Special Education Teachers, Middle School in Florida
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,744
after federal, FICA and Florida tax
Tax takes
$9,696
16.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$49,050
Florida costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Florida — 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
$60,440
Kept after tax
$50,744
Worth in national money
$49,050
State rank
37
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Florida is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $60,440, ranking 37 of 51 states — about 9.53% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Against other work in Florida, this sits in the middle: 203 of 493 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $60,440 the take-home is $50,744. But Florida costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $49,050 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is lower, $60,410, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Florida ranks 37 of 51 for special education teachers, middle school, with a median of $60,440 — about 9.53% 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.
- Special education teachers, middle school ranks 203 of 493 occupations in Florida by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Florida income tax is $50,744 for special education teachers, middle school, from $60,440. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $49,050. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $60,410 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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 | $50,160 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,440 |
| Top tenth earn over | $73,210 |
| This salary | $60,440 |
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 Florida | $50,744 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,744 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,168 |
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 | $60,440 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,832 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 103 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Florida earn less than $60,440. The published range is $50,160 up to $73,210, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Florida the take-home figure of $50,744, from $60,440, 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 203 of 493 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $49,050, the adjusted value of that $60,440 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Florida. 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 203 of 493 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for special education teachers, middle school in Florida the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $50,160 to $73,210. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Florida is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $50,744 from $60,440. 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 203 of 493 locally.
- This $49,050 adjusted figure, worked from $60,440, 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 203 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 203 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $50,160 and the top tenth $73,210, so most people doing this work in Florida sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Florida costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $49,050 rather than its face figure.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $50,744 survives, because Florida levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($50,160 to $73,210) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Florida rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Florida's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $49,050 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Florida levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $50,744 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
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.