The cities and states where teachers earn the highest salaries

The United States faces a teacher shortage. A recent study found that around 50,000 vacant teaching positions leave critical gaps in the country’s educational infrastructure. With state and federal governments doing very little to attract new teachers and retain those in the profession, filling the gap is an uphill battle for school districts with already limited resources.

One of the drivers of the teacher shortage is that the cost of getting the necessary credentials to teach in a public school can require students to take on thousands of dollars in debt, with no guarantee they will work in a district where the salary they are offered will be enough for them to pay down those debts quickly. According to the National Education Association, the average salary for a teacher in the US is $69,544. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that in twenty-four states the average pay is less than $66,050. The states that offer their teachers the highest pay are also states where the cost of living is higher.

Do public or private school teachers earn more?

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2023, the median income for elementary public school teachers was $64,380, and $51,360 for those teaching in public schools. When looking at the differences in pay for middle school teachers, those in public schools made $65,000, whereas those in private schools made $58,500. The gap is smallest when it comes to high school teachers, where those in public institutions make $66,070, which is only $4,780 more than their private school counterparts.

States and cities that offer the highest pay to teachers

The states that offer their teachers the highest pay are also states where the cost of living is higher. The list below is based of pay for secondary school teachers. These salaries were used because typically those who teach high middle and high school tend to make more, as evidences by the national averages highlighted above. For instance, in California, the annual mean wage in 2023 according to the BLS, was $105,540.

With California topping the list, it is unsurprising that the cities and metropolitan areas that offer the highest salaries to teachers:

Typically, major cities are able to pay teachers more, and often do so to attract teachers to their districts. However, those higher salaries are also a reflection of the economic conditions of cities where the cost of living is higher than rural areas.