Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary salary

SOC 25-1067 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$84,290

per year, nationally

Middle half

$64,990–$110,650

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

11,850

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+2.1%

1,100 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$49,930$160,140

10th: $49,930
25th: $64,990
Median: $84,290
75th: $110,650
90th: $160,140

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Doctoral or professional degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: None

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where sociology teachers, postsecondary earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	California	$127,680	110.7	810	0.59×
2	Delaware	$123,710	99.8	—	—
3	New Hampshire	$112,890	104.2	40	0.79×
4	District of Columbia	$103,160	109.9	70	1.28×
5	Michigan	$102,870	96.2	370	1.11×
6	Oregon	$101,960	103.4	150	1.03×
7	Connecticut	$101,490	103.6	320	2.48×
8	Pennsylvania	$99,660	97.6	440	0.95×
9	Utah	$99,350	98.9	70	0.51×
10	New York	$97,540	107.9	1,130	1.53×
11	Massachusetts	$96,790	105.8	580	2.10×
12	Maryland	$95,980	105.0	200	0.95×
13	Vermont	$87,620	98.0	40	1.78×
14	Nevada	$87,480	100.0	100	0.82×
15	Minnesota	$87,340	98.6	240	1.06×
16	Wisconsin	$84,960	94.1	450	1.99×
17	Georgia	$84,330	96.3	230	0.63×
18	Idaho	$84,140	95.5	50	0.74×
19	Louisiana	$83,700	88.2	80	0.55×
20	Washington	$83,140	107.0	200	0.72×
21	Illinois	$82,610	100.0	440	0.94×
22	Iowa	$81,910	87.8	140	1.21×
23	Texas	$81,220	97.1	1,040	0.97×
24	Indiana	$79,880	93.3	290	1.17×
25	Ohio	$79,690	92.8	550	1.31×
26	Colorado	$78,630	103.1	220	1.01×
27	Kansas	$78,630	90.1	110	0.99×
28	Arizona	$78,430	100.7	230	0.94×
29	South Carolina	$78,410	93.7	120	0.68×
30	New Jersey	$78,350	108.8	550	1.68×
31	Virginia	$78,120	101.1	400	1.29×
32	Missouri	$77,800	90.8	100	0.44×
33	New Mexico	$77,740	92.2	50	0.74×
34	West Virginia	$77,380	89.5	60	1.16×
35	Tennessee	$77,370	91.9	190	0.76×
36	North Carolina	$76,430	94.3	550	1.45×
37	Nebraska	$76,230	90.1	70	0.91×
38	Maine	$76,010	97.0	80	1.68×
39	Montana	$75,880	94.6	30	0.82×
40	Alabama	$73,670	88.8	210	1.30×
41	Mississippi	$70,860	87.0	90	1.04×
42	Oklahoma	$64,900	87.8	120	0.89×
43	South Dakota	$64,210	88.6	40	1.27×
44	Florida	$63,470	103.4	230	0.31×
45	Arkansas	$62,390	86.9	30	0.32×
46	Kentucky	$61,260	90.2	150	0.98×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where sociology teachers, postsecondary wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for sociology teachers, postsecondary

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$157,630	106.4	70	0.56×
2	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$141,950	111.9	110	0.91×
3	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$132,930	115.6	50	0.26×
4	Madison, WI	$132,640	97.3	80	2.60×
5	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$128,010	113.6	280	0.60×
6	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$127,480	106.7	70	0.86×
7	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$120,570	110.4	60	0.71×
8	College Station-Bryan, TX	$114,030	91.0	50	4.78×
9	Lansing-East Lansing, MI	$111,290	95.0	50	3.29×
10	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$104,090	105.4	120	1.28×
11	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$103,810	108.3	400	1.97×
12	Amherst Town-Northampton, MA	$103,110	100.2	70	13.41×
13	Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT	$102,940	100.4	50	4.70×
14	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$102,790	106.9	—	—
15	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$102,330	100.1	150	0.67×
16	New Haven, CT	$102,150	104.6	90	4.26×
17	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$101,780	99.6	60	1.86×
18	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$100,710	102.7	130	2.83×
19	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$99,980	104.5	110	1.03×
20	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$99,850	112.6	1,020	1.41×
21	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	$99,800	98.1	120	1.21×
22	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$98,500	96.9	180	2.81×
23	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$97,580	108.9	200	0.83×
24	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$97,280	95.7	60	0.66×
25	St. Louis, MO-IL	$96,240	95.1	60	0.58×
26	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$95,620	102.6	210	0.94×
27	Pittsburgh, PA	$95,440	94.7	80	0.92×
28	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$94,820	100.3	80	0.55×
29	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$94,380	98.6	150	0.60×
30	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$92,340	103.3	140	0.77×
31	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$88,930	111.1	90	0.59×
32	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$88,500	105.8	60	0.53×
33	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	$87,480	100.2	80	0.89×
34	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$87,340	104.8	150	1.02×
35	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$86,800	103.1	190	0.63×
36	Ithaca, NY	$86,150	103.3	40	9.79×
37	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$86,040	103.6	310	0.90×
38	Wilmington, NC	$86,010	96.4	40	2.79×
39	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN	$85,070	96.3	50	0.60×
40	Columbus, OH	$84,010	95.5	110	1.28×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where sociology teachers, postsecondary wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary$107,310
Postsecondary Teachers, All Other$77,640
Career/Technical Education Teachers, Postsecondary$63,820
Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary$78,620
Business Teachers, Postsecondary$99,080
Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary$80,250
Education Teachers, Postsecondary$75,350
English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary$78,760

Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where sociology teachers, postsecondary earn the most

Best paying metro areas for sociology teachers, postsecondary

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