Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service in Hawaii
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$47,171
after federal, FICA and Hawaii tax
Tax takes
$12,689
21.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,432
Hawaii costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Hawaii — 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
$59,860
Kept after tax
$47,171
Worth in national money
$43,432
State rank
1
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Hawaii pays this job a middle wage of $59,860, ranking 1 of 46 states and sitting about 54.96% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 243 among 437 occupations Hawaii publishes pay for.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $59,860, tax leaves $47,171 — and because Hawaii is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $43,432 would nationally. Here the average runs under the middle, at $57,030.
- Hawaii's median for switchboard operators, including answering service is $59,860, about 54.96% above the national figure and 1 of 46 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Position 243 of 437 in Hawaii places switchboard operators, including answering service 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 tax, $47,171 remains from the Hawaii median of $59,860 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $43,432 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $57,030 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: Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,720 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $59,860 |
| Top tenth earn over | $67,270 |
| This salary | $59,860 |
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 Hawaii | $47,171 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,278 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$8,307 |
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 | $55,994 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$10,046 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
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 switchboard operators, including answering service in Hawaii earn under $59,860 and half over. The published range runs $42,720 at the tenth percentile to $67,270 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Hawaii the take-home figure of $47,171, from $59,860, 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 243 of 437 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Hawaii, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $43,432, the adjusted value of that $59,860 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 243 of 437 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for switchboard operators, including answering service in Hawaii, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $42,720 to $67,270; 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 Hawaii is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $47,171 from $59,860. 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 243 of 437 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Hawaii, so $43,432 — the adjusted value of that $59,860 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 243 of 437 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 $57,030, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $42,720 at the bottom tenth to $67,270 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. Hawaii costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $43,432 rather than its face figure.
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 Hawaii adds its own income tax on top — which is why $47,171 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 46 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 Hawaii is $57,030. 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 ($42,720 to $67,270) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Hawaii rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Hawaii's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $43,432 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 $47,171 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Hawaii 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.