Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education in Mississippi
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,287
after federal, FICA and Mississippi tax
Tax takes
$9,503
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$46,152
Mississippi costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Mississippi — 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
$49,790
Kept after tax
$40,287
Worth in national money
$46,152
State rank
50
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Mississippi pays this job a middle wage of $49,790, 50 of 51 states and about 22.17% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 230 among 486 occupations Mississippi publishes pay for.
- Here is where Mississippi does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $49,790 you keep $40,287, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $46,152 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $52,300, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Mississippi's $49,790 median for elementary school teachers, except special education places it 50 of 51 states, about 22.17% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Position 230 of 486 in Mississippi 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.
- After federal, FICA and Mississippi income tax, retained pay for elementary school teachers, except special education on $49,790 is $40,287. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $46,152 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 $52,300 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,020 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $49,790 |
| Top tenth earn over | $62,990 |
| This salary | $49,790 |
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 Mississippi | $40,287 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,186 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,739 |
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 | $47,426 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,312 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
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 elementary school teachers, except special education in Mississippi earn under $49,790 and half over. The published range runs $46,020 at the tenth percentile to $62,990 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Mississippi's $40,287, worked from $49,790. 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 230 of 486.
- Two cautions on $46,152, the adjusted value of that $49,790 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Mississippi. 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 230 of 486 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for elementary school teachers, except special education in Mississippi, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $46,020 to $62,990; 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.
- The Mississippi take-home of $40,287, on $49,790 for work ranking 230 of 486 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 230 of 486 in the state.
- This $46,152 adjusted figure, worked from $49,790, 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 230 of 486 in the state. The occupation ranks 230 of 486 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $52,300, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $46,020 at the bottom tenth to $62,990 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. Mississippi is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $46,152 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Mississippi adds its own income tax on top — which is why $40,287 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 Mississippi is $52,300. 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 ($46,020 to $62,990) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Mississippi rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Mississippi'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 $46,152 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 $40,287 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Mississippi 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.