$105,040top of the range in Maryland · middle $43,350 / yr
AI is transforming this role
Tutors in the United States earn a median of $43,350 a year. Pay starts near $29,430. Pay reaches $105,040 at the top of the range in Maryland, the best-paying state for this work among those with at least 500 people in the job.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (Tutors, SOC 25-3041). Last checked 9 September 2026.
Entry level
$29,430
Top of the range · Maryland
$105,040
Education
Bachelor's degree (often in subject area)
Wages — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (Tutors). Top of the range is the highest state-level figure among states with at least 500 people in the job. AI-impact rating is PayCrunch's editorial assessment. Updated September 2026.
🆕 New & Trending AI Tools for TutorReviewed September 2026
We track new AI-tool launches every week and refresh this list — here’s what’s gaining traction for Tutor work right now.
MagicSchool AINEWFree / $8.33 mo
All-in-one teacher toolkit with 80+ tools for planning, IEPs, and communication.
How a Tutor uses it: generate lesson plans, rubrics, and parent messages in minutes
Brisk TeachingNEWFree / school pricing
AI assistant that works right inside Google Docs, Slides, and the browser.
How a Tutor uses it: give feedback, differentiate readings, and build lessons in the tools you already use
CoGraderNEWFree / $19 mo
AI grading tool for writing assignments with rubric-based feedback.
How a Tutor uses it: grade a class set of essays in a fraction of the time, with consistent feedback
NotebookLMNEWFree / $7.99 mo
Google tool that answers questions grounded only in the documents you give it — with citations.
How a Tutor uses it: load your own manuals, policies, or PDFs and ask questions that stay accurate to the source
KhanmigoFree for teachers
Khan Academy's AI tutor and lesson-planning assistant.
How a Tutor uses it: plan standards-aligned lessons and give students a safe AI tutor
CuripodFree / $7.50 mo
Generates interactive, slide-based lessons from a topic or standard.
How a Tutor uses it: turn a topic into an interactive lesson students respond to live
DiffitFree / paid
Adapts any text or topic to the right reading level with questions.
How a Tutor uses it: level a reading for every student and auto-build comprehension questions
ChatGPTFree / $20 mo
The most-used AI assistant — writing, analysis, research, and images from a plain-language chat.
How a Tutor uses it: draft emails and documents, summarize long files, and get instant answers to on-the-job questions
ClaudeFree / $20 mo
AI assistant known for careful writing, long-document analysis, and coding.
How a Tutor uses it: analyze big reports or spreadsheets and turn messy notes into clean, finished writing
The learner is stuck on one kind of problem, and the parent is in the next room pretending not to listen. You have a short stack of work from school, a blank page, and the job of finding the exact point where the explanation broke. A tutor does that over and over: one person, one subject, a way of explaining that this particular learner can use tomorrow without you in the chair. The session ends when the learner can do a fresh example, not when the clock you privately hoped for runs out. If you need an audience, a classroom may fit you better. If you like the moment a face changes because the idea landed, this is the work.
Tutoring is wider than homework help at a kitchen table. Some tutors support a child in reading or algebra. Some work with adults learning a language, a professional skill, or a subject they are returning to after years away. Some are attached to a school, a college learning center, or a company that sells sessions online. The craft underneath is the same. You diagnose the gap, you teach the next step, and you leave a trace the learner can review. Charm helps. Charm without a plan wastes the family's money and the learner's trust.
What the session is actually for
Good tutoring starts before the greeting. You look at the last assignment, the last note you wrote, and the one thing you said you would check. Then you let the learner try, because watching the attempt tells you more than a speech. When they stall, you change the example, not the volume of your voice. You name the rule in plain words. You try a second example that looks different and uses the same idea. You stop while the success is still fresh enough to remember. A tutor who fills the time by re-teaching the entire chapter is performing. A tutor who leaves with one repaired skill is doing the job.
