School district · New Mexico · LEAID 3500060
Albuquerque Public Schools
Albuquerque Public Schools is in the largest third by enrollment among comparable New Mexico districts (79,805 students in the NCES CCD F-33 cohort). Per-pupil spending, enrollment, and budget for Albuquerque Public Schools come from the NCES Common Core of Data F-33 finance survey (FY2023).
- $74,657
- Est. avg teacher salary
- $17,560
- Per-pupil spending
- 79,805
- Students enrolled
- 80th
- Pct. in NM
Above benchmark
Albuquerque Public Schools is in the largest third by enrollment among comparable New Mexico districts (79,805 students in the NCES CCD F-33 cohort). Estimated average teacher salary is $74,657, above the national average of $70,245, serving 79,805 students (NCES CCD F-33, FY2023).
- Large enrollment scale: Albuquerque Public Schools is in the largest third by enrollment among comparable New Mexico districts (79,805 students in the NCES CCD F-33 cohort).
- 80th percentile for New Mexico
- 67th percentile nationally
- 34% of spending reaches instructional salaries
- New Mexico ranks #20 of 49 on the salary estimate and #36 of 49 on enrollment in the same reliable-district pool.
- Albuquerque Public Schools ranks #14 of 70 New Mexico districts by estimated teacher salary and #53 of 70 by per-pupil spending. Penasco Independent Schools pay #1 at $148,037 is not Jal Public Schools spending #1 at $47,829 per pupil
- +32.6% estimated-basis panel FY2020→FY2023 (not applied to the FTE figure above)
Keep this district in your shortlist
Save it in this browser, then return when PlainTeacher adds a newer public-data release. No account or personal details required.
Instructional payroll mix vs New Mexico median
Among 89 New Mexico districts that break out F-33 program salary totals, Albuquerque Public Schools's instructional payroll puts 26.2% into special education , 9.2 points above the state median of 17.0%. That heavier special-education share usually means more of the teacher-salary pool is tied to IEP-driven staffing than at a typical New Mexico peer.
| Program | Albuquerque Public | NM median | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regular program | 68.5% | 74.0% | -5.5 pp |
| Special education | 26.2% | 17.0% | +9.2 pp |
| Vocational programs | 1.1% | 4.0% | -2.8 pp |
| Other programs | 4.2% | 3.3% | +0.9 pp |
Shares are of this district's reported F-33 teacher-salary program totals (Z35–Z38), compared with the median share across 89 in-state peers with a positive program sum. NCES LEAID 3500060 · FY2023.
LEAID 3500060 · NCES CCD F-33 FY2023
Albuquerque Public F-33 compensation desk
FY2023: $74,657 estimated average teacher salary · P80 in New Mexico · P67 nationally · 34% instructional salary share. Nearest salary peer: Gallup-mckinley (+$290est. salary).
Salary neighbourhood chart for Albuquerque Public
Salary neighbourhood · Albuquerque Public
Albuquerque Public already leads most of its in-state peer set; the chart plots it against the top and bottom pay poles for context (NCES F-33 FY2023, not a full state reprint).
- Farmington · low pole
Farmington · low pole
$56,733 est. salary
- Belen · near
Belen · near
$74,165 est. salary
- Albuquerque
Albuquerque · this district
$74,657 est. salary
- Gallup-mckinley · near
Gallup-mckinley · near
$74,947 est. salary
- Los · near
Los · near
$75,171 est. salary
- Zuni · top pay
Zuni · top pay
$83,041 est. salary
Appropriate use & corrections
National salary distribution for Albuquerque Public
Albuquerque Public Schools's estimated salary vs. every US district
NCES F-33 estimate, reliable-salary districts only
$74,657 Top 33% higher than 67% of 10,684 US districts
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $10K-wide band; taller bars hold more US districts. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source NCES CCD F-33 Finance Survey, FY2023 · FY2023
Albuquerque Public in New Mexico's upper-third pay band
Same 70 districts with a usable salary and a comparable per-pupil figure (NCES F-33 FY2023)
- Penasco Independent Schools
Penasco Independent Schools
$148,037 est. avg salary
- Albuquerque Public Schools
Albuquerque Public Schools
$74,657 est. avg salary
- Jal Public Schools
Jal Public Schools
$72,122 est. avg salary
What this shows Albuquerque Public Schools ranks #14 of 70 New Mexico districts by estimated teacher salary and #53 of 70 by per-pupil spending. Penasco Independent Schools pay #1 at $148,037 is not Jal Public Schools spending #1 at $47,829 per pupil
The same districts by per-pupil spending
Albuquerque Public Schools is marked; a high spending bar is not a high pay bar
- Jal Public Schools
Jal Public Schools
$47,829 per pupil
- Penasco Independent Schools
Penasco Independent Schools
$27,884 per pupil
- Albuquerque Public Schools $17,560
Albuquerque Public Schools
$17,560 per pupil
What this shows Jal Public Schools leads spending at $47,829 per pupil; Penasco Independent Schools leads pay.
