Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education in Maryland
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,696
after federal, FICA and Maryland tax
Tax takes
$17,814
22.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$58,381
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
$78,510
Kept after tax
$60,696
Worth in national money
$58,381
State rank
11
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Maryland's middle earner gets $78,510, putting the state 11 of 51 — about 21.97% ahead of the national figure.
- Against other work in Maryland, this sits in the middle: 168 of 489 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $78,510 the take-home is $60,696. But Maryland costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $58,381 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $83,070, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For middle school teachers, except special and career/technical education, Maryland sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $78,510, ranking 11 of 51 and running about 21.97% 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.
- Middle school teachers, except special and career/technical education ranks 168 of 489 occupations in Maryland 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.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Maryland income tax is $60,696 for middle school teachers, except special and career/technical education, from $78,510. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $58,381. ⚠️ 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 $83,070 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: Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $59,890 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $78,510 |
| Top tenth earn over | $115,540 |
| This salary | $78,510 |
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 | $60,696 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $64,062 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,543 |
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 | $73,726 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$10,419 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 104 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of middle school teachers, except special and career/technical education in Maryland earn under $78,510 and half over. The published range runs $59,890 at the tenth percentile to $115,540 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Maryland the take-home figure of $60,696, from $78,510, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 168 of 489 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $58,381, the adjusted value of that $78,510 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Maryland. 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 168 of 489 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for middle school teachers, except special and career/technical education in Maryland, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $59,890 to $115,540; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Take-home for Maryland is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $60,696 from $78,510. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 168 of 489 locally.
- This $58,381 adjusted figure, worked from $78,510, 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 168 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 168 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $83,070, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $59,890 and the top tenth $115,540, so most people doing this work in Maryland sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Maryland costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $58,381 rather than its face figure.
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 Maryland adds its own income tax on top — which is why $60,696 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $83,070. 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 ($59,890 to $115,540) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Maryland rather than a national figure.
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 $58,381 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 $60,696 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.