Special Education Teachers, Middle School in Connecticut
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$69,826
after federal, FICA and Connecticut tax
Tax takes
$23,074
24.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$67,341
Connecticut costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Connecticut — 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
$92,900
Kept after tax
$69,826
Worth in national money
$67,341
State rank
5
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Connecticut's middle earner gets $92,900, putting the state 5 of 51 — about 39.05% ahead of the national figure.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 482 occupations Connecticut reports, this job comes in at 120 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $92,900, tax leaves $69,826 — and because Connecticut is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $67,341 would nationally. Here the average runs under the middle, at $87,110.
- For special education teachers, middle school, Connecticut sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $92,900, ranking 5 of 51 and running about 39.05% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Special education teachers, middle school ranks 120 of 482 occupations by median in Connecticut, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- After tax, $69,826 remains from the Connecticut median of $92,900 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $67,341 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $87,110 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Special Education Teachers, Middle School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $61,370 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $92,900 |
| Top tenth earn over | $107,660 |
| This salary | $92,900 |
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 Connecticut | $69,826 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $74,185 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$9,000 |
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 | $86,703 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$12,432 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 104 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $92,900 as a midpoint for Connecticut, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $61,370 and the ninetieth is $107,660 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Connecticut's $69,826, worked from $92,900. 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 120 of 482.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $67,341 uses one figure for the whole of Connecticut. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 482 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 120.
- The Connecticut median of $92,900 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $61,370 to $107,660. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Connecticut take-home of $69,826, on $92,900 for work ranking 120 of 482 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 120 of 482 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $67,341, worked from $92,900, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Connecticut address, on work sitting at 120 of 482 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 $87,110, 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 $61,370 at the bottom tenth to $107,660 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Connecticut run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $67,341 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 Connecticut's own levy, $69,826 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 Connecticut is $87,110. 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 ($61,370 to $107,660) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Connecticut rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Connecticut's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $67,341 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 $69,826 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Connecticut 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.