Teachers make the world go around, but their paychecks don’t usually reflect their immense impact.
The National Center for Education Statistics reported the average public teacher salary in 2021 was $65,090. This was lower than the average earning year-round workers, $75,203. There has been an 2.6% increase from 2010 to 2019, but median earnings for high school, elementary and middle school teachers slumped between 4% – 8.4%.
However, there are some places that actually pay educators what they’re worth, and a new report by Scholaroo.com has taken a closer look at what compensation looks like from state to state, ranked.
Their findings took career accessibility, salary, compensation, work benefits, work environment, and student performance into consideration when forming the list.
According to the report, Washington state took the top spot, where on average teachers earn $81,586 and have $28,204 in pension earnings.
“It stands out in the categories of salary and compensation and work Benefits,” the report said. “In the first category mentioned, it has the highest salary increase for teachers in the last 10 years. In addition, more than half of its teachers qualify for a pension.”
Rounding out the top five are California ($87,275), New York ( $92,222), Massachusetts ($88,903), and Utah ($58,619).
Although California, New York, and Massachusetts made the top of the list, it’s worth noting that the salaries are likely higher because living costs in these states continue to soar. For instance, the cost of living in New York is 31% higher than the national average; housing is 82% higher than the national average, and utilities are 2% higher.
Scholaroo also analyzed work culture and cited Hawaii as one of the most diverse states to work in as a teacher.
“Hawaii is the number 1 state in teacher diversity with 74%, number 3 in our average starting salaries metric, as well as one of the states with the lowest percentage of the employer contribution rate,” the report stated.
The full report can be found here.