Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists in Florida
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$44,565
after federal, FICA and Florida tax
Tax takes
$8,185
15.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,078
Florida costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Florida — 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
$52,750
Kept after tax
$44,565
Worth in national money
$43,078
State rank
46
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Florida is among the lower-paying states for zoologists and wildlife biologists. The middle earner takes $52,750, ranking 46 of 47 states — about 31.3% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Zoologists and wildlife biologists ranks 256 among 493 occupations Florida publishes pay for.
- Florida is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $52,750 the take-home is $44,565; in national-average money that behaves like $43,078. The average comes to $61,260, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Florida ranks 46 of 47 for zoologists and wildlife biologists, with a median of $52,750 — about 31.3% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Position 256 of 493 in Florida places zoologists and wildlife biologists 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.
- Take-home for zoologists and wildlife biologists in Florida, on $52,750, is $44,565; deflated by the state's price level, $43,078. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $61,260 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,900 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $52,750 |
| Top tenth earn over | $97,660 |
| This salary | $52,750 |
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 Florida | $44,565 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $44,565 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,783 |
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 | $52,750 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,365 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 103 |
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 zoologists and wildlife biologists in Florida earn under $52,750 and half over. The published range runs $39,900 at the tenth percentile to $97,660 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Florida's $44,565, worked from $52,750. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 256 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $43,078 uses one figure for the whole of Florida. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 493 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 256.
- Figures are distribution medians for zoologists and wildlife biologists in Florida, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $39,900 to $97,660; 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.
- The Florida take-home of $44,565, on $52,750 for work ranking 256 of 493 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 256 of 493 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $43,078, worked from $52,750, 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 Florida address, on work sitting at 256 of 493 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 $61,260, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $39,900 and the top tenth $97,660 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Florida run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $43,078 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $44,565 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
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 47 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 Florida is $61,260. 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 ($39,900) and the ninetieth ($97,660) 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.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Florida's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $43,078 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Florida levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $44,565 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.