The other half is the adult who hired you. Parents and adult learners want to know what happened without a novel. A few lines are enough: what you worked on, what improved, what you will do next, and whether the schoolwork matches the struggle you are seeing. If the learner needs a conversation with a teacher or a counselor, you say so. You do not diagnose a disability from a kitchen table, and you do not promise a grade. You promise attention and a method. Families can tell the difference after two meetings, which is why the second meeting is where tutoring relationships actually begin.
Materials stay simple on purpose. The learner's own assignments beat a generic packet, because the goal is the class they already have. A backup set of problems you made yourself is useful when the schoolwork is too messy to teach from. Software and shared screens matter for online work, and they fail. Have a plan for a dropped call that does not depend on heroics. The tutors who last online are the ones who can teach from a phone photo of a worksheet and still keep the learner talking.
No licence stands in the doorway
No government licence is required to work as a tutor. Families, centers, and schools hire on evidence that you can teach the subject, not on a card issued for this title. A state teaching certificate is a different credential, built for people employed as classroom teachers. It can make a school more comfortable hiring you, and many excellent tutors never hold one. If you have it, say so, and name the state that issued it. If you do not, do not imply that you do. The lie is worse than the gap, because the job runs on trust with children and parents.
What you can hold instead is proof of the subject and proof of teaching. A degree, a transcript in the field, a former life as a nurse or an accountant or a musician, and a record of students you have actually taught are all legitimate. Some centers want a short sample lesson during hiring. Treat that as the interview. Prepare one clear idea, a check for understanding, and a calm response when the sample learner is confused. Skip the performance of personality. The hirer is imagining you with a real child next Tuesday.
Background reviews are separate from a licence
A school or a center may ask for a background review before you work with minors. That review is their process. It does not turn tutoring into a licensed profession. Complete what they ask, tell the truth on the forms, and keep a copy of what you submitted.
Families, centers, and schools hire differently
Private families hire from referrals, from a school list, and from a short note that says the subject, the learners you are ready to teach, and how you like to work. "Experienced tutor" is empty. "Algebra and geometry with middle and high school learners, in person, progress note after each meeting" is a picture. Your first conversation should include what the learner is struggling with, who else is helping, and what done looks like. Quote a rate only after you understand the work. A family that wants daily support is a different assignment from a family that wants a monthly check-in before a big project.
Learning centers hire for a shift on their floor and for their curriculum. You will teach their way, at least at first, and you will see many learners in a row. The advantage is a stream of work and a brand that does the marketing. The limit is the rate and the method. Ask whether you are an employee, what the center keeps from the price the family pays, and whether you may tutor those families privately later. Get that last point in writing. It is the conflict that ends otherwise good jobs.
Schools and colleges hire tutors into learning centers, athletics study halls, and subject labs. The posting may want a current student, a graduate, or a certified teacher. Read it. Campus jobs are a strong way to build the record before you ever advertise to families. Online platforms hire by subject test and by ratings after you start. Treat early ratings as fragile. A few careless sessions can sink a new profile. Bring the same notes you would bring to a kitchen table. The screen does not excuse a vague meeting.
From one chair to a small practice
Most people start with one or two learners and a rate they guessed. The next step is a full book: enough regular meetings that you can plan a week, plus a waiting list so one cancellation does not wreck the month. Specializing helps. A generalist who "does all subjects" loses to a person known for chemistry, or for reading with younger learners, or for the writing adults need at work. You can still be kind and flexible. The market remembers a specialty.
A center lead or a learning-center coordinator is the employment path if you want benefits and a team. You stop being only a tutor and start matching other tutors to learners, watching quality, and talking to parents when a match fails. Independent practice is the other path. You set the rate, you carry the cancellations, and you decide whether to hire a second tutor. Hiring is a different job. The moment someone else teaches under your name, you need a way to know the sessions are real and the notes are honest. Many tutors stay solo on purpose. That is a business choice, not a failure of ambition.
