Skip Navigation
We use cookies to offer you a better browsing experience, provide ads, analyze site traffic, and personalize content. If you continue to use this site, you consent to our use of cookies.
Elizabeth Horvat

Starting Teacher Pay

Starting Teacher Salaries
NEA's Teacher Salary Benchmark Report provides information from 12,000 local school districts on starting teacher salaries and salaries at other points of the teaching career continuum.

Key Takeaways

  1. The 3.9% increase in starting salary represents the largest increase over the fourteen years that NEA has been tracking increases in starting teacher pay. It is also the first real dollar increase in starting salaries in three years.
  2. A staggering 77% of U.S. school districts still pay a starting salary below $50,000 (28.6% start out teachers at less than $40,000), while teacher salaries top out over $100,000 in only 16.6% of districts.

$44,530

National average starting teacher salary

3.9%

national average increase from the previous year

Addressing the Pay Problem

Highlights

Thirteen hundred school districts saw starting teacher salaries reach or surpass $40,000 during the 2022-2023 school year, decreasing the portion of districts that are sub-$40,000 by eleven percentage points.
3,500 school districts (28.6%), employing nearly 300,000 teachers still offer a starting salary below $40,000.
23.2% of school districts pay beginning teachers a salary of at least $50,000. These districts employ nearly 1.3 million (42%) teachers.
Nearly 500 school districts pay beginning teachers a starting salary of at least $60,000.
At $56,434, New Jersey maintains the highest average starting teacher salary among the fifty states. 16% of New Jersey school districts pay a starting salary of at least $60,000.
Missouri ($36,829) and Montana ($34,476) continue to pay the lowest average starting salaries in the nation.
For 2022-2023, the average increase in starting teacher salaries outpaced inflation by 0.9 percentage points.
Real inflation adjusted starting salaries are now $4,273 below 2008-2009 levels.
At $48,182, the average beginning salary for a teacher with a master’s degree is $3,652 (8.2%) above the starting salary for a teacher with a bachelor’s degree.
On average, the top of the teacher pay scale is $81,026; a salary level that typically requires a PhD, or 15 to 30 graduate credit hours beyond a master’s degree, and often requires 25 to 30 years of professional teaching experience.
Teacher salaries top $100,000 in 16.6% of US school districts, while 14% of districts pay a top salary that is below $60,000.
The starting salary of teachers in states with a bargaining law is $1,653 more than in states without a bargaining law. Top pay is $12,998 higher in states with a bargaining law.

