Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education in Indiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,577
after federal, FICA and Indiana tax
Tax takes
$6,073
16.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,169
Indiana costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Indiana — 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
$36,650
Kept after tax
$30,577
Worth in national money
$33,169
State rank
29
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Indiana is 29 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $36,650. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Indiana this is lower-paid work. Of 493 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 435. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $36,650 you keep $30,577 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $33,169 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $38,240, since top earners drag the number up.
- Indiana ranks 29 of 51 for preschool teachers, except special education at $36,650. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Indiana reports, preschool teachers, except special education ranks 435 of 493, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Retained pay in Indiana is $30,577 after the full tax stack, from $36,650. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $33,169 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $38,240 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,720 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,650 |
| Top tenth earn over | $50,920 |
| This salary | $36,650 |
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 Indiana | $30,577 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,628 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$621 |
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 | $35,341 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$751 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Indiana earn less than $36,650. The published range is $28,720 up to $50,920, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Indiana the take-home figure of $30,577, from $36,650, 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 435 of 493 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $33,169, the adjusted value of that $36,650 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Indiana. 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 435 of 493 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for preschool teachers, except special education in Indiana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $28,720 to $50,920. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Indiana is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $30,577 from $36,650. 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 435 of 493 locally.
- This $33,169 adjusted figure, worked from $36,650, 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 435 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 435 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $38,240 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $28,720 at the bottom tenth to $50,920 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $33,169.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Indiana then takes its own share, leaving $30,577.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 Indiana is $38,240. 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 ($28,720 to $50,920) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Indiana rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Indiana'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 $33,169 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 $30,577 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Indiana 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.