Technical Writers in Ohio
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$61,247
after federal, FICA and Ohio tax
Tax takes
$15,233
19.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$66,709
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
$76,480
Kept after tax
$61,247
Worth in national money
$66,709
State rank
34
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for technical writers is on the low side in Ohio. The middle earner gets $76,480. That is 34 of 45 states, and about 15.39% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Technical writers ranks 137 among 494 occupations Ohio publishes pay for.
- Here is where Ohio does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $76,480 you keep $61,247, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $66,709 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $82,920, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For technical writers, Ohio sits in the lower band at $76,480, ranking 34 of 45 and trailing the national median by about 15.39%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Position 137 of 494 in Ohio places technical writers 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 federal, FICA and Ohio income tax, retained pay for technical writers on $76,480 is $61,247. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $66,709 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 $82,920 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Technical Writers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,970 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $76,480 |
| Top tenth earn over | $125,150 |
| This salary | $76,480 |
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 | $61,247 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $62,634 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,254 |
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 | $74,509 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,114 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $76,480 as a midpoint for Ohio, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $48,970 and the ninetieth is $125,150 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $61,247 take-home in Ohio comes from $76,480. 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 137 of 494.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $66,709 uses one figure for the whole of Ohio. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 494 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 137.
- The Ohio median of $76,480 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $48,970 to $125,150. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $61,247, from $76,480, 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 137 of 494 locally, and the state ranks 34 of 45 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $66,709, worked from $76,480, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Ohio address, on work sitting at 137 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $82,920 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $48,970 and the top tenth $125,150 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $66,709 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 Ohio's own levy, $61,247 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 45 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 Ohio is $82,920. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($48,970) and the ninetieth ($125,150) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $66,709 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 $61,247 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.