Railroad Conductors and Yardmasters Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $69K, rent takes 23.9% 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 railroad conductors and yardmasters typically earn — is $49K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $2,951/month. At HUD’s $1,066/month FMR, rent would take 36% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Local pay runs 12% below the national median — $69K here vs. $78K nationally. Cost of living is 10% below the national average, which narrows that gap in real purchasing power.

Kansas pays $69K median vs. the U.S. average of $78K — that’s -12%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 89.54), the purchasing-power equivalent is $77K — below the national median.

The median is $68,730 a year, that works out to about $33 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $49,190, and experienced railroad conductors and yardmasters can clear $71,400. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $4,456/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,066/month, which eats 23.9% 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 railroad conductors and yardmasters salary is worth about $76,759 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.