New York · BLS May 2025

Teaching Assistant Salary in New York

Also called teacher aide, paraprofessional. BLS records this occupation as Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary” (SOC 25-9045).

The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 137,820 teaching assistants working in New York. Here is what they are paid, what the median leaves after federal, state and FICA tax, and what that is worth against local prices.

Median pay · New York

$38,240A year. BLS publishes no hourly wage for this occupation.
Take-home a month$2,620After federal, state and FICA tax at 17.8%
Worth at national prices$35,433Prices here sit at 107.9 against 100
Against the nation4% aboveNational median $36,780
What teaching assistants earn in New York, May 2025
PercentileAnnualHourly
10th percentileEntry and lowest-paid$32,240Not published
25th percentile$35,670Not published
MedianHalf earn more, half less$38,240Not published
75th percentile$46,700Not published
90th percentileMost experienced and senior$54,990Not published
MeanThe average, pulled up by the top$41,720Not published
How we got this
  1. Median wage in New YorkBLS OEWS May 2025. Half of teaching assistants earned more than this, half less.$38,240
  2. Take-home after federal, state and FICA tax$2,620 a month at an effective rate of 17.8%.$31,437 a year
  3. Worth at national average pricesPrices in New York sit at 107.9 against a national 100 (BEA, 2024).$35,433
  4. Against the national medianThe national median is $36,780.4% above
  5. Jobs countedA concentration of 1.56 against the nation's 1.00.137,820
What we assumed
  • Wages are BLS OEWS survey estimates for May 2025, not job postings or offers.
  • OEWS surveys wage and salary workers. The self-employed and business owners are outside it.
  • Take-home assumes one 2026 filer, filing single, taking the standard deduction, with no dependents, pre-tax retirement contributions or local income tax.
  • BLS publishes only an annual wage for this occupation, because a standard 2,080-hour year would misdescribe it.
  • Regional price parities compare price levels between places in one year. They are not inflation, and they do not adjust for what a household actually buys.
Technical details

Method occupation-wage-v1Data bls-oews-2025-05-v1, us-tax-2026-v1, bea-rpp-2024-v1, census-acs5-2024-v1

What lands in the bank

A $38,240 salary in New York, for one single filer taking the standard deduction in 2026.

  • Federal income tax. $2,409 a year.
  • State income tax. $1,468 a year.
  • Social Security and Medicare. $2,925 a year.
  • Left over. $31,437 a year, $2,620 a month, an effective rate of 17.8%.

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What $38,240 is worth in New York

Prices in New York sit at 107.9 against a national average of 100, so $38,240 earned here buys what $35,433 buys at national average prices.

  • Rents. 122.2 against 100, the component that moves most between states.
  • Against local households. The median household in New York takes in $85,974, so this occupation's median is 0.45 times that, on one income.
  • How common the job is here. 56% more concentrated in New York than in the country as a whole.

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Common questions

Teaching Assistant pay in New York, answered

How much does a teaching assistant make in New York?

The median wage for teaching assistants in New York is $38,240 a year.

Half earn more than that and half earn less. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage survey for May 2025.

What is the take-home pay for a teaching assistant in New York?

On the median wage of $38,240, one filer taking the standard deduction keeps about $31,437 a year, or roughly $2,620 a month.

That is after federal, state and FICA tax, an effective rate of 17.8%.

New York takes $1,468 of it in state income tax.

Do teaching assistants earn more in New York than in the rest of the country?

Yes. The median in New York is 4% above the national median of $36,780.

Nominal pay is only half the comparison: prices in New York sit at 107.9 against a national 100, so the gap in what the money buys is different from the gap in the salary.

Is $38,240 a good salary in New York?

It is 0.45 times the median household income of $85,974. A household often has more than one earner, so a single salary at this level goes further than the ratio alone suggests.

Prices in New York run at 107.9 against a national average of 100, with rents at 122.2, so $38,240 here buys about what $35,433 buys at national average prices.

What do the highest-paid teaching assistants earn in New York?

The top tenth earn $54,990 a year or more, against $32,240 at the bottom tenth.

Experience, specialism, employer and the part of New York someone works in all move a wage inside that range; the survey reports the spread, not the reason for it.

How many teaching assistants are there in New York?

The survey counted 137,820 of these jobs in New York for May 2025.

That makes the occupation 56% more concentrated here than in the country as a whole. It counts wage and salary jobs, so the self-employed are outside it.

Sources

Where this data comes from