What career does your future hold? What will your salary be? What will your taxable income be? Visit the Web site of the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Outlook Handbook to explore occupations you might enter when you graduate. Click the "A-Z Index" link to search for the career that most interests you. Scroll down to the section titled "Earnings".

Answer the questions below by typing your answers in the space provided. To assess your answers, click the Check My Answers button at the bottom of the page.

1) Using the median annual income (or average yearly salary) as your base, calculate the tax bracket for the income from a job you find interesting, using the chart at the bottom of this page. For example, the median annual income earned by architects is $52,510, which would give most architects a tax rate of 25%.

2) Click on two or three other occupations that you find interesting. What is the median annual income?

3) Calculate the tax bracket you would be in for each of the other occupations you have chosen. How do the incomes and tax brackets of these careers compare with your original career choice?

U.S. Tax Brackets-2011
Single Taxpayer	Rate
0- $8,500	10%
$8,500 to $34,500	15%
$34,500 to $83,600	25%
$83,600 to $174,400	28%
$174,400 to $379,150	33%
$379,150 and above	35%