Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education in Idaho
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$27,650
after federal, FICA and Idaho tax
Tax takes
$5,150
15.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$30,243
Idaho costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Idaho — 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
$32,800
Kept after tax
$27,650
Worth in national money
$30,243
State rank
46
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Idaho is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $32,800, ranking 46 of 51 states — about 14% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Idaho, this one sits low: 456 of 476 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Idaho is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $32,800 the take-home is $27,650; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $30,243 would nationally. The average comes to $35,650, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Idaho ranks 46 of 51 for preschool teachers, except special education, with a median of $32,800 — about 14% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Preschool teachers, except special education occupies position 456 of 476 in Idaho's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Post-tax income for preschool teachers, except special education in Idaho, on $32,800, is $27,650 — equivalent to $30,243 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $35,650 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $26,500 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $32,800 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,950 |
| This salary | $32,800 |
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 Idaho | $27,650 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $28,535 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$879 |
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 | $31,698 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,063 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 91 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $32,800 as a midpoint for Idaho, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $26,500 and the ninetieth is $46,950 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $27,650 take-home in Idaho comes from $32,800. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 456 of 476.
- Two cautions on $30,243, the adjusted value of that $32,800 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Idaho. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 456 of 476 locally.
- The Idaho median of $32,800 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $26,500 to $46,950. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $27,650, from $32,800, assumes a single Idaho filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 456 of 476 locally, and the state ranks 46 of 51 for it.
- This $30,243 adjusted figure, worked from $32,800, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 456 of 476 in the state. The occupation ranks 456 of 476 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 $35,650, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $26,500 at the bottom tenth to $46,950 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Idaho is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $30,243 in national terms.
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 Idaho adds its own income tax on top — which is why $27,650 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 Idaho is $35,650. 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 ($26,500 to $46,950) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Idaho rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Idaho'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 $30,243 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 $27,650 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Idaho 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.