Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary in Mississippi
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$44,013
after federal, FICA and Mississippi tax
Tax takes
$10,657
19.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$50,420
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
$54,670
Kept after tax
$44,013
Worth in national money
$50,420
State rank
45
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Mississippi pays this job a middle wage of $54,670, 45 of 45 states and about 31.1% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 191 among 486 occupations Mississippi publishes pay for.
- Here is where Mississippi does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $54,670 you keep $44,013, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $50,420 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $61,690, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Mississippi's $54,670 median for foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary places it 45 of 45 states, about 31.1% 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 191 of 486 in Mississippi 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.
- After federal, FICA and Mississippi income tax, retained pay for foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary on $54,670 is $44,013. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $50,420 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 $61,690 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,380 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $54,670 |
| Top tenth earn over | $80,860 |
| This salary | $54,670 |
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 | $44,013 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $46,107 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,972 |
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 | $52,063 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,595 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Mississippi earn less than $54,670. The published range is $45,380 up to $80,860, 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 Mississippi's $44,013, worked from $54,670. 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 191 of 486.
- One number stands for prices across all of Mississippi, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $50,420, the adjusted value of that $54,670 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 191 of 486 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary in Mississippi the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $45,380 to $80,860. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Mississippi take-home of $44,013, on $54,670 for work ranking 191 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 191 of 486 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Mississippi, so $50,420 — the adjusted value of that $54,670 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 191 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 $61,690, 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 $45,380 at the bottom tenth to $80,860 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $50,420.
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 $44,013 of this wage survives to your account.
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 Mississippi is $61,690. 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 ($45,380 to $80,860) 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 $50,420 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 $44,013 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.
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.