Special Education Teachers, Secondary School Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $80K, rent takes 27.8% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,407/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new special education teachers, secondary schools typically earn — is $50K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $2,995/month. At HUD’s $1,407/month FMR, rent would take 47% 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 — $80K locally vs. $74K nationally, a 8% difference.

Illinois pays $80K median vs. the U.S. average of $74K — that’s +8%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 93.85), the purchasing-power equivalent is $85K — still ahead of the national median.

The median is $79,890 a year. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $49,920, and experienced special education teachers, secondary schools can clear $129,260. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $5,053/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,407/month, which eats 27.8% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

Illinois has a Regional Price Parity of 93.85 (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, secondary school salary is worth about $85,125 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.