Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service in Georgia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,538
after federal, FICA and Georgia tax
Tax takes
$6,952
17.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,649
Georgia costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Georgia — 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
$39,490
Kept after tax
$32,538
Worth in national money
$33,649
State rank
17
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Georgia is 17 of 46 states for this job, with a middle wage of $39,490. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Georgia this is lower-paid work. Of 492 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 402. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where Georgia does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $39,490 you keep $32,538, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $33,649 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $40,040, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Georgia ranks 17 of 46 for switchboard operators, including answering service at $39,490. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Georgia reports, switchboard operators, including answering service ranks 402 of 492, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- After federal, FICA and Georgia income tax, retained pay for switchboard operators, including answering service on $39,490 is $32,538. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $33,649 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 $40,040 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,880 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,490 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,390 |
| This salary | $39,490 |
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 Georgia | $32,538 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,910 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,247 |
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 | $37,783 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,508 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $39,490 as a midpoint for Georgia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $30,880 and the ninetieth is $46,390 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Georgia the take-home figure of $32,538, from $39,490, 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 402 of 492 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $33,649, the adjusted value of that $39,490 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Georgia. 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 402 of 492 locally.
- The Georgia median of $39,490 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $30,880 to $46,390. 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 Georgia is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $32,538 from $39,490. 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 402 of 492 locally.
- This $33,649 adjusted figure, worked from $39,490, 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 402 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 402 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $30,880 at the bottom tenth to $46,390 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $33,649.
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 Georgia's own levy, $32,538 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 46 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($30,880 to $46,390) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Georgia rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Georgia'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 $33,649 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 $32,538 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Georgia 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.