Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary in Idaho
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$64,416
after federal, FICA and Idaho tax
Tax takes
$19,724
23.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$70,458
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
$84,140
Kept after tax
$64,416
Worth in national money
$70,458
State rank
18
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Idaho pays this job around $84,140 at the midpoint, 18 of 46 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Idaho. It ranks 92 out of 476 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Here is where Idaho does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $84,140 you keep $64,416, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $70,458 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $92,560, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For sociology teachers, postsecondary the Idaho median is $84,140, ranking 18 of 46 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within Idaho, sociology teachers, postsecondary ranks 92 of 476 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 Idaho income tax, retained pay for sociology teachers, postsecondary on $84,140 is $64,416. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $70,458 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 $92,560 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $71,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $84,140 |
| Top tenth earn over | $127,980 |
| This salary | $84,140 |
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 | $64,416 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $68,022 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$458 |
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 | $79,014 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$633 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 91 |
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 sociology teachers, postsecondary in Idaho earn under $84,140 and half over. The published range runs $71,200 at the tenth percentile to $127,980 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 Idaho's $64,416, worked from $84,140. 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 92 of 476.
- Two cautions on $70,458, the adjusted value of that $84,140 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 92 of 476 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for sociology teachers, postsecondary in Idaho, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $71,200 to $127,980; 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 Idaho take-home of $64,416, on $84,140 for work ranking 92 of 476 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 92 of 476 in the state.
- This $70,458 adjusted figure, worked from $84,140, 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 92 of 476 in the state. The occupation ranks 92 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 $92,560, 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 $71,200 at the bottom tenth to $127,980 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 $70,458 in national terms.
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 Idaho's own levy, $64,416 remains.
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 46 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 Idaho is $92,560. 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 ($71,200 to $127,980) 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 $70,458 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 $64,416 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.
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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.