What stands out about Albuquerque Public Schools
- This is a contracting district: 88,312 students in FY2020 down to 79,805 in FY2023, a 9.6% decline. Enrolment drives most state funding formulas, so the finance figures below describe a budget under downward pressure rather than a steady state.
- With 79,805 students, it is the 41st-largest school district by enrollment among the 13,149 US districts reporting enrollment data.
- A district of this scale typically enrolls more students than several entire states' worth of smaller districts combined, which is part of why the per-pupil and per-teacher figures here should be read as an aggregate across many schools rather than a single-campus estimate.
- Its total annual revenue of $1.45B puts it among just 45 US districts operating a budget of this size or larger, out of the 13,149 districts in the NCES CCD F-33 survey, a scale that brings dedicated budget offices, multi-year capital planning, and district-wide procurement contracts that a small district's single-person business office cannot replicate.
Scale composition for Albuquerque Public Schools
Albuquerque Public Schools enrolls 79,805 students (0.17% of the 46,412,683 students across 13,149 US districts that report enrollment in the NCES CCD F-33 survey). Only 88 districts clear the 50,000-student threshold used here - sparse districts in the 500-5,000 band cannot show a national-share read of this kind because their headcount is too small for the percentage to mean anything. Total annual revenue is $1.45B, putting it among 45 districts at this budget scale or larger.
Reported teacher FTE is 5,795, about 13.8 students per teacher (mega-cohort median 16.0; denser staffing than 83 of the 87 mega-districts with a usable FTE count, rank 4th densest) . At this enrollment the ratio is an aggregate across many campuses, so a single-school class-size story is the wrong read - use it to place Albuquerque Public Schools among other large systems, not against a 1,000-student district whose FTE is a handful of classrooms.
Instructional salaries take 34% of total expenditure on a $1.40B budget . Large systems carry central offices, transportation, and facilities lines that dilute the classroom share relative to a small district whose budget is almost entirely payroll - comparing that percentage across the enrollment cliff without this scale note misreads both ends.
Nearest mega-district peers by enrollment (same 50k+ cohort):
| District | Enrollment | Est. avg salary | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Bend ISD · Texas | 79,660 | $64,672 | $1.01B |
| Davidson County · Tennessee | 80,651 | $69,520 | $1.86B |
| Greenville 01 · South Carolina | 77,978 | $66,760 | $1.26B |
| Loudoun County Public Schools · Virginia | 81,678 | $86,520 | $1.73B |
| Baltimore City Public Schools · Maryland | 75,995 | $80,352 | $2.06B |
This pay stretches further than the headline figure suggests
- Nominal district estimate
- $74,657.332
- New Mexico price level
- 91.0 / 100
- National-price equivalent
- $82,058
The FY2023 salary estimate shown in the hero.
BEA all-items regional price parity; 100 is the U.S. average.
+10% versus the nominal figure.
Prices in New Mexico run below the national average, so this salary has roughly the buying power of the national-price equivalent above. A district in a costlier state can advertise a larger nominal salary and still leave a teacher with less.
Regional price parity: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2023 all-items RPP by state. The adjustment applies a statewide index to a district figure, so it captures how New Mexico compares nationally, not how this district compares with others in its own state. Compare every state on this basis.
How this salary figure is calculated
Full NCES reading for Albuquerque Public Schools
What the Numbers Say About Albuquerque Public Schools
Albuquerque Public Schools is a large urban school district in New Mexico, serving 79,805 students at an estimated per-pupil spending of $17,560. Estimated average teacher salary, derived from reported teacher salary expenditure (F-33 items Z35-Z38) divided by teacher FTE, is $74,657, placing the district in the moderately funded tier of NCES F-33 respondents. NCES LEAID 3500060 references the FY2023 Common Core of Data Local Education Agency Finance Survey.
