PlainTeacher
NCES Common Core of Data F-33 2023 Free to cite

US Teacher Salary Statistics

A national snapshot of teacher and district-level compensation, computed live from NCES Common Core of Data F-33 finance records. Each figure below is aggregated directly from the underlying district data, not estimated.

National average teacher salary is $70,245 across 10,684 NCES F-33 districts with reliable salary measures (2023).

PlainTeacher holds F-33 finance for 13,149 districts in 51 states and D.C.; salary averages use the reliability-filtered subset covering 46,412,683 enrolled students. Figures are district-finance aggregates from the current snapshot, not real-time payroll.

  • National avg $70,245
  • Districts 10,684
  • Highest state avg District of Columbia $124,986
10,684
districts in salary averages
51
states + D.C.
$70,245
national avg. salary (district mean)
46,412,683
students enrolled

Key findings

Standalone facts, each computed live from the current dataset and free to quote with attribution.

  • • PlainTeacher holds F-33 finance records for 13,149 school districts across 51 states and D.C.; salary statistics below use 10,684 districts meeting reliability thresholds, covering 46,412,683 enrolled students.
  • • The national average teacher salary is $70,245, based on 2023 NCES Common Core of Data F-33 finance records.
  • • Calaveras County Office of Education, CA reports the highest average salary among reliably-reported districts, at $178,519.
  • • District of Columbia has the highest state-level average at $124,986, $81,765 above Arkansas's $43,221, the lowest of the ranked states.

Highest average-salary states

Top 15 states by average teacher salary, 2023, unweighted means of each state's own district estimates

Value
Source NCES Common Core of Data F-33 As of 2023

Source data is the NCES Common Core of Data F-33 Local Education Agency Finance Survey, 2023. See our methodology for the full derivation formula and refresh cadence.

Need the state-level values? Download the reusable teacher-salary-by-state CSV with its field definitions and source notes.

Share this district data

Download a sourced data card or share the canonical district profile.

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Reading these numbers: District of Columbia accounts for the highest state-level average ($124,986), but a national or state average hides real district-to-district variation driven by cost of living, district size, and local funding. See our state pages or rankings for district-level detail. Figures are aggregated directly from 2023 NCES F-33 finance records as currently on file, not a real-time payroll feed, see our methodology for the full processing pipeline.

This portal is rendered directly from its public source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page summarizes FY2023 NCES F-33 district finance records after the stated reliability thresholds; it is not a payroll or real-time pay record. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error on this page.