English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$64,997
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$14,843
18.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$59,871
Washington costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Washington — 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
$79,840
Kept after tax
$64,997
Worth in national money
$59,871
State rank
18
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Washington sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $79,840, ranking 18 of 49 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 193 among 493 occupations Washington publishes pay for.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $79,840, tax leaves $64,997 — and because Washington is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $59,871 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $81,800, since top earners drag the number up.
- Washington occupies the middle band for english language and literature teachers, postsecondary: a median of $79,840, ranking 18 of 49. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Position 193 of 493 in Washington places english language and literature 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 tax, $64,997 remains from the Washington median of $79,840 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $59,871 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $81,800 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $56,220 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $79,840 |
| Top tenth earn over | $102,360 |
| This salary | $79,840 |
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 Washington | $64,997 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $64,997 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,016 |
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 | $79,840 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$9,691 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Washington earn less than $79,840. The published range is $56,220 up to $102,360, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Washington the take-home figure of $64,997, from $79,840, 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 193 of 493 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $59,871, the adjusted value of that $79,840 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Washington. 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 193 of 493 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for english language and literature teachers, postsecondary in Washington the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $56,220 to $102,360. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Washington is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $64,997 from $79,840. 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 193 of 493 locally.
- This $59,871 adjusted figure, worked from $79,840, 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 193 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 193 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $56,220 at the bottom tenth to $102,360 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Washington costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $59,871 rather than its face figure.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $64,997 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 49 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($56,220 to $102,360) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Washington rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Washington's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $59,871 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Washington levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $64,997 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
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.