Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education in Hawaii
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$55,083
after federal, FICA and Hawaii tax
Tax takes
$16,327
22.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$50,717
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
$71,410
Kept after tax
$55,083
Worth in national money
$50,717
State rank
21
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Hawaii pays this job around $71,410 at the midpoint, 21 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 179 among 437 occupations Hawaii publishes pay for.
- Hawaii is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $71,410 the take-home is $55,083; in national-average money that behaves like $50,717. The average lands at $70,670, below the middle of the range.
- For elementary school teachers, except special education the Hawaii median is $71,410, ranking 21 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Position 179 of 437 in Hawaii places elementary school teachers, except special education 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.
- Take-home for elementary school teachers, except special education in Hawaii, on $71,410, is $55,083; deflated by the state's price level, $50,717. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $70,670 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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: Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $55,210 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $71,410 |
| Top tenth earn over | $95,120 |
| This salary | $71,410 |
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 | $55,083 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $59,067 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$10,067 |
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 | $65,841 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$12,786 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $71,410 as a midpoint for Hawaii, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $55,210 and the ninetieth is $95,120 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $55,083 take-home in Hawaii comes from $71,410. 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 179 of 437.
- Two cautions on $50,717, the adjusted value of that $71,410 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Hawaii. 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 179 of 437 locally.
- The Hawaii median of $71,410 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $55,210 to $95,120. 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 $55,083, from $71,410, assumes a single Hawaii 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 179 of 437 locally, and the state ranks 21 of 51 for it.
- This $50,717 adjusted figure, worked from $71,410, 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 179 of 437 in the state. The occupation ranks 179 of 437 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $55,210 at the tenth percentile, $95,120 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Hawaii costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $50,717 rather than its face figure.
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, $55,083 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($55,210 to $95,120) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Hawaii rather than a national figure.
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 $50,717 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 $55,083 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.