Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$63,928
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$14,392
18.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$58,886
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
$78,320
Kept after tax
$63,928
Worth in national money
$58,886
State rank
21
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Washington pays this job around $78,320 at the midpoint, 21 of 45 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against other work in Washington, this sits in the middle: 212 of 493 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $78,320, tax leaves $63,928 — and because Washington is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $58,886 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $80,500, since top earners drag the number up.
- For foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary the Washington median is $78,320, ranking 21 of 45 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary ranks 212 of 493 occupations in Washington 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.
- After tax, $63,928 remains from the Washington median of $78,320 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $58,886 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $80,500 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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 | $51,380 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $78,320 |
| Top tenth earn over | $105,390 |
| This salary | $78,320 |
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 | $63,928 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $63,928 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,900 |
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 | $78,320 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$9,531 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $78,320 as a midpoint for Washington, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $51,380 and the ninetieth is $105,390 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Washington's $63,928, worked from $78,320. 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 212 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $58,886 uses one figure for the whole of Washington. 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 212.
- The Washington median of $78,320 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $51,380 to $105,390. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Washington take-home of $63,928, on $78,320 for work ranking 212 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 212 of 493 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $58,886, worked from $78,320, 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 Washington address, on work sitting at 212 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $51,380 at the tenth percentile, $105,390 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Washington run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $58,886 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $63,928 of this wage reaches your account, because Washington takes no income tax from wages — but federal tax, Social Security and Medicare still apply exactly as they do everywhere else.
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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($51,380 to $105,390) 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 $58,886 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 $63,928 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.