Physics Teachers, Postsecondary Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $109K, rent takes 19% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,272/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new physics teachers, postsecondaries typically earn — is $55K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $3,327/month. At HUD’s $1,272/month FMR, rent would take 38% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Pay here is roughly in line with the national average — $109K locally vs. $100K nationally, a 9% difference.

Michigan pays $109K median vs. the U.S. average of $100K — that’s +9%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 93.89), the purchasing-power equivalent is $116K — still ahead of the national median.

The median is $109,090 a year. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $55,450, and experienced physics teachers, postsecondaries can clear $176,760. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $6,708/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,272/month, which eats 19% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

Michigan has a Regional Price Parity of 93.89 (100 is the national average). That's below average, your money stretches further here than the raw salary number suggests. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median physics teachers, postsecondary salary is worth about $116,189 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.