Research Summary. After extensive research by the Zippia data science team, we identified these details of teacher salary by state for the United States:
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Maryland has the highest teacher salary of $61,254
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Montana has the lowest teacher salary of $34,041
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The national average salary for teachers is $47,989
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The national hourly pay for teachers is $23.07
You can read more on the specific methodology.
Background
Without fail, in surveys across basically every demographic, the number one most important aspect of a job for most people is the salary — how much do teachers get paid where I live?
And while there are many things to go into how much you, specifically, can expect to make, there’s really good data for average salaries for teacher by state across America broken down by seniority level. So while your city may be slightly different than the state average, these averages give you a rough sense of what to expect for your salary.
The state with the best salary for teachers after this adjustment? That would be Maryland.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten states for teacher salaries:
Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of all the states.
Highest-Paid Teachers By State
| Rank | State | Average Teacher Salary | 10th Percentile | 90th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maryland | $61,254 | $40,000 | $93,000 |
| 2 | Hawaii | $59,222 | $36,000 | $97,000 |
| 3 | New York | $57,919 | $37,000 | $89,000 |
| 4 | California | $57,193 | $39,000 | $83,000 |
| 5 | Alaska | $54,655 | $41,000 | $71,000 |
| 6 | Connecticut | $53,838 | $34,000 | $84,000 |
| 7 | Massachusetts | $53,435 | $34,000 | $83,000 |
| 8 | Washington | $53,255 | $36,000 | $77,000 |
| 9 | Virginia | $51,980 | $34,000 | $77,000 |
| 10 | New Jersey | $50,693 | $32,000 | $78,000 |
| 11 | Rhode Island | $49,690 | $31,000 | $77,000 |
| 12 | Oregon | $48,930 | $33,000 | $71,000 |
| 13 | Illinois | $48,469 | $34,000 | $68,000 |
| 14 | Pennsylvania | $47,859 | $31,000 | $73,000 |
| 15 | Texas | $47,693 | $35,000 | $63,000 |
| 16 | Michigan | $46,247 | $31,000 | $68,000 |
| 17 | Georgia | $45,908 | $33,000 | $62,000 |
| 18 | Ohio | $45,004 | $30,000 | $65,000 |
| 19 | Wyoming | $44,652 | $32,000 | $60,000 |
| 20 | Alabama | $44,472 | $32,000 | $60,000 |
| 21 | Kentucky | $44,120 | $31,000 | $61,000 |
| 22 | Florida | $43,926 | $31,000 | $61,000 |
| 23 | Delaware | $43,641 | $28,000 | $66,000 |
| 24 | Nevada | $42,775 | $29,000 | $61,000 |
| 25 | New Mexico | $42,397 | $31,000 | $57,000 |
| 26 | Nebraska | $42,129 | $30,000 | $57,000 |
| 27 | West Virginia | $41,909 | $28,000 | $61,000 |
| 28 | Tennessee | $41,591 | $30,000 | $56,000 |
| 29 | Minnesota | $41,413 | $29,000 | $58,000 |
| 30 | Utah | $41,116 | $29,000 | $57,000 |
| 31 | Iowa | $40,723 | $29,000 | $56,000 |
| 32 | Louisiana | $40,425 | $30,000 | $53,000 |
| 33 | New Hampshire | $40,231 | $25,000 | $62,000 |
| 34 | Kansas | $40,196 | $29,000 | $54,000 |
| 35 | Wisconsin | $40,132 | $27,000 | $57,000 |
| 36 | South Carolina | $40,110 | $28,000 | $55,000 |
| 37 | Colorado | $39,734 | $29,000 | $53,000 |
| 38 | North Carolina | $39,642 | $27,000 | $56,000 |
| 39 | Mississippi | $39,537 | $29,000 | $52,000 |
| 40 | Arizona | $38,865 | $28,000 | $53,000 |
| 41 | Vermont | $38,680 | $25,000 | $59,000 |
| 42 | North Dakota | $38,308 | $27,000 | $53,000 |
| 43 | Arkansas | $38,244 | $28,000 | $51,000 |
| 44 | Indiana | $37,673 | $26,000 | $53,000 |
| 45 | Idaho | $37,629 | $26,000 | $53,000 |
| 46 | Missouri | $36,768 | $26,000 | $50,000 |
| 47 | Oklahoma | $35,931 | $26,000 | $47,000 |
| 48 | Maine | $35,260 | $22,000 | $54,000 |
| 49 | South Dakota | $35,107 | $25,000 | $48,000 |
| 50 | Montana | $34,041 | $24,000 | $47,000 |
Methodology: Teacher Salary By State
To better understand teacher pay by state, Zippia has aggregated data across a multitude of channels including the BLS, FLC, and OPM. We then supplement that data with actual listed salaries from job posts. Finally, the data science team calculates a weighted average of these inputs to create an average pay for teachers by state.
We took the average annual salary data for teachers from these estimates and ranked every state on this criteria with the state with the highest salary ranking as highest average salary for teachers.
Teacher Salary By State FAQs
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What is the highest-paid state for teachers?
The highest-paid state for teachers is Maryland with an average salary of $61,254 per year.
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What city pays teachers the most?
Baltimore, MD pays teachers the most with an average salary of $61,238 per year.
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What is the worst state for teachers?
The worst state for teachers is Montana with an average salary of $34,041 per year.
Author
Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.
