Special Education Teachers, Middle School in Minnesota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,503
after federal, FICA and Minnesota tax
Tax takes
$13,127
20.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$51,316
Minnesota costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Minnesota — 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
$63,630
Kept after tax
$50,503
Worth in national money
$51,316
State rank
26
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Minnesota is 26 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $63,630. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 248 among 490 occupations Minnesota publishes pay for.
- No great distortion either way. Minnesota costs about what the country costs, so from $63,630, take-home of $50,503 is worth roughly $51,316 in national money. The average comes to $70,140, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Minnesota ranks 26 of 51 for special education teachers, middle school at $63,630. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 248 of 490 in Minnesota places special education teachers, middle school in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Price parity in Minnesota is near the national base, so for special education teachers, middle school, whose median is $63,630, the adjusted figure of $51,316 differs little from $50,503 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $70,140 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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 | $49,100 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $63,630 |
| Top tenth earn over | $93,820 |
| This salary | $63,630 |
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 Minnesota | $50,503 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $53,307 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,541 |
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 | $60,141 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,282 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $63,630 as a midpoint for Minnesota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $49,100 and the ninetieth is $93,820 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $50,503 take-home in Minnesota comes from $63,630. 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 248 of 490.
- Two cautions on $51,316, the adjusted value of that $63,630 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Minnesota. 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 248 of 490 locally.
- The Minnesota median of $63,630 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $49,100 to $93,820. 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 $50,503, from $63,630, assumes a single Minnesota 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 248 of 490 locally, and the state ranks 26 of 51 for it.
- This $51,316 adjusted figure, worked from $63,630, 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 248 of 490 in the state. The occupation ranks 248 of 490 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 $70,140, 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?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $49,100 and the top tenth $93,820, so most people doing this work in Minnesota sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Minnesota is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $51,316 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Minnesota adds its own income tax on top — which is why $50,503 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 Minnesota is $70,140. 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 ($49,100 to $93,820) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Minnesota rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Minnesota'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 $51,316 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 $50,503 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Minnesota 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.