Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education in Oklahoma
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,627
after federal, FICA and Oklahoma tax
Tax takes
$9,083
18.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,885
Oklahoma costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Oklahoma — 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
$48,710
Kept after tax
$39,627
Worth in national money
$44,885
State rank
51
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Oklahoma is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $48,710, ranking 51 of 51 states — about 32.38% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 270 among 492 occupations Oklahoma publishes pay for.
- Oklahoma is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $48,710 the take-home is $39,627; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $44,885 would nationally. The average comes to $54,950, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Oklahoma ranks 51 of 51 for secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education, with a median of $48,710 — about 32.38% 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.
- Position 270 of 492 in Oklahoma places secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Post-tax income for secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education in Oklahoma, on $48,710, is $39,627 — equivalent to $44,885 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 $54,950 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,150 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,710 |
| Top tenth earn over | $71,650 |
| This salary | $48,710 |
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 Oklahoma | $39,627 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,318 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,365 |
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 | $46,605 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,860 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
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 secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education in Oklahoma earn under $48,710 and half over. The published range runs $45,150 at the tenth percentile to $71,650 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $39,627 take-home in Oklahoma comes from $48,710. 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 270 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of Oklahoma, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $44,885, the adjusted value of that $48,710 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 270 of 492 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education in Oklahoma, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $45,150 to $71,650; 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 $39,627, from $48,710, assumes a single Oklahoma 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 270 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 51 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Oklahoma, so $44,885 — the adjusted value of that $48,710 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 270 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 $54,950 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $45,150 and the top tenth $71,650, so most people doing this work in Oklahoma sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Oklahoma sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $44,885 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 Oklahoma adds its own income tax on top — which is why $39,627 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 Oklahoma is $54,950. 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 ($45,150 to $71,650) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Oklahoma rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Oklahoma'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 $44,885 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 $39,627 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Oklahoma 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.