Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,258
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$10,402
19.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,521
Maine costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Maine — 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
$52,660
Kept after tax
$42,258
Worth in national money
$43,521
State rank
44
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Maine pays this job a middle wage of $52,660, 44 of 50 states and about 15.99% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 484 occupations Maine reports figures for, this is number 292.
- No great distortion either way. Maine costs about what the country costs, so from $52,660, take-home of $42,258 is worth roughly $43,521 in national money. The average comes to $57,810, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Maine's $52,660 median for kindergarten teachers, except special education places it 44 of 50 states, about 15.99% 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.
- In Maine's occupational distribution, kindergarten teachers, except special education sits at 292 of 484 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Price parity in Maine is near the national base, so for kindergarten teachers, except special education, whose median is $52,660, the adjusted figure of $43,521 differs little from $42,258 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $57,810 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,350 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $52,660 |
| Top tenth earn over | $79,290 |
| This salary | $52,660 |
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 Maine | $42,258 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $44,492 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,265 |
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 | $49,879 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,739 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $52,660 as a midpoint for Maine, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $45,350 and the ninetieth is $79,290 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $42,258 take-home in Maine comes from $52,660. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 292 of 484.
- Two cautions on $43,521, the adjusted value of that $52,660 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Maine. 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 292 of 484 locally.
- The Maine median of $52,660 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $45,350 to $79,290. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $42,258, from $52,660, assumes a single Maine filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 292 of 484 locally, and the state ranks 44 of 50 for it.
- This $43,521 adjusted figure, worked from $52,660, 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 292 of 484 in the state. The occupation ranks 292 of 484 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 $57,810, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $45,350 at the tenth percentile, $79,290 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Maine is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $43,521 in national terms.
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; Maine then takes its own share, leaving $42,258.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 Maine is $57,810. 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 ($45,350 to $79,290) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Maine rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Maine'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 $43,521 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 $42,258 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Maine 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.