Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education in Hawaii
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,096
after federal, FICA and Hawaii tax
Tax takes
$9,684
19.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,997
Hawaii costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Hawaii — 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
$48,780
Kept after tax
$39,096
Worth in national money
$35,997
State rank
3
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Hawaii's middle earner gets $48,780, putting the state 3 of 51 — about 27.9% ahead of the national figure.
- Against other work in Hawaii, this sits in the middle: 327 of 437 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $48,780, tax leaves $39,096 — and because Hawaii is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $35,997 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $50,670, since top earners drag the number up.
- For preschool teachers, except special education, Hawaii sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $48,780, ranking 3 of 51 and running about 27.9% 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.
- Preschool teachers, except special education ranks 327 of 437 occupations in Hawaii 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.
- After tax, $39,096 remains from the Hawaii median of $48,780 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $35,997 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $50,670 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,160 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,780 |
| Top tenth earn over | $64,110 |
| This salary | $48,780 |
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 Hawaii | $39,096 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,375 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,580 |
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 | $45,944 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,958 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
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 preschool teachers, except special education in Hawaii earn under $48,780 and half over. The published range runs $37,160 at the tenth percentile to $64,110 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Hawaii the take-home figure of $39,096, from $48,780, 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 327 of 437 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Hawaii, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $35,997, the adjusted value of that $48,780 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 327 of 437 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for preschool teachers, except special education in Hawaii, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,160 to $64,110; 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 Hawaii is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $39,096 from $48,780. 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 327 of 437 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Hawaii, so $35,997 — the adjusted value of that $48,780 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 327 of 437 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $50,670, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $37,160 at the bottom tenth to $64,110 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Hawaii run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $35,997 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 Hawaii adds its own income tax on top — which is why $39,096 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 Hawaii is $50,670. 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 ($37,160 to $64,110) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Hawaii rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Hawaii's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $35,997 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 $39,096 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Hawaii 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.