Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary in Oklahoma
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,545
after federal, FICA and Oklahoma tax
Tax takes
$9,375
18.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$45,924
Oklahoma costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Oklahoma — 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
$49,920
Kept after tax
$40,545
Worth in national money
$45,924
State rank
10
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Oklahoma's middle earner gets $49,920, putting the state 10 of 45 — about 16.34% ahead of the national figure.
- Against other work in Oklahoma, this sits in the middle: 255 of 492 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where Oklahoma does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $49,920 you keep $40,545, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $45,924 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $44,140, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For teaching assistants, postsecondary, Oklahoma sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $49,920, ranking 10 of 45 and running about 16.34% 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.
- Teaching assistants, postsecondary ranks 255 of 492 occupations in Oklahoma by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and Oklahoma income tax, retained pay for teaching assistants, postsecondary on $49,920 is $40,545. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $45,924 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $44,140 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,120 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $49,920 |
| Top tenth earn over | $60,230 |
| This salary | $49,920 |
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 Oklahoma | $40,545 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,291 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,404 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
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 | $47,747 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,908 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Oklahoma earn less than $49,920. The published range is $29,120 up to $60,230, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Oklahoma's $40,545, worked from $49,920. 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 255 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $45,924 uses one figure for the whole of Oklahoma. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 492 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 255.
- Reported values are medians; for teaching assistants, postsecondary in Oklahoma the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $29,120 to $60,230. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Oklahoma take-home of $40,545, on $49,920 for work ranking 255 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 255 of 492 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $45,924, worked from $49,920, 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 Oklahoma address, on work sitting at 255 of 492 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 $44,140 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $29,120 and the top tenth $60,230, so most people doing this work in Oklahoma sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Oklahoma is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $45,924 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 Oklahoma adds its own income tax on top — which is why $40,545 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 45 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 Oklahoma is $44,140. 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 ($29,120 to $60,230) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Oklahoma rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Oklahoma'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 $45,924 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 $40,545 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Oklahoma 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.