Map: Which States Pay Teachers the Most?

The gap between teacher salaries and the salaries of other similarly educated professionals grew over the past decade. Inflation-adjusted weekly pay for teachers went down more than $46 and increased more than $220 for other college graduates.

April estimates from the National Education Association put the average teacher salary at $74,495 (the national average wage is just under $70,000). From state to state, they range from almost $55K in Mississippi to over $100K in California. On average, salaries increased 3.5 percent last year, but state-level increases ranged from 1 percent in Oklahoma to almost 12 in Nevada.

Average pay in every state falls short of levels that could cover the cost of living and leave at least 20 percent to save or pay off debt. With some exceptions, this gap is smallest in states with the highest pay. No state pays teachers enough to meet this standard. (See map.)

More than 400,000 teaching jobs in American schools are either vacant or filled by people who are under-certified for their teaching roles.

The primary cause of demand for new teachers (90 percent) isn’t retirement, but teachers leaving their jobs. Pay isn’t the only reason for this, but it matters more in combination with factors such as post-pandemic learning struggles, distrust of public education, lack of parental involvement and extra work resulting from shortages.

There’s cause for hope, however. Gen Z workers want jobs with purpose. The nonprofit Teach for America has reported a 43 percent increase in the new members of its Teach for America Corps, a two-year paid program that places members in under-resourced schools. A generation that spent years in COVID-19 lockdown craves “human connection and experiences that feel real,” said Teach for America’s chief growth and program officer.