Physics Teachers, Postsecondary in Georgia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$75,821
after federal, FICA and Georgia tax
Tax takes
$25,759
25.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$78,410
Georgia costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Georgia — 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
$101,580
Kept after tax
$75,821
Worth in national money
$78,410
State rank
17
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Georgia pays physics teachers, postsecondary around $101,580 at the midpoint, 17 of 47 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Within Georgia this is well-paid work. Of 492 occupations with published figures in the state, physics teachers, postsecondary ranks 58 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Here is where Georgia does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $101,580 you keep $75,821, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $78,410 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $108,810, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For physics teachers, postsecondary the Georgia median is $101,580, ranking 17 of 47 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.
- Ranked against every occupation Georgia publishes a median for, physics teachers, postsecondary sits 58 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.
- After federal, FICA and Georgia income tax, retained pay for physics teachers, postsecondary on $101,580 is $75,821. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $78,410 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 $108,810 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Physics Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $63,710 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $101,580 |
| Top tenth earn over | $168,000 |
| This salary | $101,580 |
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 Georgia | $75,821 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $80,292 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,216 |
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 | $95,226 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,823 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Georgia earn less than $101,580. The published range is $63,710 up to $168,000, 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 Georgia's $75,821, worked from $101,580. 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 58 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $78,410 uses one figure for the whole of Georgia. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 492 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 58.
- Reported values are medians; for physics teachers, postsecondary in Georgia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $63,710 to $168,000. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Georgia take-home of $75,821, on $101,580 for work ranking 58 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 58 of 492 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $78,410, worked from $101,580, 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 Georgia address, on work sitting at 58 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 $108,810, 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 $63,710 and the top tenth $168,000 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Georgia is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $78,410 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; Georgia then takes its own share, leaving $75,821.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 47 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 Georgia is $108,810. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($63,710) and the ninetieth ($168,000) 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.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Georgia'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 $78,410 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 $75,821 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Georgia 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.