Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary in Oregon
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$56,671
after federal, FICA and Oregon tax
Tax takes
$20,100
26.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,116
Oregon costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Oregon — 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
$76,770
Kept after tax
$56,671
Worth in national money
$54,116
State rank
24
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Oregon is 24 of 49 states for this job, with a middle wage of $76,770. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 181 among 489 occupations Oregon publishes pay for.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $76,770 the take-home is $56,671. But Oregon costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $54,116 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $100,640, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Oregon ranks 24 of 49 for art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary at $76,770. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 181 of 489 in Oregon places art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary 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.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Oregon income tax is $56,671 for art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary, from $76,770. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $54,116. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $100,640 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,580 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $76,770 |
| Top tenth earn over | $206,120 |
| This salary | $76,770 |
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 Oregon | $56,671 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $62,838 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$10,549 |
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 | $68,004 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$14,036 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 105 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $76,770 as a midpoint for Oregon, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $48,580 and the ninetieth is $206,120 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $56,671 take-home in Oregon comes from $76,770. 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 181 of 489.
- Two cautions on $54,116, the adjusted value of that $76,770 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Oregon. 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 181 of 489 locally.
- The Oregon median of $76,770 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $48,580 to $206,120. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $56,671, from $76,770, assumes a single Oregon 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 181 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 24 of 49 for it.
- This $54,116 adjusted figure, worked from $76,770, 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 181 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 181 of 489 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 $100,640 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $48,580 and the top tenth $206,120 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $54,116 of national purchasing power.
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; Oregon then takes its own share, leaving $56,671.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 Oregon is $100,640. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($48,580) and the ninetieth ($206,120) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Oregon's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $54,116 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $56,671 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Oregon 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.