Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,044
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$12,836
20.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$50,510
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
$61,880
Kept after tax
$49,044
Worth in national money
$50,510
State rank
31
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Maine sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $61,880, ranking 31 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 484 occupations Maine reports figures for, this is number 218.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $61,880 the take-home is $49,044, which is worth about $50,510 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $64,220, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Maine occupies the middle band for special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school: a median of $61,880, ranking 31 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- In Maine's occupational distribution, special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school sits at 218 of 484 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Maine's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school on its $61,880 median: $49,044 retained after tax becomes $50,510 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $64,220 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,620 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,880 |
| Top tenth earn over | $79,390 |
| This salary | $61,880 |
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 | $49,044 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,901 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,899 |
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 | $58,325 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,506 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $61,880 as a midpoint for Maine, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $45,620 and the ninetieth is $79,390 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $49,044 take-home in Maine comes from $61,880. 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 218 of 484.
- One number stands for prices across all of Maine, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $50,510, the adjusted value of that $61,880 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 218 of 484 in the state.
- The Maine median of $61,880 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $45,620 to $79,390. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $49,044, from $61,880, 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 218 of 484 locally, and the state ranks 31 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Maine, so $50,510 — the adjusted value of that $61,880 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 218 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 $64,220 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $45,620 at the bottom tenth to $79,390 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. Maine is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $50,510 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 Maine's own levy, $49,044 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $64,220. 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 ($45,620 to $79,390) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Maine rather than a national figure.
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 $50,510 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 $49,044 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.
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.