Urban and Regional Planners in Hawaii
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$63,981
after federal, FICA and Hawaii tax
Tax takes
$21,609
25.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$58,909
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
$85,590
Kept after tax
$63,981
Worth in national money
$58,909
State rank
18
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Hawaii pays urban and regional planners around $85,590 at the midpoint, 18 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 437 occupations Hawaii reports, urban and regional planners comes in at 109 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Hawaii is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $85,590 the take-home is $63,981; in national-average money that behaves like $58,909. The average lands at $85,560, below the middle of the range.
- For urban and regional planners the Hawaii median is $85,590, ranking 18 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Urban and regional planners ranks 109 of 437 occupations by median in Hawaii, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Take-home for urban and regional planners in Hawaii, on $85,590, is $63,981; deflated by the state's price level, $58,909. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $85,560 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Urban and Regional Planners
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $59,990 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $85,590 |
| Top tenth earn over | $115,350 |
| This salary | $85,590 |
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 | $63,981 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $69,043 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$12,140 |
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 | $78,395 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$16,770 |
| 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 urban and regional planners in Hawaii earn under $85,590 and half over. The published range runs $59,990 at the tenth percentile to $115,350 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Hawaii the take-home figure of $63,981, from $85,590, 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 109 of 437 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $58,909 uses one figure for the whole of Hawaii. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 437 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 109.
- Figures are distribution medians for urban and regional planners in Hawaii, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $59,990 to $115,350; 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 $63,981 from $85,590. 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 109 of 437 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $58,909, worked from $85,590, 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 Hawaii address, on work sitting at 109 of 437 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $59,990 and the top tenth $115,350, so most people doing this work in Hawaii sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $58,909 rather than its face figure.
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; Hawaii then takes its own share, leaving $63,981.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($59,990 to $115,350) 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 $58,909 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 $63,981 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.