Special Education Teachers, Middle School in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,526
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$9,154
15.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,787
North Dakota costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in North Dakota — 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
$57,680
Kept after tax
$48,526
Worth in national money
$54,787
State rank
45
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in North Dakota. The middle earner gets $57,680. That is 45 of 51 states, and about 13.67% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 460 occupations North Dakota reports figures for, this is number 266.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $57,680 you keep $48,526 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $54,787 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $60,110, since top earners drag the number up.
- For special education teachers, middle school, North Dakota sits in the lower band at $57,680, ranking 45 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 13.67%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In North Dakota's occupational distribution, special education teachers, middle school sits at 266 of 460 — 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 North Dakota is $48,526 after the full tax stack, from $57,680. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $54,787 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $60,110 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Special Education Teachers, Middle School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,350 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $57,680 |
| Top tenth earn over | $82,930 |
| This salary | $57,680 |
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 North Dakota | $48,526 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $48,526 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,850 |
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 | $57,680 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,866 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
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, middle school in North Dakota earn under $57,680 and half over. The published range runs $47,350 at the tenth percentile to $82,930 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In North Dakota the take-home figure of $48,526, from $57,680, 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 266 of 460 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $54,787, the adjusted value of that $57,680 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of North Dakota. 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 266 of 460 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for special education teachers, middle school in North Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $47,350 to $82,930; 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.
- Take-home for North Dakota is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $48,526 from $57,680. 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 266 of 460 locally.
- This $54,787 adjusted figure, worked from $57,680, 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 266 of 460 in the state. The occupation ranks 266 of 460 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 $60,110 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 $47,350 at the bottom tenth to $82,930 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 North Dakota sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $54,787 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 North Dakota's own levy, $48,526 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 North Dakota is $60,110. 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 ($47,350 to $82,930) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to North Dakota rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
North Dakota'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 $54,787 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 $48,526 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and North Dakota 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.