Professor Salary

Q: How much does a Professor make?

Professors make $158,407 per year on average, or $76.16 per hour, in the United States. Professors on the lower end of that spectrum, the bottom 10% to be exact, make roughly $86,000 a year, while the top 10% makes $290,000. Location impacts how much a professor can expect to make. Professors make the most in California, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Nevada.

Q: Do college professors get paid well?

Yes, college professors typically get paid well. The level of pay that a professor makes depends largely on their own merits and the institution's prestige they are working for. A professor's average starting salary per year is over $100,000. However, this can range from $80,000 in a year to over $200,000 per year.

Updated July 11, 2022

Average Professor Salary

$158,407 yearly
To create our salary estimates, Zippia starts with data published in publicly available sources such as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Foreign Labor Certification Data Center (FLC) Show More

$76.16 hourly

Entry level Salary

$86,000 yearly

$86,000

10 %

$158,407

Median

$290,000

90 %

How much does a Professor make?

Professors make $158,407 per year on average, or $76.16 per hour, in the United States. Professors on the lower end of that spectrum, the bottom 10% to be exact, make roughly $86,000 a year, while the top 10% makes $290,000.

Location impacts how much a professor can expect to make. Professors make the most in California, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Nevada.

Highest Paying States For Professors

The darker areas on the map show where professors earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

State View
County View

Average Salary:

Professor average salary by State

Rank	State	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Count
1	Oregon	$147,744	$71.03	418
2	California	$180,864	$86.95	1,108
3	Massachusetts	$161,954	$77.86	372
4	Pennsylvania	$138,467	$66.57	839
5	Michigan	$140,361	$67.48	348
6	Connecticut	$168,319	$80.92	84
7	District of Columbia	$151,086	$72.64	135
8	New York	$171,370	$82.39
9	New Mexico	$139,520	$67.08	88
10	Nevada	$156,773	$75.37	25
11	Alabama	$132,462	$63.68	246
12	Utah	$153,606	$73.85
13	Rhode Island	$132,631	$63.76	58
14	New Jersey	$132,792	$63.84	567
15	Mississippi	$123,774	$59.51	160
16	Maine	$130,219	$62.61	58
17	Washington	$140,743	$67.66	241
18	Oklahoma	$132,025	$63.47	75
19	Louisiana	$125,103	$60.15	205
20	Arizona	$137,183	$65.95	129
21	Texas	$135,296	$65.05
22	Colorado	$124,996	$60.09	588
23	West Virginia	$115,630	$55.59	157
24	North Carolina	$122,595	$58.94	499
25	Arkansas	$128,485	$61.77	63
26	Minnesota	$128,989	$62.01	279
27	North Dakota	$125,255	$60.22	25
28	Virginia	$117,154	$56.32	816
29	Vermont	$113,755	$54.69	82
30	Indiana	$120,480	$57.92	169
31	Ohio	$116,112	$55.82	396
32	Kentucky	$109,527	$52.66	250
33	Alaska	$104,834	$50.40	63
34	Maryland	$125,129	$60.16	229
35	Nebraska	$110,184	$52.97	136
36	Idaho	$124,816	$60.01	33
37	New Hampshire	$123,856	$59.55	34
38	Iowa	$106,755	$51.32	201
39	Delaware	$114,179	$54.89	42
40	Missouri	$109,350	$52.57	225
41	Montana	$102,753	$49.40	86
42	Georgia	$109,527	$52.66	369
43	South Carolina	$103,362	$49.69	291
44	Wisconsin	$99,801	$47.98	275
45	Wyoming	$102,401	$49.23	19
46	Illinois	$103,034	$49.54	447
47	Kansas	$101,954	$49.02	85
48	Hawaii	$96,393	$46.34	9
49	Tennessee	$102,713	$49.38
50	South Dakota	$101,565	$48.83
51	Florida	$89,553	$43.05	504

Highest Paying Cities For Professors

Rank	City	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate
1	Berkeley, CA	$195,445	$93.96
2	New York, NY	$194,716	$93.61
3	New Haven, CT	$186,015	$89.43
4	Boston, MA	$172,061	$82.72
5	Washington, DC	$169,359	$81.42
6	Lubbock, TX	$151,759	$72.96
7	Detroit, MI	$150,267	$72.24
8	Philadelphia, PA	$148,029	$71.17
9	Seattle, WA	$142,269	$68.40
10	Durham, NC	$132,423	$63.66
11	Baltimore, MD	$131,422	$63.18
12	Minneapolis, MN	$131,102	$63.03
13	Aurora, CO	$127,237	$61.17
14	Cleveland, OH	$124,769	$59.99
15	West Lafayette, IN	$124,767	$59.98

Professor Salary Details

What is a Professor's Salary?