Relative to the New Mexico statewide average of $69,282, teacher pay in Albuquerque Public Schools runs meaningfully above the state benchmark, a 7.8% gap, and above the national instructional-salary estimate of $70,245 (6.3% differential). Among enrolling districts in New Mexico, it pays more than 80% of them. New Mexico itself ranks #20 of 49 nationally on average teacher compensation, which shapes the funding ceiling districts operate under.
On the budget side, Albuquerque Public Schools reports $1401.4M in total expenditure against $1452.0M in revenue, with instructional salaries accounting for 34% of spending, a compensation-to-budget ratio that signals how much of each tax dollar reaches classroom educators. Regular-program teacher salary outlay is $296.2M, special-education teacher pay is $113.4M.
How does Albuquerque Public Schools compare?
Estimated average teacher salary versus a peer district, the New Mexico average, and the national average. Pick any in-state district to compare.
Albuquerque Public Schools pays +0.8% more than Las Cruces Public Schools · per-pupil $17,560 vs $16,818
Derived from NCES F-33 teacher salary expenditure (Z35-Z38) and CCD Staff Universe teacher FTE (FY2023); a small minority use the documented fallback. Unreliable service entities are excluded.
Data-derived comparison paths
Find comparable New Mexico districts
Las Cruces Public Schools is Albuquerque Public Schools's nearest match on both pay and per-pupil investment, which is uncommon: the two signals point at different districts for roughly 98% of districts. These are not simply nearby districts: each group is selected from the same NCES FY2023 dataset using a matching salary or per-pupil-investment signal and a comparable enrollment range.
Similar estimated teacher pay
Similar per-pupil investment
Out-of-state districts near Albuquerque Public Schools's enrollment scale
Two out-of-state peer sets for Albuquerque Public Schools: closest on enrollment (79,805 students here) and closest on estimated average teacher salary ($74,657 here). Rows stay link-disjoint so each axis is a distinct neighborhood.
Similar enrollment
Nearest other districts by NCES student count (floored at ≥200).
Similar estimated salary
Nearest other districts by F-33-derived average teacher salary, distinct from the enrollment row.
Enrollment and salaries from NCES CCD F-33; estimated teacher pay can diverge widely at the same student count because of state funding, cost of living, and local bargaining.
Revenue & Expenditure
Instructional Salary by Program
The teacher salaries behind this page's average are the ones NCES reports for 4 programs in Albuquerque Public Schools: the regular program, special education, vocational programs and other programs. Every program category NCES breaks out separately carries a figure here. Together they are 90% of everything the district spends on instructional salaries; the other 10% pays instructional aides, paraprofessionals, substitutes and other instructional staff who are not counted as teachers here.
New Mexico Teacher Pay Overview
The highest average among comparably sized New Mexico districts belongs to Pecos Independent Schools at $96,768. Albuquerque Public Schools sits in the upper quarter of that field at 12 of 50, nearer the ceiling than the floor. Montana and Missouri are the states closest to New Mexico on BEA's price parity, which makes them the fair comparison; against a costlier state this salary goes further than its number suggests.
View all New Mexico districts →Other New Mexico Districts
Large-district sample from 69 New Mexico peers with reliable NCES data; bar length shows pay magnitude within this slice.
This is a sample of 6 from 69 New Mexico districts with enrollment and salary data reliable enough to compare in the NCES CCD F-33 survey.
Frequently Asked Questions about Albuquerque Public Schools
What is the average teacher salary in Albuquerque Public Schools?
The average teacher salary in Albuquerque Public Schools is $74,657 (NCES CCD FY2023), from reported teacher salary expenditure (F-33 items Z35-Z38) divided by the district's reported teacher headcount (NCES CCD Staff Universe Survey).
How does Albuquerque Public Schools teacher pay compare to the New Mexico average?
Albuquerque Public Schools pays 7.8% more than the New Mexico state average of $69,282. The district's average is $74,657.
How does Albuquerque Public Schools teacher pay compare to the national average?
Albuquerque Public Schools pays 6.3% above the national average of $70,245. The district average is $74,657.
What is the per-pupil spending in Albuquerque Public Schools?
Albuquerque Public Schools spends approximately $17,560 per student annually (NCES FY2023), covering instructional salaries, support services, and administration.
What percentage of Albuquerque Public Schools's budget goes to teacher salaries?
Instructional salaries account for 34% of Albuquerque Public Schools's total expenditure of $1401.4M (NCES FY2023).
Next read for Albuquerque Public Schools
Disclaimer & data sources
Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Data is sourced from the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD). Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.
Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainTeacher
| Publisher | PlainTeacher |
| Sources | Public official public datasets |