Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary Salary

It’s a stretch — at the median salary of $72K, rent takes 34% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,672/month. The 30% guideline puts the comfortable ceiling at roughly $1,500/month in rent — so roommates or a 1-bedroom would ease the math significantly.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondaries typically earn — is $51K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $3,554/month.

Pay here is roughly in line with the national average — $72K locally vs. $79K nationally, a 8% difference.

West Tennessee nonmetropolitan area pays $72K median vs. the U.S. average of $79K — that’s -8%.

The median is $72,030 a year. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $50,540, and experienced art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondaries can clear $77,170. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $4,922/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,672/month, which eats 34% of your paycheck. That's above the 30% rule of thumb, housing will be a stretch at the median salary, though you can manage with roommates or a smaller place.

West Tennessee nonmetropolitan area has a Regional Price Parity of 100 (100 is the national average). That's right at the national average. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary salary is worth about $72,030 in national-average purchasing power.

The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.