Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary in Georgia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$61,632
after federal, FICA and Georgia tax
Tax takes
$18,238
22.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$63,736
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
$79,870
Kept after tax
$61,632
Worth in national money
$63,736
State rank
34
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Georgia pays this job a middle wage of $79,870, 34 of 45 states and about 18.56% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Georgia this is well-paid work. Of 492 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 112 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $79,870 you keep $61,632 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $63,736 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $92,890, since top earners drag the number up.
- Georgia's $79,870 median for political science teachers, postsecondary places it 34 of 45 states, about 18.56% 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.
- Ranked against every occupation Georgia publishes a median for, political science teachers, postsecondary sits 112 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 in Georgia is $61,632 after the full tax stack, from $79,870. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $63,736 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $92,890 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,710 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $79,870 |
| Top tenth earn over | $152,460 |
| This salary | $79,870 |
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 | $61,632 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $65,019 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,173 |
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 | $75,056 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,383 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
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 political science teachers, postsecondary in Georgia earn under $79,870 and half over. The published range runs $48,710 at the tenth percentile to $152,460 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Georgia the take-home figure of $61,632, from $79,870, 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 112 of 492 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $63,736 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 112.
- Figures are distribution medians for political science teachers, postsecondary in Georgia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $48,710 to $152,460; 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 Georgia is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $61,632 from $79,870. 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 112 of 492 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $63,736, worked from $79,870, 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 112 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 $92,890, 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 $48,710 and the top tenth $152,460 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Georgia sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $63,736 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 Georgia's own levy, $61,632 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 Georgia is $92,890. 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 ($48,710) and the ninetieth ($152,460) 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 $63,736 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 $61,632 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.