Section with embed

Section with embed

Teacher Salary Benchmark Averages

State Starting Salary Top Bachelor's Starting Master's Top Master's Top Salary
Alabama $43,679 $66,886 $50,164 $76,866 $88,773
Alaska $51,207 $66,714 $56,825 $81,273 $92,052
Arizona $44,124 $58,130 $46,721 $66,654 $73,875
Arkansas $37,907 $50,551 $42,156 NA $56,426
California $55,283 NA NA NA $109,618
Colorado $39,044 $50,249 $42,857 $61,928 $70,200
Connecticut $48,784 NA $52,924 $92,957 NA
Delaware $45,188 $63,664 $51,209 $79,968 $90,870
Dist. of Columbia $63,373 $100,488 $67,958 $123,994 $131,003
Federal $56,327 $109,056 $64,291 $117,444 $135,361
Florida $47,178 $63,598 $49,986 $65,754 $68,397
Georgia $41,148 $59,760 $46,465 $67,839 $83,545
Hawaii $50,123 $71,403 $54,132 $77,115 $91,948
Idaho $41,179 $57,223 $45,262 $62,396 $64,361
Illinois $43,515 $64,150 $47,817 $79,419 $87,888
Indiana $42,735 NA NA NA $75,700
Iowa $39,986 NA NA NA $74,784
Kansas $41,200 $46,469 $44,121 $56,530 $63,598
Kentucky $39,204 $56,245 $43,116 $61,274 $66,364
Louisiana $45,593 $58,437 $46,585 $60,206 $62,565
Maine $41,163 $66,776 $43,878 $70,630 $73,179
Maryland $51,548 $69,638 $54,263 $89,955 $99,394
Massachusetts $51,057 $80,671 $55,135 $89,313 $99,856
Michigan $40,302 NA NA $74,975 NA
Minnesota $43,182 $58,378 $48,626 $70,781 $76,371
Mississippi $42,336 $61,915 $43,871 $67,341 $72,690
Missouri $36,829 $45,385 $38,984 $55,150 $59,886
Montana $34,476 $46,947 $38,782 $64,495 $69,362
Nebraska $37,797 $46,601 $44,756 $64,042 $72,253
Nevada $43,695 $56,829 $49,912 $74,113 $83,643
New Hampshire $41,590 $62,452 $45,544 $70,161 $74,837
New Jersey $56,434 $87,853 $60,297 $92,722 $96,564
New Mexico $50,628 $65,692 $59,118 $75,980 $77,012
New York $49,315 $80,230 $53,747 $91,537 $100,413
North Carolina $40,136 $58,578 $44,150 $64,435 $67,180
North Dakota $42,393 $62,806 $45,950 NA $67,544
Ohio $40,055 $70,021 $44,352 $81,677 $86,832
Oklahoma $38,192 $53,195 $39,638 $55,261 $57,584
Oregon $42,050 $60,180 $46,761 $74,095 $80,110
Pennsylvania $49,083 $75,083 $53,180 $82,583 $88,454
Rhode Island $46,066 $87,843 $49,269 $91,195 $93,518
South Carolina $42,026 $61,028 $47,365 $68,548 $82,696
South Dakota $42,907 $56,594 $47,149 $58,722 NA
Tennessee $42,164 $56,087 $45,875 $61,197 $69,428
Texas* $47,195 $65,116 $50,159 $67,346 $66,461
Utah $49,555 $72,419 $53,912 $84,210 $88,708
Vermont $43,060 $64,553 $48,124 $74,065 $80,597
Virginia $46,250 $73,060 $49,155 $77,039 $79,165
Washington $55,631 $66,752 $65,620 $96,842 $107,639
West Virginia $40,339 $61,458 $43,168 $64,337 $68,167
Wisconsin $41,151 NA NA NA $77,083
Wyoming $48,622 $58,218 $53,247 $69,677 $77,088
United States $44,530 $63,819 $48,182 $74,276 $81,026
*Higher paying districts are more likely to offer advanced degree supplements than are lower paying districts, resulting in average Top Master’s being greater than average Top Salary.

