The Average Teacher Salary By State, Ranked

Teachers work in classrooms in all 50 states, but many of them are paid better than others.

The average teacher's salary in the U.S. was $74,495 for the 2024-25 academic year, the most recent analyzed by the National Education Association (NEA). The data covered more than 3 million teachers across the country who saw an average national increase of 3.5% in pay.

So which states treat their teachers like the top of the class and which ones don't? See how your state ranks by salary based on this data from the NEA.

California Leads for Teacher Pay

California is the only state in the U.S. where the average teacher salary is above six figures, coming in at $103,552. Second-place New York has an average salary of $98,655 while third-place Washington teachers take home an average of $96,589 in pay.

The cost of living is likely one reason why states like California, New York, and Washington pay their teacher better than other states. All three states are in the top 10 for highest cost of living, according to data from the World Population Review.

California also has the second-highest number of teachers employed, with more than 270,000 residents, followed by New York with more than 218,000 residents. Texas has the most teachers of any state with almost 370,000 teachers, but the state doesn't pay its teachers as competitively. In fact, Texas ranks 33rd in teacher pay by state.

There was little change in the top 10 states for best-paid teachers from the 2023-24 academic year to the 2024-25 academic year, with Oregon being added to that list of states. It bumped out Alaska, which had the 10th highest pay for teachers the previous academic year but fell to 11th for the 2024-25 school year.

The top 10 states for best-paid teachers include:

Southern States Pay Teachers Less

Southern states dominate the list of lowest teacher salaries on average.

Mississippi leads the list, paying an average of $54,975 followed by second-place Florida at $56,663 and third-place Louisiana at $56,785.

Florida may be surprising because it ranks fourth in the country for the number of teachers. The state has more than 170,000 teachers employed in public schools, according to data from the NEA. It's also ranked third in the nation for the number of students, with more than 2.6 million students enrolled in public schools.

The top 10 lowest states for teacher pay include:

Nevada Gives Teachers the Biggest Pay Raise

It's not just about the salary itself, but also increases in pay over the academic years.

Nevada led the way, increasing teacher pay 11.8% from the 2023-24 academic year to the 2024-25 year. The District of Columbia was second with a 9.7% pay raise, with Delaware giving teachers a 7.6% raise in average pay.

Fiscal and education policies played a role in these increases in Nevada, where the state legislature dramatically increased pay as part of a bill that bumped up how much money was being spent on education and teacher salaries. Delaware passed a similar legislation, which allocated additional funding for teacher salaries.