Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service in Kansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,449
after federal, FICA and Kansas tax
Tax takes
$7,311
18.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,957
Kansas costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Kansas — 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
$38,760
Kept after tax
$31,449
Worth in national money
$34,957
State rank
18
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Kansas is 18 of 46 states for this job, with a middle wage of $38,760. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Kansas this is lower-paid work. Of 488 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 405. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Kansas is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $38,760 the take-home is $31,449; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $34,957 would nationally. The average comes to $38,970, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Kansas ranks 18 of 46 for switchboard operators, including answering service at $38,760. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Kansas reports, switchboard operators, including answering service ranks 405 of 488, 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.
- Post-tax income for switchboard operators, including answering service in Kansas, on $38,760, is $31,449 — equivalent to $34,957 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 $38,970 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,940 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,760 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,130 |
| This salary | $38,760 |
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 Kansas | $31,449 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,324 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$665 |
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 | $36,427 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$804 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Kansas earn less than $38,760. The published range is $30,940 up to $46,130, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Kansas the take-home figure of $31,449, from $38,760, 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 405 of 488 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $34,957, the adjusted value of that $38,760 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Kansas. 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 405 of 488 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for switchboard operators, including answering service in Kansas the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $30,940 to $46,130. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Kansas is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $31,449 from $38,760. 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 405 of 488 locally.
- This $34,957 adjusted figure, worked from $38,760, 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 405 of 488 in the state. The occupation ranks 405 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $30,940 at the bottom tenth to $46,130 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Kansas is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $34,957 in national terms.
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 Kansas's own levy, $31,449 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 46 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($30,940 to $46,130) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Kansas rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Kansas'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 $34,957 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 $31,449 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Kansas 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.