Special Education Teachers, All Other Salary

It’s a stretch — at the median salary of $57K, rent takes 34.1% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,281/month. The 30% guideline puts the comfortable ceiling at roughly $1,100/month in rent — so roommates or a 1-bedroom would ease the math significantly.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new special education teachers, all others typically earn — is $52K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $3,149/month. At HUD’s $1,281/month FMR, rent would take 41% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Local pay runs 26% below the national median — $57K here vs. $77K nationally.

Maine pays $57K median vs. the U.S. average of $77K — that’s -26%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 97.7), the purchasing-power equivalent is $58K — below the national median.

The median is $56,780 a year. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $52,480, and experienced special education teachers, all others can clear $89,000. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $3,754/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,281/month, which eats 34.1% 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.

Maine has a Regional Price Parity of 97.7 (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 special education teachers, all other salary is worth about $58,117 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.