What grows the work is a learner who can show a parent the change, and a parent who tells another parent. What stops it is missed meetings, a blurry boundary with the family, or a promise about results and admissions you cannot keep. Keep a simple log of subjects, levels, and the kind of progress you are willing to stand behind. That log is your resume when a school or a better center calls. It is also how you decide to raise your rate without apologizing for it.
May 2025 pay, Maryland's high end, Massachusetts' middle
These wages are Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics for May 2025. The series name belongs here: Tutors. The figures describe that occupation across employers, from centers to schools to people whose work looks like yours and people whose mix of subjects does not.
Early-career pay in the release sits at $29,430. The national midpoint is $43,350. The distance between them is $13,920. A new tutor building a first book can use $29,430 as the lower reference. A tutor with a steady set of learners and a subject people ask for by name can look toward $43,350 and ask why an offer, or a personal rate translated into a year, still sits on the early figure. From the national midpoint to the high end of the published range is $61,690. That span is wide. It describes the top of the range, not a typical bump after a good semester.
Maryland holds the high end of the published range, at $105,040. Massachusetts holds the highest median, at $60,900. Those are different statistics, and they belong to different states. Maryland's high end is the top of the published range. Massachusetts' figure is a median, the middle of pay in that state. Maryland also has a median of its own, and that median is a different statistic from Maryland's high end. From the national midpoint to the Massachusetts median is $17,550. Use $17,550 when you mean the lift from typical national pay to the highest state middle. Use $105,040 only when you mean Maryland's high end, and say the statistic out loud.
State medians, in this order, are Massachusetts at $60,900, New Hampshire at $53,790, Maryland at $52,810, Connecticut at $50,350, and Tennessee at $50,280. Each is a middle. Massachusetts leads them. New Hampshire at $53,790 is next. Maryland's median of $52,810 must stay apart from Maryland's high end of $105,040. Connecticut at $50,350 and Tennessee at $50,280 sit just above the national midpoint of $43,350. None of these medians is the Maryland high end. A tutor comparing Maryland with Massachusetts is comparing a median of $52,810 with a median of $60,900, and is still not talking about $105,040.
The lowest median in the release is Nevada at $30,420. The gap between that median and the Massachusetts median is $30,480. The gap compares two middles. It leaves the Maryland high end alone. Nevada's $30,420 sits near the national entry figure of $29,430. Read a Nevada offer against $30,420. Read Tennessee against $50,280. Read Connecticut against $50,350. Read Maryland's middle against $52,810. Read New Hampshire against $53,790. Read Massachusetts against $60,900. Read $105,040 only as Maryland's high end of the published range.
Naming a rate with the release in hand
If you are employed, put the offer next to the figure that matches your season. A first center job can sit near $29,430. A skilled tutor with a full book can point to $43,350 nationally and then to the state. In Massachusetts the middle is $60,900, which is $17,550 above the national midpoint. In New Hampshire it is $53,790. In Maryland the middle is $52,810, and the high end of $105,040 is a separate sentence you should not blur into "what Maryland pays." In Connecticut the middle is $50,350. In Tennessee it is $50,280. Quote the state where the work happens. A family in Tennessee does not become a Massachusetts employer because you prefer the Massachusetts median.
If you set your own rate, these annual figures are still the map, and they are not a menu of made-up session prices. Translate carefully in your own notes, and do not invent a published figure the release never printed. A year near $43,350 is the national middle. A year near $60,900 is the Massachusetts middle. A year near $105,040 is the Maryland high end, appropriate only if your record truly sits at the top of what the Bureau published, and even then you should label it as that high end. The $61,690 from the national midpoint to that high end is the width of the range. It is a poor script for a tutor in the first year.
Specialty, travel to the home, and a full book are reasons to discuss where you sit between the entry figure and the relevant median. They are not reasons to quote Nevada's gap of $30,480 as if it were a raise inside one city. Bring one comparison. The offer or your annualized rate, the national midpoint of $43,350, and one state median. If Maryland's high end has wandered into the talk, put $52,810 back on the table beside it and name both statistics. Then teach the next session as carefully as you handled the numbers. Families notice both.
