Surgical Technologists in Idaho
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$56,877
after federal, FICA and Idaho tax
Tax takes
$15,673
21.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$62,212
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
$72,550
Kept after tax
$56,877
Worth in national money
$62,212
State rank
17
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Idaho pays surgical technologists a middle wage of $72,550, ranking 17 of 51 states and sitting about 12.22% above the national middle.
- Against other work in Idaho, this sits in the middle: 131 of 476 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $72,550 you keep $56,877 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $62,212 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $69,990.
- Idaho's median for surgical technologists is $72,550, about 12.22% above the national figure and 17 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Surgical technologists ranks 131 of 476 occupations in Idaho by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay in Idaho is $56,877 after the full tax stack, from $72,550. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $62,212 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $69,990 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Surgical Technologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,430 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $72,550 |
| Top tenth earn over | $87,210 |
| This salary | $72,550 |
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 | $56,877 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $59,869 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$602 |
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 | $68,297 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$832 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 91 |
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 surgical technologists in Idaho earn under $72,550 and half over. The published range runs $48,430 at the tenth percentile to $87,210 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Idaho the take-home figure of $56,877, from $72,550, 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 131 of 476 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Idaho, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $62,212, the adjusted value of that $72,550 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 131 of 476 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for surgical technologists in Idaho, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $48,430 to $87,210; 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.
- Take-home for Idaho is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $56,877 from $72,550. 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 131 of 476 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Idaho, so $62,212 — the adjusted value of that $72,550 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 131 of 476 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $69,990, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $48,430 and the top tenth $87,210, so most people doing this work in Idaho sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $62,212.
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, $56,877 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $69,990. 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 ($48,430 to $87,210) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Idaho rather than a national figure.
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 $62,212 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 $56,877 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.