What Retail Salespersons earn in Ford County, KS
According to the latest federal wage data for the Kansas nonmetropolitan area, the median pay for Retail Salespersons in Ford County, KS is $29,390 a year, or $14.13 an hour. After federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and state income tax, the paycheck shrinks to $24,879 a year, and rent, food and energy take another bite. The sections below walk through each step with the actual math for Ford County, KS.
The mean wage is $33,010, which is 12.3% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 8,090 people working in this occupation across the Kansas nonmetropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Ford County, KS has roughly 34,074 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Retail Salespersons in the Kansas nonmetropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $22,120 a year ($10.63 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $46,390 or more ($22.30 an hour). That is a gap of $24,270 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $25,840 at the 25th percentile and $36,060 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.1 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $14.13 an hour or $29,390 a year at the median for Ford County, KS. Before any deductions, that is $2,449 a month, $1,130 every two weeks and $565 each week. After taxes the same job pays $11.96 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Retail Salespersons
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Retail Salespersons this way: "Sell merchandise, such as furniture, motor vehicles, appliances, or apparel to consumers."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Greet customers and ascertain what each customer wants or needs"; "Maintain knowledge of current sales and promotions, policies regarding payment and exchanges, and security practices"; "Compute sales prices, total purchases, and receive and process cash or credit payment"; "Watch for and recognize security risks and thefts and know how to prevent or handle these situations".
Job outlook for Retail Salespersons
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to shrink from 3,998,100 jobs in 2025 to 3,984,100 in 2035, a change of -0.3%, slower than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 520,600 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 13.0% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: no formal educational credential. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: short-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $35,410 for this occupation; the Ford County, KS median of $29,390 is 17.0% below it.
How pay in Ford County, KS compares
Compared with the Kansas average
Pay in Ford County, KS runs $3,090 below the Kansas average of $32,480, a gap of 9.5%. A worker who moved to a better-paying part of Kansas would, on paper, gain that difference before taxes. Within Kansas, the highest median we track for this job is $34,320 in Johnson County, KS.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Retail Salespersons is $34,080 across the contiguous United States. At $29,390, Ford County, KS pays $4,690 less, which is 13.8% below that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Ford County, KS
Among the 446 occupations with published wages in Ford County, KS, Retail Salespersons ranks number 420 by median pay, ahead of about 6% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Registered Nurses at $78,730 a year, which is $49,340 more than the median for Retail Salespersons.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Retail Salespersons earning the Ford County, KS median of $29,390, they add up to $4,511. The result is $24,879 of take-home pay a year ($2,073 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $15 goes to taxes and $85 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 15.3%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $13,640. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 12% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $1,398, an effective 4.8% of gross pay, well below the 12% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $1,822 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $426. FICA totals $2,248, which is 7.7% of gross pay.
State income tax in Kansas
Kansas income tax on this salary is $865 a year, or 2.9% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 62% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $72 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Ford County, KS
IRS Statistics of Income data for Ford County, KS show an average adjusted gross income of $63,639 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 9.9% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 4.5%, compared with the 4.8% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Ford County, KS
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Ford County, KS: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $24,879 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Ford County, KS, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $829 a month ($9,948 a year), and at $1,085 for two bedrooms. For Retail Salespersons, a one-bedroom absorbs 40.0% of take-home pay and 33.9% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 11.7% of gross pay for Retail Salespersons in Ford County, KS. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Kansas residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,495 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $515, for $2,011 in total. Gasoline in Kansas averages $3.10 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,436.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $16,830 a year in Ford County, KS. Subtract that from $24,879 of take-home pay and $8,049 remains, which is $671 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 27.4% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Ford County, KS
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Ford County, KS: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Ford County, KS, set beside the Kansas and national medians.
Property taxes in Ford County, KS
Homeowners in Ford County, KS pay a median of $2,300 a year in real estate taxes, 18% below the Kansas median of $2,798 and 26% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $151,100, the median tax bill is 1.52% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Retail Salespersons median of $29,390, a tax bill of that size would equal 7.8% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Ford County, KS
Renters in Ford County, KS pay a median gross rent of $1,010 a month in the Census survey, 5% below the Kansas median of $1,060. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $829 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $151,100, 30% below the Kansas median of $217,200. Median household income is $70,781, 5% below the Kansas median of $74,275, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 14.1% of that income.
Commuting in Ford County, KS
Workers in Ford County, KS who travel to a workplace spend an average of 12.7 minutes each way, 36% below the Kansas average of 19.7. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 2.1 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 2.9% of workers in Ford County, KS work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Retail Salespersons afford to live in Ford County, KS?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $29,390 that ceiling is $735 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $829 is $94 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $15.94 an hour; the median for Retail Salespersons is $14.13, which is 11% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $11.96 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 16.0 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,085 a month means $543 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $3,438 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $11,487.
How fast you can save
At $671 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 15 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 30 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Retail Salespersons pay in Ford County, KS
How much do Retail Salespersons make per hour in Ford County, KS?
The median is $14.13 per hour, based on $29,390 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $10.63 at the 10th percentile to $22.30 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Retail Salespersons take home after taxes in Ford County, KS?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $29,390 becomes $24,879 a year. That is $2,073 a month, $957 every two weeks or $478 a week.
How much tax do Retail Salespersons pay in Ford County, KS?
Total taxes are $4,511 a year, an effective rate of 15.3%: $1,398 federal income tax, $2,248 FICA and $865 Kansas income tax.
Do Retail Salespersons earn more in Ford County, KS than elsewhere in Kansas?
No. The local median of $29,390 is -9.5% versus the Kansas average of $32,480, a difference of $3,090 a year.
Can Retail Salespersons afford a one-bedroom apartment in Ford County, KS?
A one-bedroom costs $829 a month against take-home pay of $2,073, which is 40.0% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $735 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Retail Salespersons in Ford County, KS?
About $671 a month ($8,049 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $16,830 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Ford County, KS at the 30% guideline?
$15.94 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $9,948 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Retail Salespersons is $14.13.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Kansas nonmetropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the Kansas rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.