Substitute Teachers, Short-Term in Minnesota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,765
after federal, FICA and Minnesota tax
Tax takes
$9,625
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,421
Minnesota costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Minnesota — 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
$50,390
Kept after tax
$40,765
Worth in national money
$41,421
State rank
6
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for substitute teachers, short-term is strong here. Minnesota's middle earner gets $50,390, putting the state 6 of 50 — about 20.93% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 490 occupations Minnesota reports figures for, this is number 347.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $50,390, tax leaves $40,765, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $41,421 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $53,890, since top earners drag the number up.
- For substitute teachers, short-term, Minnesota sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $50,390, ranking 6 of 50 and running about 20.93% 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 Minnesota's occupational distribution, substitute teachers, short-term sits at 347 of 490 — 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.
- Because Minnesota sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for substitute teachers, short-term — median $50,390 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $40,765 retained, $41,421 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $53,890 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Substitute Teachers, Short-Term
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,750 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,390 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,890 |
| This salary | $50,390 |
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 Minnesota | $40,765 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,668 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,488 |
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 | $48,021 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,009 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $50,390 as a midpoint for Minnesota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $37,750 and the ninetieth is $75,890 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $40,765 take-home in Minnesota comes from $50,390. 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 347 of 490.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $41,421 uses one figure for the whole of Minnesota. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 490 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 347.
- The Minnesota median of $50,390 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $37,750 to $75,890. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $40,765, from $50,390, assumes a single Minnesota 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 347 of 490 locally, and the state ranks 6 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $41,421, worked from $50,390, 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 Minnesota address, on work sitting at 347 of 490 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 $53,890 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $37,750 at the bottom tenth to $75,890 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Minnesota sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $41,421 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 Minnesota's own levy, $40,765 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 Minnesota is $53,890. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($37,750) and the ninetieth ($75,890) 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?
Minnesota'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 $41,421 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 $40,765 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Minnesota 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.