Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,539
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$7,951
17.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,233
California costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in California — 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
$46,490
Kept after tax
$38,539
Worth in national money
$34,233
State rank
4
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. California's middle earner gets $46,490, putting the state 4 of 51 — about 26.4% ahead of the national figure.
- Against 492 occupations California publishes, this job lands at 409. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- California is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $46,490 the take-home is $38,539; in national-average money that behaves like $34,233. The average comes to $47,300, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For teaching assistants, except postsecondary, California sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $46,490, ranking 4 of 51 and running about 26.4% 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.
- Within California, this work ranks 409 of 492 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Take-home for teaching assistants, except postsecondary in California, on $46,490, is $38,539; deflated by the state's price level, $34,233. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $47,300 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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: Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,240 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,490 |
| Top tenth earn over | $59,520 |
| This salary | $46,490 |
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 California | $38,539 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,535 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,451 |
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 | $45,251 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,802 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
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 teaching assistants, except postsecondary in California earn under $46,490 and half over. The published range runs $37,240 at the tenth percentile to $59,520 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $38,539 take-home in California comes from $46,490. 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 409 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of California, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $34,233, the adjusted value of that $46,490 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 409 of 492 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for teaching assistants, except postsecondary in California, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,240 to $59,520; 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 $38,539, from $46,490, assumes a single California 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 409 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 4 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for California, so $34,233 — the adjusted value of that $46,490 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 409 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $37,240 at the tenth percentile, $59,520 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in California run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $34,233 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 California's own levy, $38,539 remains.
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 ($37,240 to $59,520) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to California rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
California's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $34,233 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 $38,539 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and California 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.