Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors in Idaho
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,585
after federal, FICA and Idaho tax
Tax takes
$12,775
20.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,329
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
$63,360
Kept after tax
$50,585
Worth in national money
$55,329
State rank
11
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Idaho's middle earner gets $63,360, putting the state 11 of 51 — about 6.76% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 476 occupations Idaho reports figures for, this is number 165.
- Idaho is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $63,360 the take-home is $50,585; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $55,329 would nationally. The average comes to $66,900, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors, Idaho sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $63,360, ranking 11 of 51 and running about 6.76% 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 Idaho's occupational distribution, substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors sits at 165 of 476 — 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.
- Post-tax income for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors in Idaho, on $63,360, is $50,585 — equivalent to $55,329 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $66,900 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,400 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $63,360 |
| Top tenth earn over | $98,760 |
| This salary | $63,360 |
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 | $50,585 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $53,090 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$696 |
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 | $60,243 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$842 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 91 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Idaho earn less than $63,360. The published range is $36,400 up to $98,760, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Idaho the take-home figure of $50,585, from $63,360, 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 165 of 476 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $55,329 uses one figure for the whole of Idaho. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 476 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 165.
- Reported values are medians; for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors in Idaho the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $36,400 to $98,760. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Idaho is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $50,585 from $63,360. 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 165 of 476 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $55,329, worked from $63,360, 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 Idaho address, on work sitting at 165 of 476 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 $66,900, 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $36,400, the highest tenth $98,760, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $55,329.
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, $50,585 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 $66,900. 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 ($36,400) and the ninetieth ($98,760) 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 $55,329 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 $50,585 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.