The top of Tutor pay — and how to get there with AI
$105,040what Tutor pay reaches in Maryland
Highest state-level top-of-range annual wage for Tutors, among states with at least 500 people in the job. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
And the role it leads to — Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education — reaches $137,370 in New York.
$29,430entry$43,350middle$105,040top end
A tutor at the top of this range is rarely the one with the fullest calendar; it is the one whose lesson modules, session structure and assistant-use rules every other tutor in the centre now follows.
Preparing lesson plans and learning modules for each student's goals used to eat the unpaid half of this job, and a chat assistant now drafts a worked solution set or a practice worksheet in a couple of minutes. Two things follow. Ordinary preparation stops being scarce, and every colleague around you starts using these tools badly, pasting in answers nobody checked and losing the diagnostic value of watching a student attempt something. Centres, districts and private practices will pay for the person who fixes that: someone who writes the rules, prepares and facilitates the training sessions, and turns loose habits into a shared method. The core tasks already point at it, since participating in training and development sessions to improve tutoring practice is part of the job description.
Your playbook, by where you are now
Just startingBuild a method before you build an audience
Write down your own session structure, opening check, review of class material, guided practice, feedback, exit note, so it exists outside your head.
Draft practice items with ChatGPT or Claude from one worked example, then solve every item yourself and throw out what is wrong before a student sees it.
Keep the study skills and test-taking strategies you teach as short printable pages rather than as things you say aloud.
Set your appointment scheduling so parents book without three messages, and note what you promised in the same place.
What proves it: A written session structure and a set of practice pages you did not improvise.
Realistic span: your first year of steady students
A few years inTurn your material into the centre's material
Convert your best sequences into modules inside whatever platform the place already runs, Moodle or Blackboard software, so colleagues can use them without asking you.
Write a one-page rule for assistant use: what may be drafted, what must be checked, what a student is never handed unread.
Run a staff session on the difference between a worksheet a model produced and one a tutor verified, using real examples that went wrong.
Build interactive material in Nearpod or Edpuzzle for the topics your centre repeats every term, and hand the files over rather than guarding them.
Track which modules other tutors actually reuse, since that is the number a manager understands.
What proves it: A shared module library with your name on it that other tutors teach from.
Realistic span: years two through four
ExperiencedOwn training, scheduling and quality
Take the training and development role formally, so preparing colleagues is paid work rather than goodwill.
Set the intake process, including a diagnostic every tutor gives the same way, so student progress across the centre can be compared at all.
Coach tutors on feedback that uses positive reinforcement without hiding a bad result, because that is the skill new tutors get wrong most.
Decide whether a classroom license is worth adding, since school teaching is where this occupation's next pay step sits, and Maryland pays this field better than most.
Negotiate a rate for programme design separate from your hourly teaching rate.
What proves it: A training programme you wrote and delivered, plus the intake diagnostic in use across a team.
Realistic span: five years on
The next 90 days
Take the subject you tutor most and build one complete module in the next three months: a diagnostic, four sessions with worked examples, the study skills page that goes with it, and an exit check that mirrors the diagnostic. Draft the raw material with an assistant to save the typing, then work every problem by hand yourself, because the errors are subtle and a student will find them. Give the module to one other tutor at your centre and watch them teach from it without your help. Whatever they have to ask you is a gap in the writing, not in them. Fix those gaps, then offer to walk the rest of the staff through it at the next training session. That single hour is how a tutor stops being one more name on the schedule and becomes the person the schedule is built around.
Wage figures: BLS OEWS, May 2025. The playbook is PayCrunch editorial guidance, not a guarantee of pay or placement.
Every figure is the national median from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS) shown on that role’s own page.
Never used AI before? Start here (2 minutes).
Open ChatGPT or Claude and turn it into your content engine. Before your next session, have it generate a custom worksheet at the student's exact level, with a worked answer key you check yourself. Unlimited tailored practice makes each hour more valuable — and more valuable hours are how you justify a higher rate.
