Visualized: Where School Teachers Earn the Most in America
Description
Visualized: Where School Teachers Earn the Most in America
See visuals like this from many other data creators on our Voronoi app. Download it for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
Key Takeaways
- Teacher salaries are highest in coastal states like New York, Washington, and California, reflecting higher living costs and strong unions.
- Southern and Midwestern states like Mississippi, West Virginia, and Missouri tend to have the lowest teacher salaries, often 20–30% below the U.S. average.
Across the U.S., teacher pay varies significantly from state to state. Primary school teachers, for example, range from under $50,000 to over $80,000 annually depending on where they work.
To gain insight into how teacher compensation differs across the country, we visualized the average salaries for both primary and upper secondary educators.
Data & Discussion
The data for this visualization comes from the OECD’s Education at a Glance 2025 report. It compares teacher salaries by state, distinguishing between primary and upper secondary levels.
The U.S. national average salary for primary teachers is roughly $62,000, rising to over $66,000 for upper secondary educators.
| State | Primary | Upper Secondary |
|---|---|---|
| New York | $85,870 | $94,842 |
| Washington | $85,789 | $90,527 |
| California | $85,693 | $89,465 |
| Rhode Island | $84,998 | $85,727 |
| Connecticut | $81,327 | $91,069 |
| Massachusetts | $81,095 | $84,652 |
| District of Columbia | $80,364 | $90,078 |
| Alaska | $78,208 | $82,685 |
| Maryland | $74,794 | $69,380 |
| New Jersey | $74,628 | $92,172 |
| Pennsylvania | $73,453 | $79,926 |
| Delaware | $73,166 | $76,757 |
| Ohio | $68,592 | $73,004 |
| Vermont | $67,643 | $66,763 |
| Minnesota | $67,218 | $72,430 |
| Michigan | $66,495 | $69,648 |
| Illinois | $65,333 | $75,568 |
| Hawaii | $64,246 | $64,131 |
| Oregon | $64,070 | $71,685 |
| New Hampshire | $61,952 | $65,968 |
| Georgia | $61,278 | $68,142 |
| Texas | $60,017 | $62,135 |
| Wyoming | $59,933 | $66,330 |
| Utah | $59,843 | $64,165 |
| Iowa | $59,751 | $61,719 |
| Maine | $58,409 | $64,309 |
| Wisconsin | $57,793 | $64,298 |
| Nevada | $57,757 | $61,340 |
| Virginia | $57,409 | $59,145 |
| New Mexico | $56,905 | $63,373 |
| North Dakota | $56,119 | $62,452 |
| Colorado | $55,423 | $63,747 |
| Alabama | $55,386 | $58,549 |
| Kentucky | $54,639 | $59,052 |
| Arizona | $54,182 | $57,125 |
| Nebraska | $53,465 | $49,263 |
| Indiana | $52,998 | $61,627 |
| Tennessee | $52,982 | $54,414 |
| Montana | $52,886 | $54,318 |
| Florida | $52,512 | $55,721 |
| Kansas | $52,180 | $58,678 |
| Louisiana | $51,439 | $52,064 |
| South Carolina | $51,112 | $55,724 |
| Idaho | $50,973 | $57,053 |
| Arkansas | $50,368 | $54,600 |
| North Carolina | $50,347 | $55,228 |
| South Dakota | $49,927 | $53,296 |
| Oklahoma | $49,054 | $50,993 |
| West Virginia | $48,227 | $51,278 |
| Missouri | $48,211 | $54,984 |
| Mississippi | $47,154 | $51,457 |
| U.S. Average | $62,089 | $66,438 |
<!-- #table
United States
