Special Education Teachers, Secondary School in Utah
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,915
after federal, FICA and Utah tax
Tax takes
$13,295
20.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,594
Utah costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Utah — 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
$64,210
Kept after tax
$50,915
Worth in national money
$53,594
State rank
27
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Utah pays this job around $64,210 at the midpoint, 27 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 188 among 487 occupations Utah publishes pay for.
- Utah is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $64,210 the take-home is $50,915; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $53,594 would nationally. The average comes to $65,640, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For special education teachers, secondary school the Utah median is $64,210, ranking 27 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Position 188 of 487 in Utah 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.
- Post-tax income for special education teachers, secondary school in Utah, on $64,210, is $50,915 — equivalent to $53,594 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $65,640 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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 | $34,130 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $64,210 |
| Top tenth earn over | $97,380 |
| This salary | $64,210 |
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 Utah | $50,915 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $53,773 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,742 |
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 | $60,654 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,107 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 95 |
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 Utah earn under $64,210 and half over. The published range runs $34,130 at the tenth percentile to $97,380 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Utah's $50,915, worked from $64,210. 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 188 of 487.
- One number stands for prices across all of Utah, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $53,594, the adjusted value of that $64,210 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 188 of 487 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for special education teachers, secondary school in Utah, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $34,130 to $97,380; 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.
- The Utah take-home of $50,915, on $64,210 for work ranking 188 of 487 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 188 of 487 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Utah, so $53,594 — the adjusted value of that $64,210 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 188 of 487 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $34,130 and the top tenth $97,380 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $53,594.
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 Utah adds its own income tax on top — which is why $50,915 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($34,130) and the ninetieth ($97,380) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Utah'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 $53,594 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 $50,915 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Utah 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.