School district · Tennessee · LEAID 4700148
Memphis-Shelby County Schools
Memphis-Shelby County Schools is in the largest third by enrollment among comparable Tennessee districts (109,797 students in the NCES CCD F-33 cohort). Per-pupil spending, enrollment, and budget for Memphis-Shelby County Schools come from the NCES Common Core of Data F-33 finance survey (FY2023).
- $58,671
- Est. avg teacher salary
- $16,050
- Per-pupil spending
- 109,797
- Students enrolled
- 60th
- Pct. in TN
Near benchmark
Memphis-Shelby County Schools is in the largest third by enrollment among comparable Tennessee districts (109,797 students in the NCES CCD F-33 cohort). Estimated average teacher salary is $58,671, below the national average of $70,245, serving 109,797 students (NCES CCD F-33, FY2023).
- Large enrollment scale: Memphis-Shelby County Schools is in the largest third by enrollment among comparable Tennessee districts (109,797 students in the NCES CCD F-33 cohort).
- 60th percentile for Tennessee
- 34th percentile nationally
- 30% of spending reaches instructional salaries
- Tennessee ranks #38 of 49 on the salary estimate and #13 of 49 on enrollment in the same reliable-district pool.
- Memphis-Shelby County Schools ranks #55 of 139 Tennessee districts by estimated teacher salary and #6 of 139 by per-pupil spending. Achievement School District pay #1 at $82,057 is not Franklin SSD spending #1 at $24,604 per pupil
- +1.1% estimated-basis panel FY2019→FY2023 (not applied to the FTE figure above)
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Instructional payroll mix vs Tennessee median
Among 141 Tennessee districts that break out F-33 program salary totals, Memphis-Shelby County Schools's instructional payroll puts 13.4% into special education , 3.4 points above the state median of 10.0%. That heavier special-education share usually means more of the teacher-salary pool is tied to IEP-driven staffing than at a typical Tennessee peer.
| Program | Memphis-Shelby County | TN median | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regular program | 82.6% | 84.1% | -1.5 pp |
| Special education | 13.4% | 10.0% | +3.4 pp |
| Vocational programs | 2.4% | 5.0% | -2.5 pp |
| Other programs | 1.6% | 0.4% | +1.2 pp |
Shares are of this district's reported F-33 teacher-salary program totals (Z35–Z38), compared with the median share across 141 in-state peers with a positive program sum. NCES LEAID 4700148 · FY2023.
LEAID 4700148 · NCES CCD F-33 FY2023
Memphis-Shelby County F-33 compensation desk
FY2023: $58,671 estimated average teacher salary · P60 in Tennessee · P34 nationally · 30% instructional salary share. Nearest salary peer: Montgomery (+$203est. salary).
Salary neighbourhood chart for Memphis-Shelby County
Salary neighbourhood · Memphis-Shelby County
Memphis-Shelby County sits mid-pack among in-state peers; the chart brackets it between the top and bottom pay poles (NCES F-33 FY2023, not a full state reprint).
- Union · low pole $32,029
Union · low pole
$32,029 est. salary
- Memphis-Shelby
Memphis-Shelby · this district
$58,671 est. salary
- Montgomery · near
Montgomery · near
$58,875 est. salary
- Bradley · near
Bradley · near
$59,153 est. salary
- Sumner · near
Sumner · near
$59,256 est. salary
- Achievement · top pay
Achievement · top pay
$82,057 est. salary
Appropriate use & corrections
National salary distribution for Memphis-Shelby County
Memphis-Shelby County Schools's estimated salary vs. every US district
NCES F-33 estimate, reliable-salary districts only
$58,671 34th percentile higher than 34% 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
What stands out about Memphis-Shelby County Schools
- Estimated teacher pay here moved +1.1% between FY2019 and FY2023, trailing Tennessee's statewide +12.8% by 11.6 points, a growth rate faster than 4% of the 141 Tennessee districts with a comparable FY2019 baseline.
- With 109,797 students, it is the 24th-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 $1.74B puts it among just 34 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 Memphis-Shelby County Schools
Memphis-Shelby County Schools enrolls 109,797 students (0.24% 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 $1.74B, putting it among 34 districts at this budget scale or larger.
Reported teacher FTE is 6,885, about 15.9 students per teacher (mega-cohort median 16.0; denser staffing than 44 of the 87 mega-districts with a usable FTE count, rank 43rd 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 Memphis-Shelby County Schools among other large systems, not against a 1,000-student district whose FTE is a handful of classrooms.
