PlainTeacher
NCES Common Core of Data F-33 2022 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.

13,138
school districts tracked
51
states + D.C.
$85,759
national avg. salary (enrollment-weighted)
46,270,515
students enrolled

Key findings

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

  • • PlainTeacher tracks salary data for 13,138 school districts across 51 states and D.C., covering 46,270,515 enrolled students.
  • • The enrollment-weighted national average teacher salary is $85,759, based on 2022 NCES Common Core of Data F-33 finance records.
  • • Palo Alto Unified, CA reports the highest average salary among reliably-reported districts, at $179,503.
  • • District of Columbia has the highest state-level average at $127,962, $72,259 above Arkansas's $55,703, the lowest of the ranked states.

Highest average-salary states

Top 15 states by average teacher salary, 2022, unweighted means of each state's own district estimates

Value
Source NCES Common Core of Data F-33 As of 2022

Source data is the NCES Common Core of Data F-33 Local Education Agency Finance Survey, 2022. 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.

Reading these numbers: District of Columbia accounts for the highest state-level average ($127,962), 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 2022 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. Every figure on this page is computed live from NCES Common Core of Data F-33 district finance records, 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.