How much high school teachers earn in every state

Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock Teacher shortages are affecting schools across the U.S. at an unprecedented scale. Nearly three-quarters of district officials and principals have said there aren’t enough applications to fill open positions, according to a survey published in July 2022 by Education Week. To study this trend, Teachercertification.com used data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to calculate how much high school teachers made in each state. States are ranked by the percentage difference between the median annual income for high school teachers versus all occupations in the state. The ranking uses high school teachers’ actual annual salary as a tiebreaker. Data looks at secondary school teachers, excluding special education teachers and career and technical education teachers. At a national level, high school teachers made about 30% more than the median for all occupations at nearly $62,000 per year. This data doesn’t account for differences in education or training needed for various jobs. Other BLS data shows that people with a bachelor’s degree earn about 23% more than the median for all occupations, and those with a master’s degree earn about 39% more. Keep reading to learn more about the salaries of high school teachers across the U.S., the need for teachers in each state, and more. #51. Washington D.C. STUDIO MELANGE // Shutterstock – Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 3% lower than overall – Median salary for high school teachers: $77,570 per year – High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 4 teachers Washington D.C.’s schools were already experiencing issues well before the COVID-19 pandemic, with teachers complaining about a punitive evaluation system, brutal working hours, and high turnover rates. The city is expected to experience a teacher turnover that’s higher than most states, according to a recent study from WalletHub, and its teachers already receive some of the worst pay in the country, taking into account the local cost of living. #50. North Dakota maroke // Shutterstock – Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 6% higher than overall – Median salary for high school teachers: $49,730 – High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 8 North Dakota’s teacher shortages span virtually all subject areas. Some schools lack science, math, and English teachers, according to the North Dakota Association of Colleges for Teacher Education President Stacy Duffield, who has a doctorate in education. #49. Missouri Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock – Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 21% higher than overall – Median salary for high school teachers: $47,310 – High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 9 The number of Missouri high school teachers in May 2021 was 24,080. In Missouri, the starting salary for teachers is around $25,000 a year, among the lowest in the U.S., and the average attrition rate in the state has been 11% for the last six years. #48. Arizona WoodysPhotos // Shutterstock – Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 22% higher than overall – Median salary for high school teachers: $49,280 – High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 6 Arizona has been experiencing severe teacher shortages across the board. Here, the average salary for a starting teacher is $40,554, which is lower than the U.S. average. A projected 2,600 teaching positions were still unfilled by mid-September, well into the start of the 2022 school year. #47. Colorado