Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists in Mississippi
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$67,781
after federal, FICA and Mississippi tax
Tax takes
$20,929
23.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$77,649
Mississippi costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Mississippi — 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
$88,710
Kept after tax
$67,781
Worth in national money
$77,649
State rank
5
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Mississippi is one of the better-paying states for zoologists and wildlife biologists. The middle earner takes $88,710, which ranks 5 of 47 states with published figures. That is about 15.54% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Mississippi. It ranks 54 out of 486 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $88,710 you keep $67,781 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $77,649 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $93,740, since top earners drag the number up.
- Mississippi ranks 5 of 47 states publishing a median for zoologists and wildlife biologists, at $88,710 — about 15.54% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Within Mississippi, zoologists and wildlife biologists ranks 54 of 486 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Retained pay in Mississippi is $67,781 after the full tax stack, from $88,710. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $77,649 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $93,740 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $52,610 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $88,710 |
| Top tenth earn over | $141,130 |
| This salary | $88,710 |
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 Mississippi | $67,781 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $71,237 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,340 |
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 | $83,797 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,995 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Mississippi earn less than $88,710. The published range is $52,610 up to $141,130, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Mississippi the take-home figure of $67,781, from $88,710, 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 54 of 486 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Mississippi, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $77,649, the adjusted value of that $88,710 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 54 of 486 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for zoologists and wildlife biologists in Mississippi the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $52,610 to $141,130. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Mississippi is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $67,781 from $88,710. 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 54 of 486 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Mississippi, so $77,649 — the adjusted value of that $88,710 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 54 of 486 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 $93,740 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $52,610, the highest tenth $141,130, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Mississippi is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $77,649 in national terms.
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; Mississippi then takes its own share, leaving $67,781.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 47 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 Mississippi is $93,740. 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 ($52,610) and the ninetieth ($141,130) 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?
Mississippi'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 $77,649 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 $67,781 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Mississippi 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.