Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary in Georgia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$61,351
after federal, FICA and Georgia tax
Tax takes
$18,089
22.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$63,445
Georgia costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Georgia — 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
$79,440
Kept after tax
$61,351
Worth in national money
$63,445
State rank
23
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Georgia sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $79,440, ranking 23 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Georgia. It ranks 114 out of 492 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Here is where Georgia does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $79,440 you keep $61,351, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $63,445 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $86,400, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Georgia occupies the middle band for psychology teachers, postsecondary: a median of $79,440, ranking 23 of 50. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Within Georgia, psychology teachers, postsecondary ranks 114 of 492 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.
- After federal, FICA and Georgia income tax, retained pay for psychology teachers, postsecondary on $79,440 is $61,351. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $63,445 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 $86,400 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,170 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $79,440 |
| Top tenth earn over | $135,630 |
| This salary | $79,440 |
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 Georgia | $61,351 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $64,716 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,152 |
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 | $74,656 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,354 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
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 psychology teachers, postsecondary in Georgia earn under $79,440 and half over. The published range runs $45,170 at the tenth percentile to $135,630 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Georgia's $61,351, worked from $79,440. 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 114 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of Georgia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $63,445, the adjusted value of that $79,440 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 114 of 492 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for psychology teachers, postsecondary in Georgia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $45,170 to $135,630; 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.
- The Georgia take-home of $61,351, on $79,440 for work ranking 114 of 492 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 114 of 492 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Georgia, so $63,445 — the adjusted value of that $79,440 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 114 of 492 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 $86,400 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $45,170, the highest tenth $135,630, 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. Georgia is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $63,445 in national terms.
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; Georgia then takes its own share, leaving $61,351.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 Georgia is $86,400. 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 ($45,170) and the ninetieth ($135,630) 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?
Georgia'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 $63,445 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 $61,351 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Georgia 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.