For learning the craft and the tools, Khanmigo shows how AI tutoring works, and ChatGPT and Claude help you plan curricula and diagnose gaps. Keep every student anonymous — describe needs generically, never paste names, essays, or IEP details — and always verify the answer key before you teach from it.
The one rule, forever: Academic integrity and child safety come first. Use AI to help students learn — never to produce graded work they will pass off as their own, and teach them the same line. Protect minors' privacy: never upload a student's name, school, full essays, IEP, or identifying details to a consumer AI tool. Verify every AI-generated problem and explanation before using it — AI makes math and factual errors, and a wrong answer key destroys your credibility.
The plays — exact steps, exact prompts
Do these in order. Each one is copy-paste ready. You do not need to know anything about AI going in.
1
Generate unlimited custom practice at the student's exact level
Why this pays: A tutor who arrives with practice tailored to precisely where a student is stuck delivers far more per hour than one working from a generic textbook. That value is what supports premium rates and the results that drive referrals toward the $105,040 top.
ChatGPTClaudeKhanmigo
1
Before each session, have ChatGPT or Claude build a scaffolded worksheet targeting the student's specific weak spot, with a full worked answer key.
2
Get practice and multiple explanations calibrated to the student.
Copy-paste this prompt
You are an expert [Algebra 2] tutor. Create a 12-question practice worksheet on [factoring quadratics], scaffolded from easy to challenging, for a student who has [GCF factoring] down but struggles with [the case where a is not 1]. Include a full answer key with worked solutions and 2 word problems. Then give me 3 ways to explain the [a is not 1] case with different analogies.
Solve the key yourself before using it — AI makes arithmetic errors — and never enter the student's name or school.
What you'll haveHigher-impact sessions from custom practice — the value that supports premium rates and repeat business.
2
Diagnose the real gap and build a targeted plan
Why this pays: Parents pay for results, and results come from fixing the actual misconception, not re-teaching everything. Fast, accurate diagnosis produces visible score gains — the reputation engine behind referrals and premium pricing.
ChatGPTClaudeGemini
1
After a quiz or session, describe the student's errors (anonymized) to ChatGPT and ask it to identify the underlying misconceptions and sequence what to fix first.
2
Turn a pile of mistakes into a focused reteach plan.
Copy-paste this prompt
Here are a student's wrong answers on a [geometry proofs] quiz (I will describe the errors, no names): [describe the mistakes]. Identify the underlying misconceptions, rank what to reteach first, and give me a 4-session plan to fix each gap with a checkpoint to confirm mastery.
Describe errors generically and anonymize everything; use this to target sessions, not to replace your own read of the student.
What you'll haveSharper diagnosis and faster progress — the measurable results that generate referrals and justify your rate.
3
Own a test-prep niche
Why this pays: SAT, ACT, AP, GRE, and professional-exam prep are the highest-paying tutoring there is, because a score jump has clear dollar value to families. Specializing here is the most direct route to the top of the range and past it.
ChatGPTClaudePerplexity
1
Pick one test and use ChatGPT to build score-band study plans and drills, always cross-checked against official practice material.
2
Build a plan that maximizes score gain per hour.
Copy-paste this prompt
Act as a [digital SAT] prep coach. For a student scoring [1120] targeting [1350], build a 10-week plan: which question types to prioritize by score-gain-per-hour, a weekly practice schedule, and 20 practice questions for [the hardest reading question type] with explanations. Base it on official Bluebook practice, not invented questions.
Verify every practice question against official College Board (or the relevant exam) material — wrong practice teaches the wrong thing and costs points.
What you'll haveA premium test-prep specialty — the highest-rate tutoring and the fastest path above $105,040.
4
Break the top of hourly pay with group classes and a course
Why this pays: One-on-one income is capped by the hours in a week. Small-group classes multiply your hourly rate across students, and a recorded course or resource library sells while you sleep — the model shift that clears the top of the range.
