Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$58,492
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$17,518
23.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$60,241
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
$76,010
Kept after tax
$58,492
Worth in national money
$60,241
State rank
38
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Maine is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $76,010, ranking 38 of 46 states — about 9.82% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 142 among 484 occupations Maine publishes pay for.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $76,010 the take-home is $58,492, which is worth about $60,241 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $89,440, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Maine ranks 38 of 46 for sociology teachers, postsecondary, with a median of $76,010 — about 9.82% 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 142 of 484 in Maine places sociology teachers, postsecondary 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.
- Maine's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for sociology teachers, postsecondary on its $76,010 median: $58,492 retained after tax becomes $60,241 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $89,440 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $61,700 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $76,010 |
| Top tenth earn over | $137,320 |
| This salary | $76,010 |
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 | $58,492 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $62,303 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,873 |
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 | $70,593 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,350 |
| 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 sociology teachers, postsecondary in Maine earn under $76,010 and half over. The published range runs $61,700 at the tenth percentile to $137,320 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Maine the take-home figure of $58,492, from $76,010, 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 142 of 484 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Maine, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $60,241, the adjusted value of that $76,010 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 142 of 484 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for sociology teachers, postsecondary in Maine, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $61,700 to $137,320; 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.
- Take-home for Maine is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $58,492 from $76,010. 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 142 of 484 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Maine, so $60,241 — the adjusted value of that $76,010 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 142 of 484 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 $89,440 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $61,700 and the top tenth $137,320 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Maine sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $60,241 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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; Maine then takes its own share, leaving $58,492.
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 Maine is $89,440. 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 ($61,700) and the ninetieth ($137,320) 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 $60,241 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 $58,492 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.