Communications Teachers, Postsecondary in Oklahoma
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$53,220
after federal, FICA and Oklahoma tax
Tax takes
$13,430
20.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$60,281
Oklahoma costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Oklahoma — 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
$66,650
Kept after tax
$53,220
Worth in national money
$60,281
State rank
38
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Oklahoma. The middle earner gets $66,650. That is 38 of 48 states, and about 15.18% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 492 occupations Oklahoma reports figures for, this is number 141.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $66,650 you keep $53,220 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $60,281 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $70,820, since top earners drag the number up.
- For communications teachers, postsecondary, Oklahoma sits in the lower band at $66,650, ranking 38 of 48 and trailing the national median by about 15.18%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In Oklahoma's occupational distribution, communications teachers, postsecondary sits at 141 of 492 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay in Oklahoma is $53,220 after the full tax stack, from $66,650. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $60,281 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $70,820 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Communications Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,100 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $66,650 |
| Top tenth earn over | $86,330 |
| This salary | $66,650 |
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 Oklahoma | $53,220 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $55,718 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,943 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
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 | $63,521 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,065 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $66,650 as a midpoint for Oklahoma, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $38,100 and the ninetieth is $86,330 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Oklahoma's $53,220, worked from $66,650. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 141 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $60,281 uses one figure for the whole of Oklahoma. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 492 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 141.
- The Oklahoma median of $66,650 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $38,100 to $86,330. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Oklahoma take-home of $53,220, on $66,650 for work ranking 141 of 492 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 141 of 492 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $60,281, worked from $66,650, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Oklahoma address, on work sitting at 141 of 492 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 $70,820 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $38,100 at the bottom tenth to $86,330 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Oklahoma is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $60,281 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Oklahoma's own levy, $53,220 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 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 Oklahoma is $70,820. 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 ($38,100) and the ninetieth ($86,330) 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.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Oklahoma's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $60,281 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $53,220 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Oklahoma 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.