Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $78K, rent takes 21.5% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,066/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new environmental scientists and specialists, including healths typically earn — is $56K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $3,367/month. At HUD’s $1,066/month FMR, rent would take 32% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Pay here is roughly in line with the national average — $78K locally vs. $82K nationally, a 5% difference.

Kansas pays $78K median vs. the U.S. average of $82K — that’s -5%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 89.54), the purchasing-power equivalent is $87K — still ahead of the national median.

The median is $78,210 a year, that works out to about $38 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $56,120, and experienced environmental scientists and specialists, including healths can clear $136,990. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $4,967/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,066/month, which eats 21.5% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

Kansas has a Regional Price Parity of 89.54 (100 is the national average). That's below average, your money stretches further here than the raw salary number suggests. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median environmental scientists and specialists, including health salary is worth about $87,346 in national-average purchasing power.

The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.