregon's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $41,422 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $43,378 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Oregon 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.