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Salary data from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Special Education Teachers, All Other Salary: Springfield, IL vs Modesto, CA

Special Education Teachers, All Other earn a median of $57,250 in Springfield, IL and $99,170 in Modesto, CA. That is a nominal gap of $41,920 (-42.3%), with Modesto, CA paying more before any cost-of-living adjustment.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2024 estimates. Cost-of-living adjustment uses BEA Regional Price Parities, most recent release.

$57,250
Springfield, IL median
$61,728 after COL
$99,170
Modesto, CA median
$95,257 after COL
-42.3%
Nominal gap
Modesto, CA leads
-35.2%
Adjusted gap
Modesto, CA leads after COL

The story behind the numbers

On raw wages, Modesto, CA pays $41,920 more per year than Springfield, IL for special education teachers, all other, a gap of +42.3%.

After adjusting for cost of living, Modesto, CA still comes out ahead, with roughly $33,528 of extra purchasing power (+35.2% real gap). Local prices do not reverse the nominal advantage.

Full breakdown by location

Detailed wage, employment, and cost-of-living figures for special education teachers, all other in each location. Click through to the full local salary page for percentiles, outlook, and peer areas.

Special Education Teachers, All Other

Springfield, IL

Median salary
$57,250
Mean salary
$53,800
Employment
30
Location quotient
1.27
Jobs per 1,000
0.3
COL-adjusted median
$61,728
Regional Price Parity
92.7%

Exact metro RPP match.

Full Special Education Teachers, All Other page for Springfield, IL →

Special Education Teachers, All Other

Modesto, CA

Median salary
$99,170
Mean salary
$91,310
Employment
120
Location quotient
2.34
Jobs per 1,000
0.6
COL-adjusted median
$95,257
Regional Price Parity
104.1%

Exact metro RPP match.

Full Special Education Teachers, All Other page for Modesto, CA →

Related pages

Keep digging into special education teachers, all other from a different angle.

Common questions about this comparison

What does the cost-of-living adjustment actually do? +

It divides each location's nominal median wage by its Regional Price Parity (RPP), which measures how local prices compare to the national average (100 = national). A wage of $100,000 in an area with RPP 120 has the same purchasing power as roughly $83,000 nationally.

Why would the nominal and adjusted winners disagree? +

High-cost metros often pay higher salaries, but not by enough to fully offset the higher cost of housing, goods, and services. When that happens, the location with the lower nominal wage actually offers more real purchasing power.

What is a location quotient? +

The location quotient measures how concentrated an occupation is in a given area versus the national average. A value of 2.0 means the occupation is twice as common there as nationally. It is a signal of what a metro specializes in.