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PlainTeacher Guide - Rankings

Highest-Paying School Districts for Teachers

According to NCES CCD F-33 finance data for FY2023, these are the school districts that pay teachers the most, with estimated average salaries for thousands of districts nationwide.

$178,519

Calaveras County Office of Education reports the highest estimated average teacher salary among the 50 districts ranked here, at $178,519 (NCES CCD F-33, FY2023) - a plain-English ranking of the highest-paying US school districts by estimated teacher pay.

  • #1 of 50 ranked districts

Top 10 highest-paying districts

Estimated average teacher salary, enrolling districts (200+ students)

Est. avg salary

What this shows The highest estimated salaries cluster in wealthy Northeast and West Coast suburbs with strong local tax bases.

Source NCES CCD F-33, FY2023 As of FY2023
# District State Est. Avg Salary Enrollment
1 Calaveras County Office of Education California $178,519 449
2 San Bernardino County Office of Education California $178,265 2,028
3 Las Lomitas Elementary California $176,980 1,146
4 Mountain View-Los Altos Union High California $176,774 4,430
5 North Merrick Union Free School District New York $176,270 1,213
6 Jericho Union Free School District New York $174,755 3,224
7 Mahoning Co Career & Tech Ctr Ohio $171,630 692
8 Carmel Unified California $171,535 2,273
9 Butte County Office of Education California $171,118 358
10 Portola Valley Elementary California $170,458 513
11 Santa Clara Unified California $169,610 13,884
12 Saint Helena Unified California $167,325 1,120
13 Tuckahoe Common School District New York $167,273 250
14 Palo Alto Unified California $166,334 10,285
15 Calistoga Joint Unified California $165,941 804
16 Marin County Office of Education California $165,570 284
17 Laguna Beach Unified California $165,400 2,440
18 Hillsborough City Elementary California $163,742 1,292
19 Los Angeles County Office of Education California $162,805 1,533
20 Manhasset Union Free School District New York $162,331 2,997
21 Los Gatos Union Elementary California $160,810 2,622
22 Scarsdale Union Free School District New York $160,521 4,678
23 Bronxville Union Free School District New York $160,016 1,565
24 Ontario-Montclair California $159,751 18,428
25 Cold Spring Harbor Central School District New York $159,749 1,565
26 Three Village Central School District New York $159,708 5,692
27 Perth Amboy Public School District New Jersey $159,259 10,307
28 Merrick Union Free School District New York $158,904 1,663
29 East Quogue Union Free School District New York $158,484 355
30 Montecito Union Elementary California $157,241 353
31 Cardiff Elementary California $157,037 641
32 Fresno County Office of Education California $156,394 748
33 Solana Beach Elementary California $156,313 2,721
34 Western Local Ohio $155,037 685
35 Glenn County Office of Education California $154,816 320
36 North Shore Central School District New York $153,967 2,551
37 Woodside Elementary California $153,170 371
38 Hempstead Union Free School District New York $152,741 5,758
39 Sacramento County Office of Education California $152,661 938
40 Southold Union Free School District New York $152,553 697
41 Pocantico Hills Central School District New York $152,271 320
42 Hawthorne California $152,060 7,090
43 Fremont Union High California $151,790 9,978
44 Menlo Park City Elementary California $151,483 2,702
45 Wantagh Union Free School District New York $151,392 2,873
46 Briarcliff Manor Union Free School District New York $150,409 1,348
47 Buellton Union Elementary California $150,408 519
48 Bellmore Union Free School District New York $150,187 1,081
49 Seeley Union Elementary California $149,469 346
50 Blind Brook-rye Union Free School District New York $149,234 1,290

What the Top of the Table Shows

This table orders reliable district records by one FY2023 measure. It shows where aggregate instructional salary expenditure per teacher FTE is highest in this release; it does not explain why a district is high or predict an individual offer.

  • Compare districts in the same state and a similar enrollment range before treating one as a peer.
  • Use the purchasing-power ranking for broad regional-price context.
  • Verify current pay with the district salary schedule; FY2023 finance data is not a current contract.

Methodology

The ranking divides F-33 teacher salary expenditure (Z35-Z38) by reported teacher FTE from the CCD Staff Universe Survey. A small minority without a district-level count use the documented enrollment-based fallback. Records outside the published salary reliability range or below 200 students are excluded.

FAQ

Which district ranks first in this release?

Calaveras County Office of Education ranks first among the 50 records shown, at $178,519 on the FY2023 derived measure.

Does the ranking show individual teacher pay?

No. It ranks an aggregate district measure, not a payroll file, salary schedule, or individual offer.

Data source: NCES CCD F-33 Local Education Agency Finance Survey, FY2023 (released June 2024). View source data at NCES.ed.gov

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Related

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Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainTeacher Editorial

According to the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) F-33 Local Education Agency Finance Survey, PlainTeacher's figures are computed directly, 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.