Special Education Teachers, Secondary School in Alaska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$65,518
after federal, FICA and Alaska tax
Tax takes
$15,062
18.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$64,413
Alaska costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Alaska — 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
$80,580
Kept after tax
$65,518
Worth in national money
$64,413
State rank
10
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Alaska's middle earner gets $80,580, putting the state 10 of 51 — about 8.51% ahead of the national figure.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 145 among 430 occupations Alaska publishes pay for.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $80,580 the take-home is $65,518, which is worth about $64,413 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $81,150, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For special education teachers, secondary school, Alaska sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $80,580, ranking 10 of 51 and running about 8.51% 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.
- Position 145 of 430 in Alaska places special education teachers, secondary 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.
- Alaska's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for special education teachers, secondary school on its $80,580 median: $65,518 retained after tax becomes $64,413 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $81,150 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Special Education Teachers, Secondary School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $62,230 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $80,580 |
| Top tenth earn over | $97,800 |
| This salary | $80,580 |
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 Alaska | $65,518 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $65,518 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,009 |
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 | $80,580 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,157 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 102 |
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, secondary school in Alaska earn under $80,580 and half over. The published range runs $62,230 at the tenth percentile to $97,800 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $65,518 take-home in Alaska comes from $80,580. 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 145 of 430.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $64,413 uses one figure for the whole of Alaska. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 430 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 145.
- Figures are distribution medians for special education teachers, secondary school in Alaska, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $62,230 to $97,800; 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.
- Retained pay of $65,518, from $80,580, assumes a single Alaska 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 145 of 430 locally, and the state ranks 10 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $64,413, worked from $80,580, 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 Alaska address, on work sitting at 145 of 430 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $62,230 at the bottom tenth to $97,800 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 Alaska run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $64,413 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $65,518 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
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 ($62,230 to $97,800) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Alaska rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Alaska's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $64,413 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?
Alaska levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $65,518 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.