History Teachers, Postsecondary in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$90,452
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$36,718
28.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$80,344
California costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in California — 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
$127,170
Kept after tax
$90,452
Worth in national money
$80,344
State rank
1
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. California's middle earner gets $127,170, putting the state 1 of 45 — about 51.72% ahead of the national figure.
- Within California this is well-paid work. Of 492 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 74 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $127,170 the take-home is $90,452. But California costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $80,344 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $134,280, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For history teachers, postsecondary, California sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $127,170, ranking 1 of 45 and running about 51.72% 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.
- Ranked against every occupation California publishes a median for, history teachers, postsecondary sits 74 of 492 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and California income tax is $90,452 for history teachers, postsecondary, from $127,170. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $80,344. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $134,280 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: History Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $62,690 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $127,170 |
| Top tenth earn over | $217,700 |
| This salary | $127,170 |
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 California | $90,452 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $98,187 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$20,697 |
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 | $116,023 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$28,742 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in California earn less than $127,170. The published range is $62,690 up to $217,700, 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 California's $90,452, worked from $127,170. 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 74 of 492.
- Two cautions on $80,344, the adjusted value of that $127,170 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of California. 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 74 of 492 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for history teachers, postsecondary in California the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $62,690 to $217,700. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The California take-home of $90,452, on $127,170 for work ranking 74 of 492 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 74 of 492 in the state.
- This $80,344 adjusted figure, worked from $127,170, 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 74 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 74 of 492 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 $134,280, 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $62,690 and the top tenth $217,700 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $80,344 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and California's own levy, $90,452 remains.
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 California is $134,280. 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 ($62,690) and the ninetieth ($217,700) 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?
California's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $80,344 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 $90,452 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and California 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.