Instructional salaries take 30% of total expenditure on a $1.76B 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baltimore County Public Schools · Maryland | 111,082 | $93,213 | $2.45B |
| Cobb County · Georgia | 106,703 | $81,518 | $1.84B |
| Polk · Florida | 114,483 | $55,504 | $1.46B |
| Philadelphia City SD · Pennsylvania | 114,779 | $74,421 | $4.53B |
| Northside ISD · Texas | 102,719 | $60,402 | $1.45B |
This pay stretches further than the headline figure suggests
- Nominal district estimate
- $58,671.291
- Tennessee price level
- 92.1 / 100
- National-price equivalent
- $63,708
The FY2023 salary estimate shown in the hero.
BEA all-items regional price parity; 100 is the U.S. average.
+9% versus the nominal figure.
Prices in Tennessee 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 Tennessee 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 Memphis-Shelby County Schools
What the Numbers Say About Memphis-Shelby County Schools
Memphis-Shelby County Schools is a large urban school district in Tennessee, serving 109,797 students at an estimated per-pupil spending of $16,050. Estimated average teacher salary, derived from reported teacher salary expenditure (F-33 items Z35-Z38) divided by teacher FTE, is $58,671, placing the district in the moderately funded tier of NCES F-33 respondents. NCES LEAID 4700148 references the FY2023 Common Core of Data Local Education Agency Finance Survey.
Relative to the Tennessee statewide average of $57,941, teacher pay in Memphis-Shelby County Schools runs roughly in line with the state benchmark, a 1.3% gap, and below the national instructional-salary estimate of $70,245 (16.5% differential). Among enrolling districts in Tennessee, it pays more than 60% of them. Tennessee itself ranks #38 of 49 nationally on average teacher compensation, which shapes the funding ceiling districts operate under.
On the budget side, Memphis-Shelby County Schools reports $1762.2M in total expenditure against $1742.3M in revenue, with instructional salaries accounting for 30% of spending, a compensation-to-budget ratio that signals how much of each tax dollar reaches classroom educators. Regular-program teacher salary outlay is $333.6M, special-education teacher pay is $54.0M.
How does Memphis-Shelby County Schools compare?
Estimated average teacher salary versus a peer district, the Tennessee average, and the national average. Pick any in-state district to compare.
Memphis-Shelby County Schools pays -15.6% less than Davidson County · per-pupil $16,050 vs $20,412
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 Tennessee districts
On pay, Memphis-Shelby County Schools sits closest to Montgomery County; on per-pupil investment, its nearest match is Williamson County. 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 Memphis-Shelby County Schools's enrollment scale
Two out-of-state peer sets for Memphis-Shelby County Schools: closest on enrollment (109,797 students here) and closest on estimated average teacher salary ($58,671 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 Memphis-Shelby County 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 77% of everything the district spends on instructional salaries; the other 23% pays instructional aides, paraprofessionals, substitutes and other instructional staff who are not counted as teachers here.
Tennessee Teacher Pay Overview
The highest average among comparably sized Tennessee districts belongs to Achievement School District at $82,057. Memphis-Shelby County Schools places 54 of 137 comparably sized districts, squarely in the middle band the state average actually represents. Indiana and Idaho are the states closest to Tennessee 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 Tennessee districts →Other Tennessee Districts
Large-district sample from 138 Tennessee peers with reliable NCES data; bar length shows pay magnitude within this slice.
This is a sample of 6 from 138 Tennessee districts with enrollment and salary data reliable enough to compare in the NCES CCD F-33 survey.
Frequently Asked Questions about Memphis-Shelby County Schools
What is the average teacher salary in Memphis-Shelby County Schools?
The average teacher salary in Memphis-Shelby County Schools is $58,671 (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 Memphis-Shelby County Schools teacher pay compare to the Tennessee average?
Memphis-Shelby County Schools pays 1.3% more than the Tennessee state average of $57,941. The district's average is $58,671.
How does Memphis-Shelby County Schools teacher pay compare to the national average?
Memphis-Shelby County Schools pays 16.5% below the national average of $70,245. The district average is $58,671.
What is the per-pupil spending in Memphis-Shelby County Schools?
Memphis-Shelby County Schools spends approximately $16,050 per student annually (NCES FY2023), covering instructional salaries, support services, and administration.
What percentage of Memphis-Shelby County Schools's budget goes to teacher salaries?
Instructional salaries account for 30% of Memphis-Shelby County Schools's total expenditure of $1762.2M (NCES FY2023).
Next read for Memphis-Shelby County 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
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| Sources | Public official public datasets |