New York · BLS May 2025

How much do special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school make in New York?

Special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school in New York earn a median of $81,260 a year, about $5,184 a month after federal, state and FICA tax. Figure from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey. The survey counted 21,130 of these jobs in New York in May 2025.

Median pay · New York

$81,260A year. BLS publishes no hourly wage for this occupation.
Take-home a month$5,184After federal, state and FICA tax at 23.5%
Worth at national prices$75,296Prices here sit at 107.9 against 100
Against the nation24.8% aboveNational median $65,120
What special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school earn in New York, May 2025
PercentileAnnualHourly
10th percentile1 in 10 earn less$59,460Not published
25th percentile$66,300Not published
MedianHalf earn more, half less$81,260Not published
75th percentile$117,540Not published
90th percentile1 in 10 earn more$133,280Not published
MeanAll pay divided by all jobs$91,610Not published

Wage survey · BLS May 2025

How we got this
  1. Median wage in New YorkBLS OEWS May 2025. Half of the people in this job were paid more than this, half less.$81,260
  2. Take-home after federal, state and FICA tax$5,184 a month at an effective rate of 23.5%.$62,205 a year
  3. Worth at national average pricesPrices in New York sit at 107.9 against a national 100 (BEA, 2024).$75,296
  4. Against the national medianThe national median is $65,120.24.8% above
  5. Jobs countedA concentration of 1.3 against the nation's 1.00.21,130
What we assumed
  • Wages are BLS OEWS survey estimates for May 2025, not job postings or offers.
  • OEWS surveys wage and salary workers. The self-employed and business owners are outside it.
  • Take-home assumes one 2026 filer, filing single, taking the standard deduction, with no dependents, pre-tax retirement contributions or local income tax.
  • BLS publishes only an annual wage for this occupation, because a standard 2,080-hour year would misdescribe it.
  • Regional price parities compare price levels between places in one year. They are not inflation, and they do not adjust for what a household actually buys.
Technical details

Method occupation-wage-v1Data bls-oews-2025-05-v1, us-tax-2026-v1, bea-rpp-2024-v1, census-acs5-2024-v1

What lands in the bank

Tax year 2026 · Interactive

Estimated on the median salary of $81,260 in New York, for a single filer taking the standard deduction in 2026. Explore other wage levels and filing statuses below.

$81,260
$55,000$135,000
Filing status:
Gross salary breakdown$81,260
Net 77%
Fed 11%
NY 5%
FICA 8%
Annual take-home$62,205After all taxes
Monthly deposit$5,184Estimated per month
Biweekly paycheck$2,393Every 2 weeks (26/yr)
Effective tax rate23.5%Total tax burden
Federal income tax$9,047 / yr
New York state income tax$3,791 / yr
FICA (Social Security & Medicare)$6,216 / yr

Run the numbers on your own pay

Same U.S. tax tables as the rest of the site. Change the salary, state, or filing status.

What $81,260 is worth in New York

Prices in New York sit at 107.9 against a national average of 100, so $81,260 earned here buys what $75,296 buys at national average prices.

  • Rents. 122.2 against 100, the component that moves most between states.
  • Against local households. The median household in New York takes in $85,974, so this occupation's median is 0.95 times that, on one income.
  • How common the job is here. 30% more concentrated in New York than in the country as a whole.

Compare two places properly →

Reading the numbers

What stands out for special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school in New York

Rents in New York index at 122.2 (U.S. = 100) while prices overall index at 107.9, a gap of +14.2 pts. For a renter, housing moves the local cost of living more than anything else.

The median in New York is 24.8% above the national median of $65,120.

Even the lowest-paid 10% of special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school in New York make at least $59,460 a year.

Common questions

Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School pay in New York, answered

How much do special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school make in New York?

The median wage for special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school in New York is $81,260 a year.

Half earn more than that and half earn less. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage survey for May 2025.

What is the average Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School salary in New York?

BLS’s mean (average) wage for special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school in New York is $91,610 a year. The median is $81,260.

The mean sits higher when a smaller group of high earners pulls the average up. For a typical paycheck, the median is the better middle.

What is the starting salary for special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school in New York?

BLS does not publish starting pay. The closest figure it does publish is the low end of the range: in New York, the lowest-paid 10% of special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school earn under $59,460 a year and a quarter earn under $66,300.

New hires often start somewhere in that band, but the May 2025 survey does not record experience, so read it as a floor to compare an offer against rather than a typical first salary.

What is the salary range for special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school in New York?

The overall salary range for special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school in New York spans from $59,460 for the bottom 10% to $133,280 for top earners.

The middle 50% earn between $66,300 and $117,540 a year, with the overall median at $81,260.

What is the take-home pay for special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school in New York?

On the median wage of $81,260, a single filer taking the 2026 standard deduction keeps an estimated $62,205 a year, or roughly $5,184 a month.

That is after federal, state and FICA tax, an effective rate of 23.5%.

New York takes $3,791 of it in state income tax.

How much does special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school make a month in New York?

On the median annual salary of $81,260, estimated take-home pay is roughly $5,184 a month after federal, state, and FICA taxes.

For workers paid on a standard biweekly schedule (26 pay periods per year), each paycheck is approximately $2,392 net.

Do special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school earn more in New York than in the rest of the country?

Yes. The median in New York is 24.8% above the national median of $65,120.

Nominal pay is only half the comparison: prices in New York sit at 107.9 against a national 100, so the gap in what the money buys is different from the gap in the salary.

Is $81,260 a good salary in New York?

It is 0.95 times the median household income of $85,974. A household often has more than one earner, so a single salary at this level goes further than the ratio alone suggests.

Prices in New York run at 107.9 against a national average of 100, with rents at 122.2, so $81,260 here buys about what $75,296 buys at national average prices.

What do the highest-paid special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school earn in New York?

The top tenth earn $133,280 a year or more. The 10th-percentile wage is $59,460.

Experience, specialty, employer and the part of New York someone works in all move a wage inside that range; the survey reports the spread, not the reason for it.

How many special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school are there in New York?

The survey counted 21,130 of these jobs in New York for May 2025.

That makes the occupation 30% more concentrated here than in the country as a whole. It counts wage and salary jobs, so the self-employed are outside it.

Sources

Where this data comes from

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