Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists in Oklahoma
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,261
after federal, FICA and Oklahoma tax
Tax takes
$12,469
19.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$56,930
Oklahoma costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Oklahoma — 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
$62,730
Kept after tax
$50,261
Worth in national money
$56,930
State rank
42
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for zoologists and wildlife biologists is on the low side in Oklahoma. The middle earner gets $62,730. That is 42 of 47 states, and about 18.3% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Zoologists and wildlife biologists ranks 162 among 492 occupations Oklahoma publishes pay for.
- Here is where Oklahoma does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $62,730 you keep $50,261, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $56,930 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $64,660, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For zoologists and wildlife biologists, Oklahoma sits in the lower band at $62,730, ranking 42 of 47 and trailing the national median by about 18.3%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Position 162 of 492 in Oklahoma 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.
- After federal, FICA and Oklahoma income tax, retained pay for zoologists and wildlife biologists on $62,730 is $50,261. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $56,930 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 $64,660 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,650 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $62,730 |
| Top tenth earn over | $88,610 |
| This salary | $62,730 |
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 Oklahoma | $50,261 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $52,584 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,818 |
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 | $59,840 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,408 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Oklahoma earn less than $62,730. The published range is $48,650 up to $88,610, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $50,261 take-home in Oklahoma comes from $62,730. 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 162 of 492.
- Two cautions on $56,930, the adjusted value of that $62,730 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Oklahoma. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 162 of 492 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for zoologists and wildlife biologists in Oklahoma the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $48,650 to $88,610. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $50,261, from $62,730, assumes a single Oklahoma 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 162 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 42 of 47 for it.
- This $56,930 adjusted figure, worked from $62,730, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 162 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 162 of 492 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 $64,660 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $48,650 at the bottom tenth to $88,610 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $56,930.
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; Oklahoma then takes its own share, leaving $50,261.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 47 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 Oklahoma is $64,660. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($48,650 to $88,610) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Oklahoma rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Oklahoma'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 $56,930 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 $50,261 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Oklahoma 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.