Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary in Maryland
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$66,449
after federal, FICA and Maryland tax
Tax takes
$20,831
23.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$63,915
Maryland costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Maryland — 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
$87,280
Kept after tax
$66,449
Worth in national money
$63,915
State rank
8
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Maryland's middle earner gets $87,280, putting the state 8 of 45 — about 9.99% ahead of the national figure.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 130 among 489 occupations Maryland publishes pay for.
- Maryland is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $87,280 the take-home is $66,449; in national-average money that behaves like $63,915. The average comes to $94,620, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary, Maryland sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $87,280, ranking 8 of 45 and running about 9.99% 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 130 of 489 in Maryland places foreign 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.
- Take-home for foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary in Maryland, on $87,280, is $66,449; deflated by the state's price level, $63,915. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $94,620 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $51,920 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $87,280 |
| Top tenth earn over | $131,060 |
| This salary | $87,280 |
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 Maryland | $66,449 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $70,231 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$8,358 |
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 | $81,904 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$11,545 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 104 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Maryland earn less than $87,280. The published range is $51,920 up to $131,060, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Maryland's $66,449, worked from $87,280. 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 130 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $63,915 uses one figure for the whole of Maryland. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 489 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 130.
- Reported values are medians; for foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary in Maryland the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $51,920 to $131,060. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Maryland take-home of $66,449, on $87,280 for work ranking 130 of 489 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 130 of 489 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $63,915, worked from $87,280, 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 Maryland address, on work sitting at 130 of 489 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 $94,620 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $51,920 at the bottom tenth to $131,060 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $63,915 of national purchasing power.
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; Maryland then takes its own share, leaving $66,449.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 45 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 Maryland is $94,620. 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 ($51,920) and the ninetieth ($131,060) 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?
Maryland's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $63,915 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 $66,449 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Maryland 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.