TeachableOutschoolCanva
1
Package a repeatable topic into a small-group class (run live or on Outschool) and a self-paced course on Teachable, with materials built in Canva.
2
Convert your best 1:1 material into a scalable offer.
Copy-paste this prompt
I tutor [middle-school writing] one-on-one for [$50/hr]. Help me design a 6-week small-group class (max 6 students at [$40/student/session]) on [essay writing]: a session-by-session curriculum, learning outcomes, and a one-page sales description for parents. Then outline a self-paced [essay-writing] mini-course I could sell on Teachable.
Group and course income is how you pass $105,040 — but deliver real outcomes, because word-of-mouth is what sells the next cohort.
What you'll haveIncome decoupled from the clock — group and course revenue that lifts you well past the top of hourly pay.
5
Fill your calendar at premium rates
Why this pays: Empty slots and platform fees cap earnings. A strong specialist profile, a referral engine, and direct booking keep you full at rates you set — the difference between a busy tutor and a top-of-range one.
ChatGPTWyzantCalendly
1
Use ChatGPT to write a specialist profile for Wyzant and your own site, then move repeat clients to direct booking on Calendly to escape platform fees.
2
Position yourself as the premium choice and build referrals.
Copy-paste this prompt
Write my tutoring profile and bio as a premium [AP Chemistry] specialist for Wyzant and my own site: highlight results, my approach, and why I am worth [$90/hr]. Then draft a referral program (an incentive for parents who refer) and 3 follow-up messages that convert a free consult into a booked package.
Let results, not discounts, justify your rate; move satisfied clients to direct booking so more of the fee reaches you.
What you'll haveA full calendar at premium, fee-free rates — steady income at the top of the range instead of platform scraps.
6
Wow parents with progress reports and session summaries
Why this pays: Retention and word-of-mouth are the whole game in tutoring, and both come from parents seeing progress. Professional summaries make your value visible — which keeps clients longer and justifies premium pricing.
ChatGPTClaudeGoogle Docs
1
After sessions, turn your anonymized notes into a warm, specific progress report in ChatGPT and send it from Google Docs.
2
Make progress visible and next steps clear.
Copy-paste this prompt
Turn my session notes into a polished progress report for a parent: [bullet notes on what we covered, wins, and next focus — no identifying info]. Keep it warm, specific, and confidence-building, ending with what we will work on next and how they can support at home.
Parents pay premium for visible progress; keep notes anonymized and factual, and never overstate results.
What you'll haveLonger client relationships and more referrals — the retention that compounds into top-of-range earnings.
Your 12-month sequence to the top of the range
How the plays above stack into a path from median pay toward the $105,040 tier.
Month 1
Use AI to generate custom practice and diagnose gaps in every session; track student results.
Months 2-3
Pick a high-value niche (a test or subject), build your question banks, and design a signature plan.
Months 3-6
Raise your rates, launch a small-group class, and send parents AI-assisted progress reports.
Months 6-12
Launch a course or resource library, move clients to direct booking, and scale past hourly.
Gear for this job
As an Amazon Associate, PayCrunch earns from qualifying purchases. Links to books and tools are for the job on this page; we only recommend what we’d use in the work.
Same live Harry K. Wong Publications 5th already on elementary-teacher / high-school-teacher / kindergarten-teacher / preschool-teacher / teacher-assistant / esl-teacher / foreign-language-teacher / reading-specialist / ged-instructor (ASIN 0976423383). This leftover page is BLS Tutors (SOC 25-3041); play 1 is Generate unlimited custom practice at the student's exact level; play 2 is Diagnose the real gap and build a targeted plan; start-here is Open ChatGPT or Claude and turn it into your content engine. Classroom-management staple for leftover lesson / session / practice-structure work — not leftover Lemov as the lead (that is stem-teacher / pe-teacher / test-prep-instructor) and not leftover Praxis as a dump. Confirm 0976423383. Live page HTTP 200, no PC_GEAR / amazon.com/dp / tag=paycrunch-20 at 2026-09-18 1:10 AM PT. Source page: teacher-assistant.
