Education Teachers, Postsecondary in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$63,127
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$14,413
18.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$71,271
North Dakota costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in North Dakota — 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
$77,540
Kept after tax
$63,127
Worth in national money
$71,271
State rank
15
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. North Dakota's middle earner gets $77,540, putting the state 15 of 49 — about 2.91% ahead of the national figure.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 119 among 460 occupations North Dakota publishes pay for.
- Here is where North Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $77,540 you keep $63,127, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $71,271 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $80,400, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For education teachers, postsecondary, North Dakota sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $77,540, ranking 15 of 49 and running about 2.91% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Position 119 of 460 in North Dakota places education 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.
- After federal, FICA and North Dakota income tax, retained pay for education teachers, postsecondary on $77,540 is $63,127. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $71,271 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $80,400 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Education Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,520 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $77,540 |
| Top tenth earn over | $103,850 |
| This salary | $77,540 |
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 North Dakota | $63,127 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $63,379 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$6,050 |
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 | $77,181 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$8,356 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
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 teachers, postsecondary in North Dakota earn under $77,540 and half over. The published range runs $48,520 at the tenth percentile to $103,850 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $63,127 take-home in North Dakota comes from $77,540. 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 119 of 460.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $71,271 uses one figure for the whole of North Dakota. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 460 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 119.
- Figures are distribution medians for education teachers, postsecondary in North Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $48,520 to $103,850; 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.
- Retained pay of $63,127, from $77,540, assumes a single North Dakota 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 119 of 460 locally, and the state ranks 15 of 49 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $71,271, worked from $77,540, 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 North Dakota address, on work sitting at 119 of 460 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 $80,400 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $48,520 at the bottom tenth to $103,850 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. North Dakota is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $71,271 in national terms.
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; North Dakota then takes its own share, leaving $63,127.
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 North Dakota is $80,400. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($48,520 to $103,850) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to North Dakota rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
North Dakota'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 $71,271 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 $63,127 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and North Dakota 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.