Pay for teaching assistants in every state, what it comes to after tax, and how far it goes after local prices and rent.
Teaching assistants earn a median of $36,780 a year, 27.9% less than the $50,980 median for all jobs. Pay is highest in Washington ($49,120) and lowest in Alabama ($24,070). The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts them as “Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary” (occupation code 25-9045).
Half of the 1,420,350 teaching assistants in the survey earn between $31,060 and $45,360. The bottom tenth earn under $27,150, the figure the Bureau itself uses as a rough guide to starting pay, and the top tenth more than $50,040. The average is $38,290; it sits above the median because the top earners pull it up.
| Nationally | Per year |
|---|---|
| Bottom 10% earn less than | $27,150 |
| Bottom quarter earn less than | $31,060 |
| Median | $36,780 |
| Top quarter earn more than | $45,360 |
| Top 10% earn more than | $50,040 |
The survey publishes no hourly pay for teaching assistants, because the job is not usually worked as a full, year-round 2,080 hours; the yearly figures are what they are paid. Convert any salary.
The highest state medians are in Washington ($49,120), District of Columbia ($46,920), Maine ($46,750), California ($46,490) and Vermont ($43,800). The lowest are in Alabama ($24,070), Mississippi ($25,840), Louisiana ($27,400), South Carolina ($27,860) and Oklahoma ($27,920).
Higher pay often comes with higher prices. Adjusted for each state's price level, pay goes furthest in Maine ($48,171 at national prices), Washington ($45,901), Vermont ($44,713), North Dakota ($42,986) and District of Columbia ($42,693).
The most teaching assistants work in California (177,140), New York (137,820) and Texas (108,960). Relative to all jobs, the work is most common in Vermont (16.3 per 1,000 jobs), Iowa (15.7) and New York (14.2).
On the national median of $36,780, a single filer in a state with no income tax takes home about $31,733 a year after federal tax, Social Security and Medicare, or $1,220 every two weeks. On each state's own median and taxes, take-home ranges from $20,268 in Alabama to $41,648 in Washington. Work out your own paycheck.
The typical rent in each state's median county takes a median 55.1% of a teaching assistant's gross pay, and stays under the usual 30% guideline in 0 of the 50 states and DC. With 10% down at a 7.03% mortgage rate, a single teaching assistant earning the state median could afford the typical home in its median county in 0 of the 50 states and DC, under the 28% guideline. On the national median alone, that guideline stretches to about $95,729. Try it with your own numbers, or see where this pay covers the typical rent.
| Alabama | $24,070 | — | −34.6% | $27,099 | $20,268 | 68.5% | 10,140 |
| Alaska | $37,190 | — | +1.1% | $36,333 | $32,062 | 59.0% | 3,810 |
| Arizona | $35,900 | — | −2.4% | $35,659 | $30,128 | 55.9% | 25,280 |
| Arkansas | $28,790 | — | −21.7% | $33,116 | $24,615 | 45.8% | 11,270 |
| California | $46,490 | — | +26.4% | $41,989 | $38,210 | 63.3% | 177,140 |
| Colorado | $35,760 | — | −2.8% | $34,701 | $29,340 | 67.8% | 21,910 |
| Connecticut | $38,110 | — | +3.6% | $36,782 | $31,336 | 62.8% | 19,740 |
| Delaware | $37,830 | — | +2.9% | $37,903 | $30,863 | 60.0% | 5,040 |
| District of Columbia | $46,920 | — | +27.6% | $42,693 | $37,230 | 64.7% | 3,950 |
| Florida | $34,430 | — | −6.4% | $33,293 | $29,845 | 66.6% | 54,530 |