Next steps for a Tutor
Some links below are affiliate or partner links. PayCrunch may earn a commission if you enroll or subscribe through them, at no extra cost to you. Wage figures on this page still come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, not from these programs.
Tutor work is specific enough that a stamped 'check out these courses' block would be noise. BLS files this work as Tutors (SOC 25-3041). O*NET Job Zone 3 is typical: vocational school, an apprenticeship, or an associate-level credential, so the honest next credential is a certificate, an apprenticeship-aligned course, or an associate-level program — not a random catalog dump.
The occupation's listed knowledge area is Psychology, which is what the course searches below actually query.
Tutors in this dataset list Facebook among the tools in use, so a program that names that stack is a better fit than a survey course.
Coursera search for teaching and education — a certificate, an apprenticeship-aligned course, or an associate-level program that lines up with education, not a generic professional-development aisle.
FlexJobs screens remote, hybrid, freelance, and flexible listings so you are not wading through unverified ads. This is a job-board search for Tutor work, not a claim that they list a counted SOC 25-3041 inventory.
Write a Tutor resume, or one aimed at Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education, instead of a blank template. Resume Now is a resume builder; we are not claiming a counted template set for this SOC.
A Tutor resume that names the actual tasks on this page, or the step-up title Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education, beats a blank template when you apply.
What Tutors earn by state
These are the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ own figures for Tutors, state by state — not a cost-of-living adjustment applied to the national number. Only states employing at least 500 people in the occupation are shown, because a state median drawn from a handful of workers is noise rather than a signal.
Massachusetts
$60,900
highest of them · +40% vs the national median
Nevada
$30,420
lowest of the 41 states that qualify · -30% vs the national median
The same job pays $30,480 more a year at the median in Massachusetts than in Nevada — 100% higher. That gap is what the Bureau measured, before any question of what it costs to live in either place. The top-of-range figure quoted at the head of this page, $105,040, is a different statistic in a different place: it is the 90th-percentile wage in Maryland. The state that pays the typical worker most and the state where the best-paid go highest are not always the same one.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, SOC 25-3041. 41 states clear the 500-employee reporting floor for this occupation; those below it are left out rather than shown with a wide error band.
Free data. Use any of it.
PayCrunch publishes verified, BLS-sourced salary + AI-playbook data on 1,000+ professions — free, no signup.
For a motivated adult who just needs facts explained, free AI is already a great tutor — so the tutors who thrive provide what AI cannot: accountability, a real relationship, reading a struggling kid, and results families trust. Use AI as your engine and sell the human layer. Generic homework-help-for-hire is the part genuinely at risk.
How does AI raise a tutor's pay when it is paid by the hour?
Two ways: it makes each hour more valuable (custom practice, faster diagnosis, real score gains all justify higher rates), and it helps you sell things that are not hourly — group classes and courses. That is how you reach and pass the $105,040 top of the range.
Is it cheating to use AI in tutoring?
Not when you use it to create practice and explanations and to teach students how to learn with it — that is a future-critical skill. It is cheating only if it does the student's graded work for them, so teach that line clearly and model it yourself.
Can I trust AI-generated problems and answers?
Only after you check them. AI makes math and factual errors, so always verify the answer key, and for test prep use official practice material as the source of truth rather than AI-invented questions.
How do I protect student privacy?
Never put a student's name, school, essays, or IEP into a consumer AI tool. Describe needs generically, keep records in your own secured files, and be transparent with parents about how you use AI in your teaching.
Methodology & sources
Salary (median, 10th, top of the range) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS.
By state — the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ own state medians, limited to states employing at least 500 people in the occupation. No cost-of-living arithmetic is applied to a wage anywhere on this page.
The plays — PayCrunch's own step-by-step guidance using publicly available AI tools. Tool names/URLs are real and current as of August 2026; prompts written to work as-is. Verify any professional output before relying on it.