Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service in Ohio
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,104
after federal, FICA and Ohio tax
Tax takes
$5,246
14.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,878
Ohio costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Ohio — 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
$36,350
Kept after tax
$31,104
Worth in national money
$33,878
State rank
35
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Ohio pays this job a middle wage of $36,350, 35 of 46 states and about 5.9% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Ohio this is lower-paid work. Of 494 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 443. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Ohio is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $36,350 the take-home is $31,104; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $33,878 would nationally. The average comes to $36,620, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Ohio's $36,350 median for switchboard operators, including answering service places it 35 of 46 states, about 5.9% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation Ohio reports, switchboard operators, including answering service ranks 443 of 494, 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 Ohio, on $36,350, is $31,104 — equivalent to $33,878 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 $36,620 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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 | $29,800 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,350 |
| Top tenth earn over | $44,100 |
| This salary | $36,350 |
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 Ohio | $31,104 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,387 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,578 |
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 | $35,997 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,909 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Ohio earn less than $36,350. The published range is $29,800 up to $44,100, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $31,104 take-home in Ohio comes from $36,350. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 443 of 494.
- One number stands for prices across all of Ohio, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $33,878, the adjusted value of that $36,350 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 443 of 494 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for switchboard operators, including answering service in Ohio the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $29,800 to $44,100. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $31,104, from $36,350, assumes a single Ohio filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 443 of 494 locally, and the state ranks 35 of 46 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Ohio, so $33,878 — the adjusted value of that $36,350 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 443 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $29,800 at the bottom tenth to $44,100 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Ohio sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $33,878 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Ohio then takes its own share, leaving $31,104.
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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($29,800 to $44,100) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Ohio rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Ohio'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 $33,878 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 $31,104 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Ohio 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.