Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School in Massachusetts
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$68,847
after federal, FICA and Massachusetts tax
Tax takes
$22,503
24.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$63,607
Massachusetts costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Massachusetts — 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
$91,350
Kept after tax
$68,847
Worth in national money
$63,607
State rank
4
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Massachusetts pays this job a middle wage of $91,350, ranking 4 of 51 states and sitting about 40.28% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 485 occupations Massachusetts reports figures for, this is number 148.
- Massachusetts is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $91,350 the take-home is $68,847; in national-average money that behaves like $63,607. The average lands at $89,550, below the middle of the range.
- Massachusetts's median for special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school is $91,350, about 40.28% above the national figure and 4 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- In Massachusetts's occupational distribution, special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school sits at 148 of 485 — 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.
- Take-home for special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school in Massachusetts, on $91,350, is $68,847; deflated by the state's price level, $63,607. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $89,550 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $61,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $91,350 |
| Top tenth earn over | $127,210 |
| This salary | $91,350 |
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 Massachusetts | $68,847 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $73,095 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$11,612 |
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 | $85,312 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$16,040 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
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 special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school in Massachusetts earn under $91,350 and half over. The published range runs $61,200 at the tenth percentile to $127,210 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $68,847 take-home in Massachusetts comes from $91,350. 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 148 of 485.
- Two cautions on $63,607, the adjusted value of that $91,350 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Massachusetts. 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 148 of 485 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school in Massachusetts, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $61,200 to $127,210; 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 $68,847, from $91,350, assumes a single Massachusetts 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 148 of 485 locally, and the state ranks 4 of 51 for it.
- This $63,607 adjusted figure, worked from $91,350, 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 148 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 148 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $61,200, the highest tenth $127,210, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Massachusetts run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $63,607 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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; Massachusetts then takes its own share, leaving $68,847.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($61,200) and the ninetieth ($127,210) 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.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Massachusetts's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $63,607 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $68,847 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Massachusetts 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.