Special Education Teachers, Preschool in Hawaii
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$57,411
after federal, FICA and Hawaii tax
Tax takes
$17,709
23.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$52,860
Hawaii costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Hawaii — 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
$75,120
Kept after tax
$57,411
Worth in national money
$52,860
State rank
14
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Hawaii is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $75,120, which ranks 14 of 45 states with published figures. That is about 15.87% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 437 occupations Hawaii reports figures for, this is number 165.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $75,120, tax leaves $57,411 — and because Hawaii is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $52,860 would nationally. Here the average runs under the middle, at $72,660.
- Hawaii ranks 14 of 45 states publishing a median for special education teachers, preschool, at $75,120 — about 15.87% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- In Hawaii's occupational distribution, special education teachers, preschool sits at 165 of 437 — 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.
- After tax, $57,411 remains from the Hawaii median of $75,120 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $52,860 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $72,660 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Special Education Teachers, Preschool
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $58,170 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $75,120 |
| Top tenth earn over | $95,300 |
| This salary | $75,120 |
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 Hawaii | $57,411 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $61,677 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$10,610 |
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 | $69,056 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$13,904 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $75,120 as a midpoint for Hawaii, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $58,170 and the ninetieth is $95,300 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Hawaii the take-home figure of $57,411, from $75,120, 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 165 of 437 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $52,860 uses one figure for the whole of Hawaii. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 437 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 165.
- The Hawaii median of $75,120 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $58,170 to $95,300. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Hawaii is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $57,411 from $75,120. 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 165 of 437 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $52,860, worked from $75,120, 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 Hawaii address, on work sitting at 165 of 437 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 $72,660, 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 $58,170 at the bottom tenth to $95,300 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $52,860 of national purchasing power.
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 Hawaii adds its own income tax on top — which is why $57,411 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 45 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 Hawaii is $72,660. 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 ($58,170 to $95,300) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Hawaii rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Hawaii's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $52,860 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 $57,411 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Hawaii 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.