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Salary data from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten And Elementary School Salary: Nebraska vs Washington

Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten And Elementary School earn a median of $61,140 in Nebraska and $85,340 in Washington. That is a nominal gap of $24,200 (-28.4%), with Washington 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.

$61,140
Nebraska median
$67,856 after COL
$85,340
Washington median
$79,747 after COL
-28.4%
Nominal gap
Washington leads
-14.9%
Adjusted gap
Washington leads after COL

The story behind the numbers

On raw wages, Washington pays $24,200 more per year than Nebraska for special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school, a gap of +28.4%.

After adjusting for cost of living, Washington still comes out ahead, with roughly $11,892 of extra purchasing power (+14.9% 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, kindergarten and elementary school in each location. Click through to the full local salary page for percentiles, outlook, and peer areas.

Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten And Elementary School

Nebraska

Median salary
$61,140
Mean salary
$60,760
Employment
1,460
Location quotient
0.96
Jobs per 1,000
1.4
COL-adjusted median
$67,856
Regional Price Parity
90.1%

Exact state RPP match.

Full Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten And Elementary School page for Nebraska →

Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten And Elementary School

Washington

Median salary
$85,340
Mean salary
$90,550
Employment
3,290
Location quotient
0.62
Jobs per 1,000
0.9
COL-adjusted median
$79,747
Regional Price Parity
107.0%

Exact state RPP match.

Full Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten And Elementary School page for Washington →

Related pages

Keep digging into special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school 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 state specializes in.