Being a teacher is hard work, but unfortunately, many teachers don’t get paid enough for what they do. The pay for an average teacher greatly varies based on which state you are in though, so which states pay teachers the most and the least?
The Average Teacher Salary
The salary of a teacher varies greatly based on experience and location, but overall the average salary of a teacher is lower than it should be. For new teachers, their salary is typically less than $40,000 a year. However, for all teachers combined, the median salary is about an average of around $60,477 for the 2017-2018 school year.
Each state has its own average, which varies based on which article or study you look at, but these averages by state can range anywhere from $40,000 to $85,000.
Here’s how the states ranked during the 2017-2018 school year:
- New York: $83,585
- California: $81,126
- Massachusetts: $79,710
- District of Columbia: $76,486
- Connecticut: $73,113
- New Jersey: $69,917
- Maryland: $69,761
- Alaska: $69,474
- Pennsylvania: $67,398
- Illinois: $66,778
- Rhode Island: $66,758
- Oregon: $63,143
- Michigan: $62,702
- Delaware: $60,484
- Wyoming: $58,578
- Vermont: $58,572
- Ohio: $58,000
- New Hampshire: $57,833
- Hawaii: $57,866
- Nevada: $57,812
- Minnesota: $57,782
- Iowa: $56,790
- Georgia: $56,329
- Wisconsin: $55,895
- Washington: $55,175
- North Dakota: $54,421
- Indiana: $54,846
- Nebraska: $53,473
- Texas: $53,167
- Kentucky: $52,952
- Montana: $52,776
- Colorado: $52,389
- Maine: $51,663
- Virginia: $51,265
- South Carolina, $51,027
- Tennessee: $50,900
- North Carolina: $50,861
- Kansas: $50,403
- Louisiana: $50,256
- Alabama: $50,239
- Idaho: $49,225
- Missouri: $49,208
- Arkansas: $49,017
- South Dakota: $47,944
- New Mexico: $47,839
- Florida: $47,721
- Arizona: $47,746
- Utah: $47,604
- Oklahoma: $45,678
- West Virginia: $45,642
- Mississippi: $43,107
