Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$62,081
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$19,579
24.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$63,937
Maine costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Maine — 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
$81,660
Kept after tax
$62,081
Worth in national money
$63,937
State rank
17
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Maine is 17 of 50 states for this job, with a middle wage of $81,660. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 484 occupations Maine reports, this job comes in at 112 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- No great distortion either way. Maine costs about what the country costs, so from $81,660, take-home of $62,081 is worth roughly $63,937 in national money. The average comes to $89,640, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Maine ranks 17 of 50 for psychology teachers, postsecondary at $81,660. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Psychology teachers, postsecondary ranks 112 of 484 occupations by median in Maine, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Price parity in Maine is near the national base, so for psychology teachers, postsecondary, whose median is $81,660, the adjusted figure of $63,937 differs little from $62,081 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $89,640 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $57,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $81,660 |
| Top tenth earn over | $137,060 |
| This salary | $81,660 |
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 Maine | $62,081 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $66,278 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,267 |
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 | $75,695 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,894 |
| 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 Maine earn under $81,660 and half over. The published range runs $57,200 at the tenth percentile to $137,060 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $62,081 take-home in Maine comes from $81,660. 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 112 of 484.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $63,937 uses one figure for the whole of Maine. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 484 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 112.
- Figures are distribution medians for psychology teachers, postsecondary in Maine, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $57,200 to $137,060; 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.
- Retained pay of $62,081, from $81,660, assumes a single Maine 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 112 of 484 locally, and the state ranks 17 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $63,937, worked from $81,660, 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 Maine address, on work sitting at 112 of 484 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 $89,640, 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $57,200 at the bottom tenth to $137,060 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $63,937.
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 Maine's own levy, $62,081 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 Maine is $89,640. 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 ($57,200) and the ninetieth ($137,060) 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?
Maine'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 $63,937 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 $62,081 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Maine 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.