What Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary earn in Johnson County, KS
The median pay for Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary in Johnson County, KS is $36,520 per year, which works out to $17.56 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Kansas City, MO-KS metropolitan area, the labor market that Johnson County, KS belongs to. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than the median and half earn less, which makes it a sturdier yardstick than an average that a few very high earners can pull upward.
The mean wage is $35,260, which is 3.5% below the median, which suggests many workers sit near the top of the pay scale. The survey counts about 8,690 people working in this occupation across the Kansas City, MO-KS metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Johnson County, KS has roughly 620,631 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary in the Kansas City, MO-KS metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $23,660 a year ($11.38 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $46,810 or more ($22.50 an hour). That is a gap of $23,150 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $29,240 at the 25th percentile and $38,390 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.0 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: $17.56 an hour or $36,520 a year at the median for Johnson County, KS. Before any deductions, that is $3,043 a month, $1,405 every two weeks and $702 each week. After taxes the same job pays $14.54 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary
Job outlook for Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to shrink from 1,463,000 jobs in 2025 to 1,458,000 in 2035, a change of -0.3%, slower than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 176,200 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 12.0% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: some college, no degree. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $36,780 for this occupation; the Johnson County, KS median of $36,520 is 0.7% below it.
How pay in Johnson County, KS compares
Compared with the Kansas average
A worker in this occupation in Johnson County, KS earns $4,233 more than the Kansas average of $32,287, a premium of 13.1%. Over a year that premium is worth $4,233 before tax and roughly $3,505 after tax. Within Kansas, Johnson County, KS already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary is $36,982 across the contiguous United States. At $36,520, Johnson County, KS pays $462 less, which is 1.3% 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 Johnson County, KS
Among the 550 occupations with published wages in Johnson County, KS, Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary ranks number 501 by median pay, ahead of about 9% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Software Developers at $124,990 a year, which is $88,470 more than the median for Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary.
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 Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary earning the Johnson County, KS median of $36,520, they add up to $6,286. The result is $30,234 of take-home pay a year ($2,520 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 17.2%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $20,770. 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 $2,254, an effective 6.2% 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 $2,264 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $530. FICA totals $2,794, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Kansas
Kansas income tax on this salary is $1,238 a year, or 3.4% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 55% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $103 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 Johnson County, KS
IRS Statistics of Income data for Johnson County, KS show an average adjusted gross income of $130,901 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 16.5% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 5.7%, compared with the 6.2% 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 Johnson County, KS
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Johnson County, KS: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $30,234 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Johnson County, KS, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,366 a month ($16,392 a year), and at $1,546 for two bedrooms. For Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary, a one-bedroom absorbs 54.2% of take-home pay and 44.9% 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 9.4% of gross pay for Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary in Johnson County, KS. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Kansas residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,495 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $515, for $2,011 in total. Gasoline in Kansas averages $3.10 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,436.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $23,274 a year in Johnson County, KS. Subtract that from $30,234 of take-home pay and $6,960 remains, which is $580 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 19.1% of gross pay, a workable but modest cushion.
Local housing and commute data for Johnson County, KS
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Johnson County, KS: 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 Johnson County, KS, set beside the Kansas and national medians.
Property taxes in Johnson County, KS
Homeowners in Johnson County, KS pay a median of $4,447 a year in real estate taxes, 59% above the Kansas median of $2,798 and 43% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $391,200, the median tax bill is 1.14% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary median of $36,520, a tax bill of that size would equal 12.2% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Johnson County, KS
Renters in Johnson County, KS pay a median gross rent of $1,434 a month in the Census survey, 35% above the Kansas median of $1,060. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,366 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 $391,200, 80% above the Kansas median of $217,200. Median household income is $109,208, 47% above the Kansas median of $74,275, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 15.0% of that income.
Commuting in Johnson County, KS
Workers in Johnson County, KS who travel to a workplace spend an average of 20.6 minutes each way, 5% above the Kansas average of 19.7. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 3.4 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 22.4% of workers in Johnson County, KS work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary afford to live in Johnson County, KS?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $36,520 that ceiling is $913 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,366 is $453 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $26.27 an hour; the median for Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary is $17.56, which is 33% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $14.54 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 21.7 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,546 a month means $773 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $7,116 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $14,076.
How fast you can save
At $580 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 18 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 36 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary pay in Johnson County, KS
How much do Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary make per hour in Johnson County, KS?
The median is $17.56 per hour, based on $36,520 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $11.38 at the 10th percentile to $22.50 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary take home after taxes in Johnson County, KS?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $36,520 becomes $30,234 a year. That is $2,520 a month, $1,163 every two weeks or $581 a week.
How much tax do Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary pay in Johnson County, KS?
Total taxes are $6,286 a year, an effective rate of 17.2%: $2,254 federal income tax, $2,794 FICA and $1,238 Kansas income tax.
Do Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary earn more in Johnson County, KS than elsewhere in Kansas?
Yes. The local median of $36,520 is +13.1% versus the Kansas average of $32,287, a difference of $4,233 a year.
Can Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary afford a one-bedroom apartment in Johnson County, KS?
A one-bedroom costs $1,366 a month against take-home pay of $2,520, which is 54.2% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $913 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary in Johnson County, KS?
About $580 a month ($6,960 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $23,274 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Johnson County, KS at the 30% guideline?
$26.27 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $16,392 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary is $17.56.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Kansas City, MO-KS 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 Kansas 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.