Special Education Teachers, Secondary School in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,636
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$16,364
21.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$62,190
Pennsylvania costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Pennsylvania — 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
$77,000
Kept after tax
$60,636
Worth in national money
$62,190
State rank
16
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Pennsylvania's middle earner gets $77,000, putting the state 16 of 51 — about 3.69% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 492 occupations Pennsylvania reports figures for, this is number 142.
- No great distortion either way. Pennsylvania costs about what the country costs, so from $77,000, take-home of $60,636 is worth roughly $62,190 in national money. The average lands at $76,080, below the middle of the range.
- For special education teachers, secondary school, Pennsylvania sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $77,000, ranking 16 of 51 and running about 3.69% 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.
- In Pennsylvania's occupational distribution, special education teachers, secondary school sits at 142 of 492 — 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.
- Price parity in Pennsylvania is near the national base, so for special education teachers, secondary school, whose median is $77,000, the adjusted figure of $62,190 differs little from $60,636 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $76,080 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Special Education Teachers, Secondary School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $51,110 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $77,000 |
| Top tenth earn over | $101,880 |
| This salary | $77,000 |
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 Pennsylvania | $60,636 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $63,000 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,641 |
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 | $73,640 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,648 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $77,000 as a midpoint for Pennsylvania, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $51,110 and the ninetieth is $101,880 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Pennsylvania's $60,636, worked from $77,000. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 142 of 492.
- Two cautions on $62,190, the adjusted value of that $77,000 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Pennsylvania. 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 142 of 492 locally.
- The Pennsylvania median of $77,000 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $51,110 to $101,880. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Pennsylvania take-home of $60,636, on $77,000 for work ranking 142 of 492 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 142 of 492 in the state.
- This $62,190 adjusted figure, worked from $77,000, 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 142 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 142 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $51,110 and the top tenth $101,880, so most people doing this work in Pennsylvania sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Pennsylvania sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $62,190 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 Pennsylvania adds its own income tax on top — which is why $60,636 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($51,110 to $101,880) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Pennsylvania rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Pennsylvania'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 $62,190 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 $60,636 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Pennsylvania 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.