State Rankings
States Where Teacher Pay Improved the Most (2019-2022)
According to NCES F-33 finance data, these are the states where estimated teacher pay grew the most from FY2019 to FY2022, a real release-over-release comparison, not a single-year snapshot.
- +34.7%
- #1 most improved (North Carolina)
- +14.0%
- National mean
- +13.0%
- National median
- 51
- States ranked
North Carolina leads this ranking of estimated teacher-pay change since FY2019 at +34.7%, across 51 states ranked by the NCES Common Core of Data F-33 survey. The mean across all ranked states is +14.0%, the median +13.0%.
- #1 of 51: North Carolina
- +35.0% spread, top vs bottom
What This Ranking Tells Us
This ranking compares each state's estimated average teacher salary across the same consistent methodology in FY2019 and FY2022 (see methodology for how the trend series differs from the single-year snapshot shown elsewhere on this site). A large gain can reflect real minimum-salary legislation, a new funding formula, or a state catching up after years of stagnant pay - context worth checking against the state's own page before drawing conclusions.
By the Numbers: States Where Teacher Pay Improved the Most (2019-2022)
This ranking covers 51 jurisdictions (all 50 states plus the District of Columbia) using estimated teacher-pay change since FY2019 from the NCES Common Core of Data F-33 Local Education Agency Finance Survey, FY2022. North Carolina leads the list at +34.7%, while Alaska sits at the bottom with +0.0% - a +34.7% spread between the highest and lowest reporting state. The national mean is +14.0% with a median of +12.9%, a gap that reveals how concentrated the top of the distribution is.
Multi-year teacher-pay gains are usually driven by one of a few mechanisms: a state-legislated minimum-salary increase, a new school-funding formula, a post-pandemic catch-up after a period of flat pay, or a state simply starting from a low base with more room to move. A high rank here says a state's estimated pay grew fastest over this window - it does not by itself mean that state now pays the most (see the current-salary rankings for that), and consolidation or reporting changes at individual districts can also shift a state's estimate without reflecting a real policy change.
The F-33 survey covers all public Local Education Agencies (LEAs) reporting to NCES, capturing total instructional salary expenditure (variable Z33), enrollment, per-pupil spending, and revenue by source. Estimated teacher salary figures are derived by dividing Z33 by teacher FTE - these are district-level aggregates, not individual contracts. Private schools, charter networks with separate reporting, and federal BIE schools sit outside this dataset. Year-over-year comparisons require caution: district consolidations, reporting methodology changes, and late filings can shift rankings by several positions without reflecting underlying policy change. Click any state below to see per-district salary breakdowns and state-level licensing context.
The top 3
| # | State | Change since FY2019 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Carolina NC | +34.7% |
| 2 | Arizona AZ | +30.8% |
| 3 | Utah UT | +28.2% |
| 4 | California CA | +27.6% |
| 5 | New Mexico NM | +25.7% |
| 6 | Ohio OH | +24.2% |
| 7 | Georgia GA | +23.5% |
| 8 | Idaho ID | +23.3% |
| 9 | Texas TX | +21.8% |
| 10 | Delaware DE | +20.5% |
| 11 | Oregon OR | +19.9% |
| 12 | Rhode Island RI | +18.6% |
| 13 | South Carolina SC | +18.0% |
| 14 | Indiana IN | +17.9% |
| 15 | Mississippi MS | +16.5% |
| 16 | Arkansas AR | +15.4% |
| 17 | West Virginia WV | +15.1% |
| 18 | Alabama AL | +15.0% |
| 19 | Louisiana LA | +14.7% |
| 20 | Michigan MI | +14.6% |
| 21 | Kentucky KY | +14.3% |
| 22 | Washington WA | +14.3% |
| 23 | Maine ME | +14.2% |
| 24 | Pennsylvania PA | +14.1% |
| 25 | Maryland MD | +13.1% |
| 26 | Tennessee TN | +12.9% |
| 27 | Connecticut CT | +12.7% |
| 28 | Illinois IL | +12.6% |
| 29 | Kansas KS | +12.5% |
| 30 | Virginia VA | +12.4% |
| 31 | Colorado CO | +12.1% |
| 32 | Oklahoma OK | +12.1% |
| 33 | Minnesota MN | +11.4% |
| 34 | Massachusetts MA | +10.5% |
| 35 | Hawaii HI | +10.0% |
| 36 | Iowa IA | +9.8% |
| 37 | Florida FL | +9.4% |
| 38 | Vermont VT | +9.1% |
| 39 | Wisconsin WI | +8.9% |
| 40 | Missouri MO | +8.4% |
| 41 | Montana MT | +7.8% |
| 42 | Nevada NV | +7.7% |
| 43 | New Jersey NJ | +7.0% |
| 44 | South Dakota SD | +7.0% |
| 45 | North Dakota ND | +6.0% |
| 46 | Nebraska NE | +5.5% |
| 47 | New Hampshire NH | +4.8% |
| 48 | Wyoming WY | +2.6% |
| 49 | New York NY | +2.5% |
| 50 | District of Columbia DC | +0.7% |
| 51 | Alaska AK | +0.0% |
Source: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD) F-33 Survey (FY2019 and FY2022 releases).
Frequently Asked Questions
Which state improved teacher pay the most since 2019?
The first row shows the state with the largest estimated increase in average teacher pay from FY2019 to FY2022 in this comparison. This measures the CHANGE, not the current salary level - a state can rank high here while still paying below the national average in absolute terms.
Why does this ranking use FY2019-FY2022 instead of the latest single year?
A single year cannot show a trend. This ranking uses NCES's own archived FY2019 release compared against the current FY2022 release, both computed on the same estimation methodology so the comparison is apples-to-apples, not a mix of two different calculation methods.
Does a negative number mean teacher pay actually fell?
It means the estimated average, computed consistently across both years, was lower in FY2022 than FY2019 for that state. This can reflect real pay stagnation relative to inflation, a shift in district reporting, or enrollment changes affecting the per-teacher estimate - check the state's own page for district-level detail.
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Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
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. This ranking is computed directly from each district's FY2022 F-33 submission, no figure 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 FY2022.
| Publisher | PlainTeacher |
| Sources | Public official public datasets |