What do teachers earn in
every US school district?
According to the NCES Common Core of Data F-33 fiscal survey (FY2023), estimated teacher pay, per-pupil spending, and budgets are available for all 13,149 public school districts.
Estimated avg teacher salaries for 13K+ US districts from NCES data, with state rankings, search, and per-pupil insights.
District of Columbia ranks #1 of 49 on the unweighted mean teacher-salary estimate ($124,986, 1 reliable district) but California ranks #1 of 49 by enrollment in that same pool (5,249,524 students, salary rank #2). The highest-paying jurisdiction is not the largest. Alaska and Illinois have no district with a usable teacher-salary estimate in this extract (reported salary between $30k and $200k with enrollment of at least 200), so they are omitted rather than imputed. National average $70,245 (median $65,705) across 10,684 reliable districts in the FY2023 F-33 corpus (13,149 districts, 51 jurisdictions).
- District of Columbia ranks #1 of 49 on the unweighted mean teacher-salary estimate ($124,986, 1 reliable district) but California ranks #1 of 49 by enrollment in that same pool (5,249,524 students, salary rank #2). The highest-paying jurisdiction is not the largest. Alaska and Illinois have no district with a usable teacher-salary estimate in this extract (reported salary between $30k and $200k with enrollment of at least 200), so they are omitted rather than imputed.
- 19 of 49 ranked jurisdictions pay above the national average
- 2.9x pay gap, District of Columbia vs Arkansas
- Sourced from NCES CCD F-33, FY2023
This is general information from public NCES data, not a salary offer, contract, or negotiation guarantee. Consult your district's HR office or teachers' union for official pay schedules and current openings.
The national picture
New York shows the widest average-over-median gap (+$9,921): its $89,760 mean sits 12% above the $79,839 district median across 642 reliable districts, the insight a ranked list alone does not show.
Average vs median
Where state means outrun typical districts
- $70,245
- National mean (est.)
- $65,705
- National median (est.)
- $4,540
- Mean − median gap
- 49
- States with a median
Widest average-over-median gaps by state
FY2023 reliable-district pool, mean salary minus district median
- New York
New York: +$9,921 avg over median
+$9,921 avg − median
- Nevada
Nevada: +$7,615 avg over median
+$7,615 avg − median
- Wyoming +$3,293
Wyoming: +$3,293 avg over median
+$3,293 avg − median
- Rhode Island +$2,661
Rhode Island: +$2,661 avg over median
+$2,661 avg − median
- Vermont +$2,574
Vermont: +$2,574 avg over median
+$2,574 avg − median
- North Dakota +$2,383
North Dakota: +$2,383 avg over median
+$2,383 avg − median
- New Hampshire +$2,150
New Hampshire: +$2,150 avg over median
+$2,150 avg − median
- Montana +$2,043
Montana: +$2,043 avg over median
+$2,043 avg − median
Your district shortlist
Build a shortlist for the next NCES release
Save district and state profiles in this browser. When PlainTeacher adds a newer public-data release, your Saved view flags profiles captured under the earlier dataset. Current source: FY2023.
Estimated teacher pay across the country
Estimated average teacher salary by state, darker is higher. The Northeast and West Coast lead; the South and Mountain West trail. These F-33 estimates run above survey-reported salaries and are best read as a relative comparison.
Read the map as text
| State | Value |
|---|---|
| District of Columbia | $125K |
| California | $111K |
| Delaware | $92K |
| New York | $90K |
| Rhode Island | $90K |
| Washington | $89K |
| New Hampshire | $88K |
| Connecticut | $86K |
| Massachusetts | $85K |
| Maryland | $84K |
| Pennsylvania | $82K |
| Nevada | $82K |
| Ohio | $80K |
| Utah | $79K |
| New Jersey | $79K |
| Wyoming | $76K |
| Hawaii | $75K |
| Vermont | $72K |
| Wisconsin | $70K |
| New Mexico | $69K |
| Alabama | $68K |
| Minnesota | $68K |
| North Dakota | $68K |
| Oregon | $68K |
| Louisiana | $67K |
| Idaho | $67K |
| South Carolina | $65K |
| Colorado | $64K |
| Arizona | $64K |
| Iowa | $64K |
| Nebraska | $63K |
| Michigan | $63K |
| Virginia | $63K |
| Maine | $63K |
| Georgia | $62K |
| Montana | $59K |
| Kansas | $59K |
| Tennessee | $58K |
| Florida | $58K |
| Kentucky | $56K |
| West Virginia | $54K |
| Indiana | $52K |
| Missouri | $52K |
| Texas | $51K |
| Mississippi | $51K |
| South Dakota | $50K |
| North Carolina | $50K |
| Oklahoma | $49K |
| Arkansas | $43K |
Where the money goes, by state
Two F-33 cuts competitors rarely surface side by side: estimated teacher pay and per-pupil spending, both average across enrolling districts.
