Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary in Minnesota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,074
after federal, FICA and Minnesota tax
Tax takes
$7,026
17.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,606
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
$40,100
Kept after tax
$33,074
Worth in national money
$33,606
State rank
6
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Minnesota is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $40,100, which ranks 6 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 9.03% above the national middle.
- Within Minnesota this is lower-paid work. Of 490 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 442. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- No great distortion either way. Minnesota costs about what the country costs, so from $40,100, take-home of $33,074 is worth roughly $33,606 in national money. The average comes to $41,890, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Minnesota ranks 6 of 51 states publishing a median for teaching assistants, except postsecondary, at $40,100 — about 9.03% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Against every occupation Minnesota reports, teaching assistants, except postsecondary ranks 442 of 490, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Price parity in Minnesota is near the national base, so for teaching assistants, except postsecondary, whose median is $40,100, the adjusted figure of $33,606 differs little from $33,074 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $41,890 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 | $31,420 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $40,100 |
| Top tenth earn over | $50,410 |
| This salary | $40,100 |
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 | $33,074 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $34,400 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,795 |
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 | $38,449 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,171 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $40,100 as a midpoint for Minnesota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $31,420 and the ninetieth is $50,410 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $33,074 take-home in Minnesota comes from $40,100. 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 442 of 490.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $33,606 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 442.
- The Minnesota median of $40,100 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $31,420 to $50,410. 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 $33,074, from $40,100, 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 442 of 490 locally, and the state ranks 6 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $33,606, worked from $40,100, 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 442 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 $41,890 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $31,420 at the bottom tenth to $50,410 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Minnesota is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $33,606 in national terms.
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 Minnesota adds its own income tax on top — which is why $33,074 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.
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 $41,890. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($31,420 to $50,410) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Minnesota rather than a national figure.
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 $33,606 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 $33,074 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.
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.