Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary in Kansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,157
after federal, FICA and Kansas tax
Tax takes
$18,643
23.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$66,867
Kansas costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Kansas — 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
$78,800
Kept after tax
$60,157
Worth in national money
$66,867
State rank
35
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Kansas pays this job a middle wage of $78,800, 35 of 45 states and about 19.65% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 488 occupations Kansas reports, this job comes in at 105 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Here is where Kansas does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $78,800 you keep $60,157, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $66,867 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $91,160, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Kansas's $78,800 median for political science teachers, postsecondary places it 35 of 45 states, about 19.65% 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.
- Political science teachers, postsecondary ranks 105 of 488 occupations by median in Kansas, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- After federal, FICA and Kansas income tax, retained pay for political science teachers, postsecondary on $78,800 is $60,157. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $66,867 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 $91,160 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $54,120 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $78,800 |
| Top tenth earn over | $140,380 |
| This salary | $78,800 |
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 Kansas | $60,157 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $64,266 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$733 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
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 | $72,960 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,013 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $78,800 as a midpoint for Kansas, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $54,120 and the ninetieth is $140,380 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Kansas's $60,157, worked from $78,800. 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 105 of 488.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $66,867 uses one figure for the whole of Kansas. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 488 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 105.
- The Kansas median of $78,800 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $54,120 to $140,380. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Kansas take-home of $60,157, on $78,800 for work ranking 105 of 488 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 105 of 488 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $66,867, worked from $78,800, 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 Kansas address, on work sitting at 105 of 488 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 $91,160, 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $54,120, the highest tenth $140,380, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Kansas is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $66,867 in national terms.
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 Kansas's own levy, $60,157 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 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 Kansas is $91,160. 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 ($54,120) and the ninetieth ($140,380) 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?
Kansas'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 $66,867 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 $60,157 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Kansas 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.