English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary in New York
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$64,537
after federal, FICA and New York tax
Tax takes
$20,313
23.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$59,964
New York costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in New York — 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
$84,850
Kept after tax
$64,537
Worth in national money
$59,964
State rank
9
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- New York is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $84,850, which ranks 9 of 49 states with published figures. That is about 7.73% above the national middle.
- Against other work in New York, this sits in the middle: 159 of 493 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- New York is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $84,850 the take-home is $64,537; in national-average money that behaves like $59,964. The average comes to $104,260, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- New York ranks 9 of 49 states publishing a median for english language and literature teachers, postsecondary, at $84,850 — about 7.73% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- English language and literature teachers, postsecondary ranks 159 of 493 occupations in New York 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.
- Take-home for english language and literature teachers, postsecondary in New York, on $84,850, is $64,537; deflated by the state's price level, $59,964. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $104,260 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $52,220 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $84,850 |
| Top tenth earn over | $173,580 |
| This salary | $84,850 |
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 New York | $64,537 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $68,522 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$10,550 |
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 | $79,186 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$14,573 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
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 english language and literature teachers, postsecondary in New York earn under $84,850 and half over. The published range runs $52,220 at the tenth percentile to $173,580 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 New York's $64,537, worked from $84,850. 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 159 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $59,964 uses one figure for the whole of New York. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 493 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 159.
- Figures are distribution medians for english language and literature teachers, postsecondary in New York, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $52,220 to $173,580; 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 New York take-home of $64,537, on $84,850 for work ranking 159 of 493 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 159 of 493 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $59,964, worked from $84,850, 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 New York address, on work sitting at 159 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $104,260, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $52,220, the highest tenth $173,580, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in New York run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $59,964 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 New York adds its own income tax on top — which is why $64,537 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 New York is $104,260. 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 ($52,220) and the ninetieth ($173,580) 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?
New York's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $59,964 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 $64,537 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and New York 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.