Title: States Where Teachers Are Paid the Most and Least – 24/7 Wall St.
Headings: States Where Teachers Are Paid the Most and Least
States Where Teachers Are Paid the Most and Least
Hristina Byrnes
Click here for the states where teachers are paid the most and least
Click here for our detailed methodology

Content: 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the median annual salary for elementary, middle, and secondary schools teachers in every state from the May 2019 Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) program produced by the U.S. Labor Department to determine the states where teachers are paid the most and least. The U.S. median annual salary across K-12 teaching professions is $64,524, but it varies significantly by state from just under $45,000 to more than $85,000. Additionally, the annual salary for teachers varies geographically. Ten of the 15 states with the lowest pay for educators are in the South. States with the highest pay for teachers tend to be on the West Coast and the Northeast. Teacher salaries are just one component of a state’s overall public schools spending, and states with low teacher salaries also have relatively low education expenditures per-pupil. Among the 25 states with lowest median annual teacher salaries, per-pupil expenditures do not exceed the average expenditure of $20,722 per pupil nationwide in all but two states. Only four states on the higher end of the teacher pay range spend less than the national average per student. In states that pay teachers relatively little the average wage for all occupations is also relatively lower. In fact, in only one of the 25 states with the lowest annual average salary for teachers, the average wage for all jobs is higher than the national average of $53,490.