What Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education earn in Douglas County, GA
If you are weighing a move or a job offer, start with $39,870: the median annual pay for Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education in Douglas County, GA. Spread over a standard 2,080-hour work year, that is $19.17 an hour. Because the wage survey covers the whole Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA metropolitan area, the number reflects employers across the region rather than a single town or a single company.
The mean wage is $46,900, which is 17.6% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 10,630 people working in this occupation across the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Douglas County, GA has roughly 147,888 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $28,160 a year ($13.54 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $75,700 or more ($36.39 an hour). That is a gap of $47,540 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $35,460 at the 25th percentile and $57,890 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.7 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: $19.17 an hour or $39,870 a year at the median for Douglas County, GA. Before any deductions, that is $3,323 a month, $1,533 every two weeks and $767 each week. After taxes the same job pays $15.73 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education this way: "Instruct preschool-aged students, following curricula or lesson plans, in activities designed to promote social, physical, and intellectual growth."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Provide a variety of materials and resources for children to explore, manipulate, and use, both in learning activities and in imaginative play"; "Attend to children's basic needs by feeding them, dressing them, and changing their diapers"; "Teach basic skills, such as color, shape, number and letter recognition, personal hygiene, and social skills"; "Establish and enforce rules for behavior and procedures for maintaining order".
Job outlook for Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 583,200 jobs in 2025 to 609,400 in 2035, a change of +4.5%, faster than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 66,700 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 11.4% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: associate's degree. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $38,140 for this occupation; the Douglas County, GA median of $39,870 is 4.5% above it.
How pay in Douglas County, GA compares
Compared with the Georgia average
Pay in Douglas County, GA runs $1,518 below the Georgia average of $41,388, a gap of 3.7%. A worker who moved to a better-paying part of Georgia would, on paper, gain that difference before taxes. Within Georgia, Douglas County, GA already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
Nationally, Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education earn an employment-weighted average of $39,850 across the contiguous United States, so $39,870 in Douglas County, GA is essentially average. 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 Douglas County, GA
Among the 585 occupations with published wages in Douglas County, GA, Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education ranks number 488 by median pay, ahead of about 17% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers at $618,090 a year, which is $578,220 more than the median for Preschool Teachers, Except Special 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 Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education earning the Douglas County, GA median of $39,870, they add up to $7,152. The result is $32,718 of take-home pay a year ($2,726 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $18 goes to taxes and $82 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 17.9%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $24,120. 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 12% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $2,656, an effective 6.7% of gross pay, well below the 12% 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 $2,472 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $578. FICA totals $3,050, which is 7.7% of gross pay.
State income tax in Georgia
Georgia income tax on this salary is $1,446 a year, or 3.6% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 54% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $121 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Douglas County, GA
IRS Statistics of Income data for Douglas County, GA show an average adjusted gross income of $60,483 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 10.3% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 4.5%, compared with the 6.7% 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 Douglas County, GA
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Douglas County, GA: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $32,718 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Douglas County, GA, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,619 a month ($19,428 a year), and at $1,762 for two bedrooms. For Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education, a one-bedroom absorbs 59.4% of take-home pay and 48.7% 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 8.6% of gross pay for Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education in Douglas County, GA. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Georgia residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,488 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $720, for $2,207 in total. Gasoline in Georgia averages $2.95 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,366.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $26,437 a year in Douglas County, GA. Subtract that from $32,718 of take-home pay and $6,280 remains, which is $523 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 15.8% of gross pay, a workable but modest cushion.
Local housing and commute data for Douglas County, GA
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Douglas County, GA: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Douglas County, GA, set beside the Georgia and national medians.
Property taxes in Douglas County, GA
Homeowners in Douglas County, GA pay a median of $2,212 a year in real estate taxes, 6% below the Georgia median of $2,341 and 29% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $296,900, the median tax bill is 0.75% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education median of $39,870, a tax bill of that size would equal 5.5% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Douglas County, GA
Renters in Douglas County, GA pay a median gross rent of $1,570 a month in the Census survey, 13% above the Georgia median of $1,393. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,619 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $296,900, 2% below the Georgia median of $303,300. Median household income is $82,984, 7% above the Georgia median of $77,353, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 23.4% of that income.
Commuting in Douglas County, GA
Workers in Douglas County, GA who travel to a workplace spend an average of 33.2 minutes each way, 17% above the Georgia average of 28.3. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 5.5 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 15.2% of workers in Douglas County, GA work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education afford to live in Douglas County, GA?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $39,870 that ceiling is $997 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,619 is $622 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $31.13 an hour; the median for Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education is $19.17, which is 38% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $15.73 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 23.8 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,762 a month means $881 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $8,856 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $15,136.
How fast you can save
At $523 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 20 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 40 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education pay in Douglas County, GA
How much do Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education make per hour in Douglas County, GA?
The median is $19.17 per hour, based on $39,870 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $13.54 at the 10th percentile to $36.39 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education take home after taxes in Douglas County, GA?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $39,870 becomes $32,718 a year. That is $2,726 a month, $1,258 every two weeks or $629 a week.
How much tax do Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education pay in Douglas County, GA?
Total taxes are $7,152 a year, an effective rate of 17.9%: $2,656 federal income tax, $3,050 FICA and $1,446 Georgia income tax.
Do Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education earn more in Douglas County, GA than elsewhere in Georgia?
No. The local median of $39,870 is -3.7% versus the Georgia average of $41,388, a difference of $1,518 a year.
Can Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education afford a one-bedroom apartment in Douglas County, GA?
A one-bedroom costs $1,619 a month against take-home pay of $2,726, which is 59.4% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $997 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education in Douglas County, GA?
About $523 a month ($6,280 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $26,437 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Douglas County, GA at the 30% guideline?
$31.13 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $19,428 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education is $19.17.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA 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 Georgia 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.