Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary in Maryland
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$78,409
after federal, FICA and Maryland tax
Tax takes
$27,221
25.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$75,419
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
$105,630
Kept after tax
$78,409
Worth in national money
$75,419
State rank
7
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Maryland pays this job a middle wage of $105,630, ranking 7 of 45 states and sitting about 7.71% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Maryland. It ranks 81 out of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Maryland is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $105,630 the take-home is $78,409; in national-average money that behaves like $75,419. The average comes to $126,130, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Maryland's median for political science teachers, postsecondary is $105,630, about 7.71% above the national figure and 7 of 45 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Within Maryland, political science teachers, postsecondary ranks 81 of 489 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Take-home for political science teachers, postsecondary in Maryland, on $105,630, is $78,409; deflated by the state's price level, $75,419. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $126,130 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $66,810 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $105,630 |
| Top tenth earn over | $219,530 |
| This salary | $105,630 |
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 | $78,409 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $83,141 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$10,139 |
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 | $98,904 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$14,005 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 104 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Maryland earn less than $105,630. The published range is $66,810 up to $219,530, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Maryland the take-home figure of $78,409, from $105,630, 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 81 of 489 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $75,419 uses one figure for the whole of Maryland. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 489 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 81.
- Reported values are medians; for political science teachers, postsecondary in Maryland the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $66,810 to $219,530. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Maryland is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $78,409 from $105,630. 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 81 of 489 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $75,419, worked from $105,630, 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 Maryland address, on work sitting at 81 of 489 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 $126,130, 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 $66,810, the highest tenth $219,530, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $75,419 of national purchasing power.
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 Maryland's own levy, $78,409 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 Maryland is $126,130. 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 ($66,810) and the ninetieth ($219,530) 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.
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 $75,419 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 $78,409 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.
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.