| Georgia | $28,770 | — | −21.8% | $29,878 | $23,861 | 69.9% | 33,410 |
| Hawaii | $36,810 | — | +0.1% | $33,479 | $30,023 | 103.3% | 5,470 |
| Idaho | $35,560 | — | −3.3% | $37,238 | $28,868 | 52.1% | 8,710 |
| Illinois | $36,990 | — | +0.6% | $37,006 | $30,070 | 39.0% | 64,210 |
| Indiana | $33,300 | — | −9.5% | $35,680 | $27,954 | 42.7% | 28,450 |
| Iowa | $30,510 | — | −17.0% | $34,764 | $25,535 | 40.7% | 24,520 |
| Kansas | $29,490 | — | −19.8% | $32,742 | $24,317 | 51.5% | 20,000 |
| Kentucky | $30,160 | — | −18.0% | $33,452 | $25,358 | 50.1% | 16,330 |
| Louisiana | $27,400 | — | −25.5% | $31,063 | $23,352 | 58.4% | 14,530 |
| Maine | $46,750 | — | +27.1% | $48,171 | $36,848 | 42.5% | 8,700 |
| Maryland | $37,060 | — | +0.8% | $35,309 | $30,250 | 62.8% | 23,340 |
| Massachusetts | $39,380 | — | +7.1% | $37,236 | $31,853 | 74.4% | 39,210 |
| Michigan | $35,110 | — | −4.5% | $36,490 | $28,899 | 45.8% | 39,030 |
| Minnesota | $40,100 | — | +9.0% | $40,661 | $32,157 | 38.5% | 38,540 |
| Mississippi | $25,840 | — | −29.7% | $29,717 | $22,256 | 67.0% | 9,750 |
| Missouri | $36,300 | — | −1.3% | $39,970 | $29,822 | 42.6% | 20,930 |
| Montana | $34,750 | — | −5.5% | $36,716 | $28,468 | 52.6% | 3,930 |
| Nebraska | $35,160 | — | −4.4% | $39,022 | $29,132 | 44.2% | 11,190 |
| Nevada | $31,900 | — | −13.3% | $31,907 | $27,812 | 68.2% | 7,100 |
| New Hampshire | $38,440 | — | +4.5% | $36,903 | $33,067 | 64.9% | 7,880 |
| New Jersey | $37,290 | — | +1.4% | $34,272 | $31,520 | 73.9% | 55,580 |
| New Mexico | $35,900 | — | −2.4% | $38,932 | $29,747 | 49.3% | 8,970 |
| New York | $38,240 | — | +4.0% | $35,433 | $31,006 | 48.6% | 137,820 |
| North Carolina | $29,790 | — | −19.0% | $31,582 | $24,928 | 65.1% | 32,150 |
| North Dakota | $38,240 | — | +4.0% | $42,986 | $32,906 | 38.0% | 5,600 |
| Ohio | $35,920 | — | −2.3% | $38,718 | $30,770 | 43.4% | 47,300 |
| Oklahoma | $27,920 | — | −24.1% | $31,784 | $23,560 | 54.5% | 13,860 |
| Oregon | $39,850 | — | +8.3% | $38,554 | $31,032 | 51.5% | 23,030 |
| Pennsylvania | $34,740 | — | −5.5% | $35,604 | $29,027 | 45.3% | 48,310 |
| Rhode Island | $37,220 | — | +1.2% | $36,390 | $30,691 | 79.4% | 5,200 |
| South Carolina | $27,860 | — | −24.3% | $29,718 | $23,998 | 65.6% | 14,410 |
| South Dakota | $28,220 | — | −23.3% | $31,856 | $24,849 | 55.1% | 4,650 |
| Tennessee | $29,210 | — | −20.6% | $31,795 | $25,650 | 61.1% | 23,280 |
| Texas | $29,850 | — | −18.8% | $30,755 | $26,164 | 59.3% | 108,960 |
| Utah | $37,050 | — | +0.7% | $37,476 | $30,301 | 56.4% | 18,170 |
| Vermont | $43,800 | — | +19.1% | $44,713 | $35,906 | 48.4% | 4,960 |
| Virginia | $38,520 | — | +4.7% | $38,099 | $31,173 | 57.1% | 31,370 |
| Washington | $49,120 | — | +33.6% | $45,901 | $41,648 | 44.6% | 43,420 |
| West Virginia | $29,800 | — | −19.0% | $33,297 | $25,340 | 44.5% | 5,110 |
| Wisconsin | $37,800 | — | +2.8% | $40,172 | $31,025 | 38.5% | 26,520 |
| Wyoming | $36,100 | — | −1.8% | $38,947 | $31,186 | 44.4% | 3,680 |
Click a column to sort it. “After local prices” divides the median by the state's price level (national average = 100). Take-home is for a single filer on the state median with no retirement or health deductions. Rent share is a year of the typical rent in the state's median county against the median pay. A dash means the survey publishes no figure.
Elementary School Teacher $63,970 · High School Teacher $72,040 · Middle School Teacher $64,370 · Substitute Teacher $41,670 · Preschool Teacher $38,140 · Special Education Teacher $65,120