Percentile	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate
90th Percentile	$290,000	$24,167	$139
75th Percentile	$217,000	$18,083	$104
Average	$158,407	$13,201	$76
25th Percentile	$115,000	$9,583	$55
10th Percentile	$86,000	$7,167	$41

Average Salary By Related Titles

Job Title	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
Adjunct Faculty	$73,929	$6,161	$35.54	26,791
Faculty	$71,091	$5,924	$34.18	21,142
Adjunct Faculty Member	$68,941	$5,745	$33.14	28,981
Faculty Member	$83,205	$6,934	$40.00	30,325
Music Internship	$64,948	$5,412	$31.23	49,414
Instructor, Adjunct Faculty	$67,955	$5,663	$32.67	37,739

Here are the five companies hiring the most now:

Which Companies Pay Professors The Most?

According to our most recent salary estimates, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and Univ. Of Texas Cancer Ctr. Are the highest paying companies for professors.

Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
1	Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center	$252,969	$121.62	54
2	Univ. Of Texas Cancer Ctr.	$231,108	$111.11	12
3	Vanderbilt University Medical Center	$217,406	$104.52	1
4	Oregon State University	$215,042	$103.39
5	University of Washington	$206,758	$99.40
6	Tulane University	$205,680	$98.88
7	New York University	$204,033	$98.09	109
8	University of Kentucky	$202,548	$97.38	215
9	UT Southwestern Medical Center	$200,302	$96.30
10	Northwestern University	$198,150	$95.26
11	University of California, Berkeley	$198,008	$95.20	108
12	LA State University Continuing	$196,665	$94.55	149
13	Yale University	$196,253	$94.35	1
14	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	$195,455	$93.97	2
15	Oregon Health & Science University	$195,263	$93.88	84
16	University of California	$193,333	$92.95	1
17	Montana State University	$193,036	$92.81	125
18	University of Massachusetts Medical School	$190,770	$91.72
19	Washington State University	$190,317	$91.50
20	University of Colorado Boulder	$189,849	$91.27	5

Professor Salary Trends

Average Professor Salary Over Time

Compare salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.

Professor Salary By Year

Year	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	% Change
2022	$158,000	$76.16	+0.2%
2021	$158,000	$75.98	-0.6%
2020	$159,000	$76.45	+4.3%
2019	$152,000	$73.14	-2.6%
2018	$156,000	$75.02	+4.8%

Recently Added Professor Salaries

Company	Job	Location	Date Added	Salary
University of Colorado	Open Rank Professor Series-FCB Docs Lead	Aurora, CO	05/10/2022	$50,752
University of Colorado	Professor (Open Rank)	Aurora, CO	04/17/2022	$186,000
University of Colorado	Professor (Open Rank)	Aurora, CO	04/15/2022	$186,000
University of Advancing Technology	Blockchain Professor	Tempe, AZ	04/06/2022	$60,000
University of Colorado Boulder	Professor-Open Rank	Boulder, CO	04/01/2022	$100,000
Oblate School of Theology	Professor of Spirituality	San Antonio, TX	03/23/2022	$114,033
University of Wisconsin System	Professor	Madison, WI	03/23/2022	$180,000
University of Wisconsin System	Professor	Madison, WI	03/23/2022	$180,000
University of California, Davis	Professor	Sacramento, CA	03/22/2022	$675,000
Ut Southwestern Medical Center	Professor	Dallas, TX	03/22/2022	$165,000

Professor Salaries FAQs

What state pays Professors the most?

California pays Professors the most in the United States, with an average salary of $180,864 per year, or $86.95 per hour.

How do I know if I'm being paid fairly as a Professor?

You know if you are being paid fairly as a Professor if your pay is close to the average pay for the state you live in. For example, if you live in New York you should be paid close to $171,370 per year.

What type of Professor gets paid the most?

Visiting Professor gets paid the most. Visiting Professor made a median salary of $97,169. The best-paid 10 percent make $136,000, while the lowest-paid 10 percent make $69,000.

Do college professors get paid well?

Yes, college professors typically get paid well. The level of pay that a professor makes depends largely on their own merits and the institution's prestige they are working for.

A professor's average starting salary per year is over $100,000. However, this can range from $80,000 in a year to over $200,000 per year.

Have more questions? See all answers to common education, training, and library questions.

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