What Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education earn in Tarrant County, TX
According to the latest federal wage data for the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX metropolitan area, the median pay for Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education in Tarrant County, TX is $65,890 a year, or $31.68 an hour. After federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare (and no state income tax), the paycheck shrinks to $54,905 a year, and rent, food and energy take another bite. The sections below walk through each step with the actual math for Tarrant County, TX.
The mean wage is $68,930, which is 4.6% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 28,000 people working in this occupation across the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Tarrant County, TX has roughly 2,167,390 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $61,470 a year ($29.55 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $77,760 or more ($37.38 an hour). That is a gap of $16,290 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $63,450 at the 25th percentile and $75,770 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.3 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $31.68 an hour or $65,890 a year at the median for Tarrant County, TX. Before any deductions, that is $5,491 a month, $2,534 every two weeks and $1,267 each week. After taxes the same job pays $26.40 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
How pay in Tarrant County, TX compares
Compared with the Texas average
A worker in this occupation in Tarrant County, TX earns $2,109 more than the Texas average of $63,781, a premium of 3.3%. Over a year that premium is worth $2,109 before tax and roughly $1,757 after tax. Within Texas, Tarrant County, TX already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education is $75,178 across the contiguous United States. At $65,890, Tarrant County, TX pays $9,288 less, which is 12.3% below that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Tarrant County, TX
Among the 627 occupations with published wages in Tarrant County, TX, Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education ranks number 243 by median pay, ahead of about 61% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $173,810 a year, which is $107,920 more than the median for Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education earning the Tarrant County, TX median of $65,890, they add up to $10,985. The result is $54,905 of take-home pay a year ($4,575 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $17 goes to taxes and $83 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 16.7%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $50,140. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 22% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $5,945, an effective 9.0% of gross pay, well below the 22% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $4,085 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $955. FICA totals $5,041, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Texas
Texas does not tax wage income, so the state income tax line for Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education in Tarrant County, TX is $0. That alone leaves more in the paycheck than the same salary would in a state with an income tax. For scale, a hypothetical flat 5% state tax on this salary would cost about $3,295 a year, so the absence of a state tax is worth roughly $275 a month.
A cross-check with IRS data for Tarrant County, TX
IRS Statistics of Income data for Tarrant County, TX show an average adjusted gross income of $94,073 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 14.8% across all filers. Filers in the $50,000 to under $75,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 6.9%, compared with the 9.0% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Tarrant County, TX
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Tarrant County, TX: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $54,905 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Tarrant County, TX, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,481 a month ($17,772 a year), and at $1,745 for two bedrooms. For Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education, a one-bedroom absorbs 32.4% of take-home pay and 27.0% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 5.2% of gross pay for Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education in Tarrant County, TX. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Texas residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,578 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $719, for $2,297 in total. Gasoline in Texas averages $2.88 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,334.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $24,839 a year in Tarrant County, TX. Subtract that from $54,905 of take-home pay and $30,065 remains, which is $2,505 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 45.6% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Can Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education afford to live in Tarrant County, TX?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $65,890 that ceiling is $1,647 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,481 is $166 under it, so rent fits the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $28.48 an hour; the median for Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education is $31.68, which is 11% above that mark. Another way to see it: at $26.40 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 12.9 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,745 a month means $873 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $7,302 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $37,367.
How fast you can save
At $2,505 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 4 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 8 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education pay in Tarrant County, TX
How much do Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education make per hour in Tarrant County, TX?
The median is $31.68 per hour, based on $65,890 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $29.55 at the 10th percentile to $37.38 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education take home after taxes in Tarrant County, TX?
After federal income tax, FICA, the median salary of $65,890 becomes $54,905 a year. That is $4,575 a month, $2,112 every two weeks or $1,056 a week.
How much tax do Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education pay in Tarrant County, TX?
Total taxes are $10,985 a year, an effective rate of 16.7%: $5,945 federal income tax, $5,041 FICA and no Texas income tax.
Do Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education earn more in Tarrant County, TX than elsewhere in Texas?
Yes. The local median of $65,890 is +3.3% versus the Texas average of $63,781, a difference of $2,109 a year.
Can Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education afford a one-bedroom apartment in Tarrant County, TX?
A one-bedroom costs $1,481 a month against take-home pay of $4,575, which is 32.4% of take-home pay. That meets the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,647 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education in Tarrant County, TX?
About $2,505 a month ($30,065 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $24,839 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Tarrant County, TX at the 30% guideline?
$28.48 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $17,772 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education is $31.68.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the Texas rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.