Highest estimated teacher salary
Average, enrolling districts (200+ students)
-
$124,986 Est. avg salary
-
$110,546 Est. avg salary
-
$92,029 Est. avg salary
-
$89,760 Est. avg salary
-
$89,674 Est. avg salary
-
$88,556 Est. avg salary
-
$87,877 Est. avg salary
-
$86,015 Est. avg salary
-
$84,560 Est. avg salary
-
$84,383 Est. avg salary
What this shows District of Columbia leads pay; California leads enrollment in the same 49-jurisdiction pool.
Highest per-pupil spending
Average total expenditure per student
-
$39,111 Per-pupil spending
-
$36,976 Per-pupil spending
-
$30,271 Per-pupil spending
-
$28,758 Per-pupil spending
-
$27,724 Per-pupil spending
-
$27,256 Per-pupil spending
-
$24,741 Per-pupil spending
-
$24,443 Per-pupil spending
-
$24,432 Per-pupil spending
-
$24,176 Per-pupil spending
What this shows District of Columbia spends the most per student. Pay and spending rank differently, funding does not flow only to salaries.
Highest-Paying States
Lowest-Paying States
How do teacher salaries vary by state?
Click any state to see all school district salary data.
The national salary range
From the lowest- to highest-paying enrolling district, with the national median for reference.
Guides & Analysis
Highest-Paying Districts
Top school districts by estimated teacher salary nationwide.
Average vs Median Teacher Pay
How NCES averages differ from survey medians, and how to read both without mistaking one for the other.
How to Read NCES Data
Understanding the F-33 survey methodology and data limitations.
Per-Pupil Spending
What per-pupil expenditure means for teachers and schools.
Understanding the Teacher Shortage
NCES data on staffing variation, salary competitiveness, and where shortages concentrate.
Comparing School Districts
What per-pupil spending and salary estimates reveal about district quality.
About this data
How PlainTeacher works, and why you can trust these numbers
What this site is
PlainTeacher is a plain-language reference for U.S. public school teacher salary estimates. The NCES F-33 corpus covers 13,149 public school districts in 51 jurisdictions; salary averages and rankings use 10,684 districts meeting enrollment and data-quality thresholds across 49 of those jurisdictions.
Editorial process
- Source. Pull each district’s teacher salary expenditure (F-33 items Z35-Z38) and enrollment from the NCES CCD F-33 Local Education Agency Finance Survey, collected annually by the U.S. Department of Education.
- Verify. NCES applies quality control checks, imputation for missing values, and validation against prior-year submissions before publishing the final F-33 dataset; we cross-check our derived figures against that final release.
- Publish. The district salary measure divides instructional spending by reported teacher headcount, with a documented fallback where needed. It is a relative measure, not a survey-reported classroom-teacher salary.
Editorial independence & corrections
PlainTeacher accepts no payment, sponsorship, or promoted placement from any state or district. Found an error or a stale figure? File a correction through the contact page. See our editorial & corrections policy, methodology, about PlainTeacher, privacy policy, and terms of use for source attribution, refresh cadence, and site policies.
Frequently asked
What is the average teacher salary in the US?
The national average estimated teacher salary is $70,245 across 10,684 public school districts that meet PlainTeacher's reliability thresholds (NCES CCD F-33, FY2023). It is a figure derived from instructional spending and runs above survey-reported classroom-teacher salaries, so read it as a relative measure.
Which state pays teachers the most?
District of Columbia ranks #1 of 49 on the unweighted mean teacher-salary estimate ($124,986, 1 reliable district) but California ranks #1 of 49 by enrollment in that same pool (5,249,524 students, salary rank #2). The highest-paying jurisdiction is not the largest. Alaska and Illinois have no district with a usable teacher-salary estimate in this extract (reported salary between $30k and $200k with enrollment of at least 200), so they are omitted rather than imputed. 19 of 49 ranked jurisdictions sit above the national average on this estimate.
How are teacher salaries estimated?
Each district's total teacher salary expenditure (NCES F-33 items Z35-Z38) is divided by its reported teacher headcount from the CCD Staff Universe Survey. A small minority without a district-level count use the documented enrollment ÷ 15 fallback. Because Z33 covers instructional staff beyond classroom teachers alone, use the result as a district comparison rather than an individual paycheck.
How many public school districts are in the US?
13,149 public school districts across 51 states and territories report to the NCES F-33 Local Education Agency Finance Survey.
This portal is rendered directly from its public source data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error on this page. Data current as of FY2023.
| Publisher | PlainTeacher |
| Sources | Public official public datasets |