Starting Teacher Pay Data

State Starting Salary Rank $40K Districts District Percent $40K Teachers Teacher Percent Starting Salary 2021-2022 Salary Change
Alabama $43,679 23 138 100.0% 38,133 100.0% $41,974 4.1%
Alaska $51,207 6 46 100.0% 7,008 100.0% $50,083 2.2%
Arizona $44,124 21 117 81.8% 45,381 93.9% $41,791 5.6%
Arkansas $37,907 48 47 20.2% 18,805 50.8% $37,168 2.0%
California $55,283 4 833 97.8% 239,022 100.0% $51,904 6.5%
Colorado $39,044 46 72 40.9% 47,149 90.3% $37,106 5.2%
Connecticut $48,784 13 170 100.0% 39,571 100.0% $48,007 1.6%
Delaware $45,188 20 19 100.0% 8,858 100.0% $44,037 2.6%
Dist. of Columbia $63,373 1 1 100.0% 4,117 100.0% $56,313 12.5%
Federal $56,327 NA 16 100.0% 0 NA $54,903 2.6%
Florida $47,178 16 65 100.0% 158,174 100.0% $45,440 3.8%
Georgia $41,148 39 79 40.3% 96,060 81.7% $38,926 5.7%
Hawaii $50,123 9 1 100.0% 12,026 100.0% $50,123 0.0%
Idaho $41,179 36 114 100.0% 16,429 100.0% $40,393 1.9%
Illinois $43,515 24 633 71.8% 124,293 91.1% $42,224 3.1%
Indiana $42,735 28 304 99.3% 62,839 99.7% $40,921 4.4%
Iowa $39,986 44 160 49.1% 22,087 61.7% $39,146 2.1%
Kansas $41,200 35 217 75.3% 34,102 90.0% $40,099 2.7%
Kentucky $39,204 45 59 34.5% 26,041 60.0% $38,010 3.1%
Louisiana $45,593 19 54 93.1% 31,766 98.3% $43,137 5.7%
Maine $41,163 37 167 97.1% 14,115 95.8% $39,101 5.3%
Maryland $51,548 5 24 100.0% 62,407 100.0% $49,451 4.2%
Massachusetts $51,057 7 291 99.3% 68,735 100.0% $49,544 3.1%
Michigan $40,302 41 298 55.3% 56,187 75.5% $39,023 3.3%
Minnesota $43,181 25 312 91.5% 48,738 96.8% $42,197 2.3%
Mississippi $42,336 30 139 100.0% 31,516 100.0% $37,729 12.2%
Missouri $36,829 50 72 14.0% 36,311 54.2% $34,052 8.2%
Montana $34,476 51 26 11.6% 3,612 39.3% $33,545 2.8%
Nebraska $37,797 49 19 7.5% 9,737 40.5% $37,116 1.8%
Nevada $43,695 22 13 76.5% 21,153 98.4% $42,552 2.7%
New Hampshire $41,590 34 94 65.3% 10,769 80.6% $40,412 2.9%
New Jersey $56,434 2 579 100.0% 112,398 100.0% $55,151 2.3%
New Mexico $50,628 8 87 100.0% 20,079 100.0% $42,941 17.9%
New York $49,315 11 530 93.6% 172,167 96.8% $48,165 2.4%
North Carolina $40,136 42 62 53.9% 67,920 72.3% $37,676 6.5%
North Dakota $42,393 29 137 80.6% 7,259 81.2% $41,556 2.0%
Ohio $40,055 43 293 46.2% 63,179 70.0% $39,115 2.4%
Oklahoma $38,192 47 59 11.6% 21,547 53.2% $38,137 0.1%
Oregon $42,050 32 120 72.7% 28,364 92.0% $40,380 4.1%
Pennsylvania $49,083 12 493 93.9% 108,097 97.6% $47,811 2.7%
Rhode Island $46,066 18 32 100.0% 8,946 100.0% $45,250 1.8%
South Carolina $42,026 33 73 100.0% 52,216 100.0% $39,033 7.7%
South Dakota $42,907 27 124 93.9% 9,342 98.5% $41,170 4.2%
Tennessee $42,164 31 133 98.5% 62,718 99.3% $40,254 4.7%
Texas $47,195 15 553 82.3% 326,385 97.6% $45,389 4.0%
Utah $49,555 10 41 100.0% 26,606 100.0% $46,880 5.7%
Vermont $43,060 26 117 96.7% 6,625 95.9% $41,688 3.3%
Virginia $46,250 17 123 93.2% 85,352 98.2% $43,845 5.5%
Washington $55,631 3 243 100.0% 58,797 100.0% $52,142 6.7%
West Virginia $40,339 40 27 49.1% 13,284 71.1% $38,052 6.0%
Wisconsin $41,151 38 326 77.6% 38,704 65.1% $39,955 3.0%
Wyoming $48,622 14 48 100.0% 7,239 100.0% $47,321 2.8%
United States $44,530 - 8,800 71.4% 2,692,364 90.3% $42,875 3.9%
Note: District Percent refers to the portion of reporting school districts that offer a starting teacher salary of at least $40,000. Teacher Percent refers to the portion of all teachers who are employed in school districts that offer a starting teacher salary of at least $40,000.
Custodian
ESP Earnings

Education Support Professionals' Pay

Next
Teacher Pay & Per Student Spending

Rankings & Estimates

Previous
Jassmin Smith
Elizabeth Horvat

Starting Teacher Pay

NEA's Teacher Salary Benchmark Report provides information from 12,000 local school districts on starting teacher salaries and salaries at other points of the teaching career continuum.
Download the Report (pdf)
National Education Association

Great public schools for every student

The National Education Association (NEA), the nation's largest professional employee organization, is committed to advancing the cause of public education. NEA's 3 million members work at every level of education—from pre-school to university graduate programs. NEA has affiliate organizations in every state and in more than 14,000 communities across the United States.