Education Administrators, Postsecondary in Hawaii
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$61,113
after federal, FICA and Hawaii tax
Tax takes
$19,907
24.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$56,269
Hawaii costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Hawaii — 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
$81,020
Kept after tax
$61,113
Worth in national money
$56,269
State rank
50
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Hawaii. The middle earner gets $81,020. That is 50 of 51 states, and about 22.54% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against other work in Hawaii, this sits in the middle: 131 of 437 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $81,020 the take-home is $61,113. But Hawaii costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $56,269 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $85,940, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For education administrators, postsecondary, Hawaii sits in the lower band at $81,020, ranking 50 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 22.54%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Education administrators, postsecondary ranks 131 of 437 occupations in Hawaii by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Hawaii income tax is $61,113 for education administrators, postsecondary, from $81,020. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $56,269. ⚠️ 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 $85,940 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Education Administrators, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,340 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $81,020 |
| Top tenth earn over | $133,560 |
| This salary | $81,020 |
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 Hawaii | $61,113 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $65,828 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$11,472 |
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 | $74,319 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$15,682 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of education administrators, postsecondary in Hawaii earn under $81,020 and half over. The published range runs $37,340 at the tenth percentile to $133,560 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Hawaii the take-home figure of $61,113, from $81,020, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 131 of 437 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $56,269 uses one figure for the whole of Hawaii. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 437 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 131.
- Figures are distribution medians for education administrators, postsecondary in Hawaii, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,340 to $133,560; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Take-home for Hawaii is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $61,113 from $81,020. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 131 of 437 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $56,269, worked from $81,020, 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 Hawaii address, on work sitting at 131 of 437 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 $85,940 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 $37,340 and the top tenth $133,560 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Hawaii run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $56,269 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 Hawaii's own levy, $61,113 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 Hawaii is $85,940. 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 ($37,340) and the ninetieth ($133,560) 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?
Hawaii's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $56,269 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 $61,113 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Hawaii 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.