Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School in Oklahoma
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,083
after federal, FICA and Oklahoma tax
Tax takes
$9,547
18.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$46,534
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
$50,630
Kept after tax
$41,083
Worth in national money
$46,534
State rank
49
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Oklahoma. The middle earner gets $50,630. That is 49 of 51 states, and about 22.25% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 492 occupations Oklahoma reports figures for, this is number 240.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $50,630 you keep $41,083 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $46,534 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $55,380, since top earners drag the number up.
- For special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school, Oklahoma sits in the lower band at $50,630, ranking 49 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 22.25%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In Oklahoma's occupational distribution, special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school sits at 240 of 492 — 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.
- Retained pay in Oklahoma is $41,083 after the full tax stack, from $50,630. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $46,534 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $55,380 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $43,870 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,630 |
| Top tenth earn over | $73,990 |
| This salary | $50,630 |
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 | $41,083 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,861 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,427 |
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 | $48,417 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,935 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Oklahoma earn less than $50,630. The published range is $43,870 up to $73,990, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Oklahoma the take-home figure of $41,083, from $50,630, 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 240 of 492 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Oklahoma, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $46,534, the adjusted value of that $50,630 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 240 of 492 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school in Oklahoma the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $43,870 to $73,990. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Oklahoma is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $41,083 from $50,630. 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 240 of 492 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Oklahoma, so $46,534 — the adjusted value of that $50,630 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 240 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 $55,380 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 $43,870 at the bottom tenth to $73,990 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $46,534 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; Oklahoma then takes its own share, leaving $41,083.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $55,380. 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 ($43,870 to $73,990) 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 $46,534 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 $41,083 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.