Iowa Teacher Salaries

What does the NCES F-33 data show for Iowa?

Iowa reports 327 public school districts in the NCES Common Core of Data FY2022 Local Education Agency Finance Survey, with an estimated average teacher salary of $82,484. That places the state in the middle third of US teacher-pay rankings — #24 of 51, near the national F-33 estimate of $82,292 (+0.2%). The state's public schools serve 503,735 students across these districts.

Among enrolling districts, pay varies widely: Mormon Trail Comm School District reports the highest estimated average salary at $121,507, while CAM Comm School District sits at the lower end at $32,921 — a spread of $88,586 between top and bottom reporting districts. Licensing rules, state aid formulas, collective bargaining density, and local tax bases all drive this intra-state variation. Urban and suburban districts with larger tax bases typically lead, while rural districts often lag despite lower cost of living.

Teacher compensation here reflects both state policy choices — the statutory minimum salary schedule, pension funding levels, licensure reciprocity — and the funding formula that determines how much state aid each district receives per pupil. A #24 national rank signals where Iowa sits in the competition for teachers against neighboring states; teacher shortage areas typically correlate with lower pay rank. Figures below are per-district estimates derived from the F-33 instructional salary expenditure field (Z33) divided by estimated teacher FTE — a district-level aggregate, not individual salary records.