Teaching Profession Report Roundup

Teacher Salaries

By Brenda Iasevoli — February 28, 2017 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Alaska and New York state pay teachers nearly double the salaries of those working in Mississippi and Oklahoma, says a study by GoBankingRates.

According to the finance website, teachers in Alaska and New York are paid each year on average $77,843 and $76,593, respectively. By contrast, the averages in Mississippi and Oklahoma are $42,043 and $42,647, respectively.

The average teacher salaries in 50 states (not including the District of Columbia) were calculated using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The authors averaged the mean salaries of elementary, middle, and high school teachers to get the average salary in each state. The calculations did not include the salaries of special education teachers.

The 10 states where teachers get paid the most:
1. Alaska: $77,843
2. New York: $76,593
3. Connecticut: $75,867
4. California: $72,050
5. Massachusetts: $71,587
6. New Jersey: $70,700
7. Rhode Island: $67,533
8. Maryland: $65,257
9. Illinois: $65,153
10. Virginia: $63,493

The 10 states where teachers get paid the least:
1. Mississippi: $42,043
2. Oklahoma: $42,647
3. South Dakota: $43,200
4. North Carolina: $43,587
5. Arizona: $43,800
6. West Virginia: $45,477
7. Arkansas: $47,053
8. Idaho: $47,063
9. Kansas: $47,127
10. Louisiana: $48,587

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the March 01, 2017 edition of Education Week as Teacher Salaries

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
College & Workforce Readiness Webinar
Smarter Tools, Stronger Outcomes: Empowering CTE Educators With Future-Ready Solutions
Open doors to meaningful, hands-on careers with research-backed insights, ideas, and examples of successful CTE programs.
Content provided by Pearson
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Reading & Literacy Webinar
Improve Reading Comprehension: Three Tools for Working Memory Challenges
Discover three working memory workarounds to help your students improve reading comprehension and empower them on their reading journey.
Content provided by Solution Tree
Recruitment & Retention Webinar EdRecruiter 2026 Survey Results: How School Districts are Finding and Keeping Talent
Discover the latest K-12 hiring trends from EdWeek’s nationwide survey of job seekers and district HR professionals.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Teaching Profession Opinion The Three Worst Words You Can Say to a Teacher
I’m sick of hearing the same patronizing advice from administrators and professional development trainers.
3 min read
A person hunched over and out of energy with school supplies raining down.
iStock + Education Week
Teaching Profession Opinion For Teachers With the Novel-Writing ‘Bug,’ Authors Have Advice
How do I start to write a novel? How do I get it published? Look here for those answers and more.
11 min read
Conceptual illustration of classroom conversations and fragmented education elements coming together to form a cohesive picture of a book of classroom knowledge.
Sonia Pulido for Education Week
Teaching Profession 'Constant Juggling': Teachers Share the Job Stressors That Keep Them Up at Night
Most educators point to the intense workload that doesn't stop after the school day ends.
1 min read
A teacher leads a lesson in an eighth-grade Spanish class.
A teacher leads a lesson in an 8th grade Spanish class. Educators are struggling with work-related stress that they aren't sleeping—find out what's causing it.
Allison Shelley for All4Ed
Teaching Profession What We Know About Pre-K Teachers: Salaries, Support, and More
A new RAND report shows how public school pre-K teachers need additional support.
6 min read
Teacher Abi Hawker leads preschoolers in learning activities at Hillcrest Developmental Preschool in American Falls, Idaho, on Sept. 28, 2023.
Teacher Abi Hawker leads preschoolers in learning activities at Hillcrest Developmental Preschool in American Falls, Idaho, on Sept. 28, 2023. A new report on pre-k teachers shows they want more professional learning.
Kyle Green/AP