Key Findings and Technical Notes from the Rankings & Estimates Average
Teacher Salary Data
NEA Research, March 11, 2019
Key Findings
•

The national average teacher salary increased from $59,534 in 2016-17 to $60,462 in 2017-18.
Average teacher salaries in 2017-18 ranged from a high of $84,227 in New York to a low of
$44,926 in Mississippi.

•

If one does not adjust for inflation, the national average teacher salary has increased by 11.2%
2008-09. However, after adjusting for inflation, the national average teacher salary has
decreased by 4.5% over the past decade.

•

If inflation is not taken into account, all 50 states and the District of Columbia experienced
increases in their average teacher salaries over the past 10 years. Yet the inflation-adjusted
figures tell a very different story: there was an increase in 14 states and the District of Columbia
but decreases in the other 36 states. These changes ranged from an increase of 16.6% in South
Dakota to a decrease of 13.6% in Wisconsin.

Technical Notes
•

Each fall, NEA Research requests three sets of data from departments of education in all 50
states and the District of Columbia:
o New data for the most recently completed school year (e.g., for the report published in
spring 2019, this would be data for 2017-18);
o Estimates for the current school year (e.g., for the report published in spring 2019, this
would be data for 2018-19); and
o Any revisions to the previous four years of published data (e.g., (e.g., for the report
published in spring 2019, this would go back to 2013-14)

•

In order to determine the national average salary, a weighted average is calculated that takes
into account the wide variation among states in the number of teachers. As a result, changes in
the average salaries of states with large populations (e.g., California, Florida, New York, Texas)
have a greater effect on the national average than changes in states with smaller populations.

•

When a state does not submit data and NEA Research cannot find an equivalent source of data
on the state department of education website, NEA Research produces an estimate generated
either from a time-series model that uses past Rankings & Estimates data or from one of two
sources: the American Community Survey (ACS) for average salaries, or NCES for non-salary data
points. Which estimate source is used depends on NEA’s knowledge of an individual state’s
trends and policy actions over time, the quality of that state’s existing Rankings & Estimates
data, and the size of the state, as ACS data are most accurate for states with larger populations.
These estimates are provided to state departments of education for review prior to publication.

 •

For FY 2017-18, nine state departments of education did not report salary data to NEA Research
and did not have equivalent data on their websites: Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia,
Hawaii, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin. For FY 2016-17, this was
the case in five states: Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawaii, New Jersey, and Rhode Island.

Questions about Rankings & Estimates data should be directed to NEA Senior Research Data Analyst
Amlan Banerjee at abanerjee@nea.org.

 Average Salary of Teachers
FY 2016-17 (Revised)
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
US

Salary ($)
50,391
68,769
47,255
48,304
79,128
51,810
73,147
61,286
75,692
47,267
55,532
56,651
47,504
64,516
50,218
55,647
49,422
52,338
49,801
52,879
68,357
78,708
62,287
57,346
44,659
48,620
51,422
52,338
54,674
57,522
69,623
47,122
81,902
49,970
52,536
58,202
45,292
61,860
66,265
66,477
50,000
46,979
50,099
52,525
48,576
59,300
52,340
54,433
45,555
51,439
58,187
59,534

Source: NEA Rankings and Estimates
* National averages are preliminary estimates

FY 2017-18
Rank
34
7
46
43
2
31
5
14
4
45
22
20
44
11
35
21
40
29
39
25
8
3
12
19
51
41
33
29
23
18
6
47
1
38
26
16
50
13
10
9
37
48
36
27
42
15
28
24
49
32
17

Salary ($)
50,568
69,682
48,723
50,544
80,680
52,701
74,517
61,795
76,486
48,168
56,329
57,866
49,225
65,721
50,614
57,018
49,754
52,952
50,359
53,815
69,627
80,357
61,911
57,782
44,926
49,304
52,776
54,213
54,280
57,833
69,917
47,152
84,227
51,231
52,850
58,000
46,300
63,061
67,535
66,758
50,182
47,631
50,900
53,334
49,655
60,556
51,994
55,693
45,642
51,469
58,352
60,462*

FY 2018-19 (Estimate)
Rank
37
7
45
38
2
31
5
14
4
46
22
18
44
11
36
21
41
28
39
26
8
3
13
20
51
43
30
25
24
19
6
48
1
34
29
17
49
12
9
10
40
47
35
27
42
15
32
23
50
33
16

Salary ($)
50,810
70,277
49,892
51,019
83,059
53,301
76,465
62,308
78,477
48,395
57,137
59,757
50,757
66,600
50,937
58,140
49,800
53,434
50,923
54,974
70,463
82,042
61,825
58,221
45,574
50,064
54,034
54,506
54,280
58,146
70,212
47,826
85,889
53,975
53,434
57,799
52,412
64,385
68,141
67,040
50,395
48,786
51,714
54,155
50,342
61,027
52,466
72,965
47,681
51,453
58,618
61,782*

Nominal Change
FY 2007-08 to FY 2016-17
8.1%
21.2%
3.2%
6.8%
20.2%
9.1%
14.8%
9.5%
24.8%
0.7%
7.8%
6.1%
7.7%
6.7%
2.2%
21.9%
10.3%
10.9%
6.0%
21.8%
13.8%
22.7%
3.1%
13.9%
6.9%
12.5%
19.9%
20.0%
14.6%
19.1%
13.6%
4.5%
25.1%
5.5%
30.4%
9.0%
4.0%
17.5%
18.1%
16.2%
9.3%
28.1%
11.8%
13.7%
12.5%
27.3%
12.1%
9.1%
7.1%
4.9%
9.9%
12.4%

Inflation Adjusted Change
FY 2007-08 to FY 2016-17
-5.1%
6.3%
-9.4%
-6.3%
5.5%
-4.3%
0.7%
-4.0%
9.5%
-11.6%
-5.4%
-6.9%
-5.5%
-6.4%
-10.4%
6.9%
-3.2%
-2.7%
-7.0%
6.9%
-0.2%
7.6%
-9.6%
-0.1%
-6.2%
-1.3%
5.2%
5.2%
0.5%
4.5%
-0.3%
-8.4%
9.7%
-7.4%
14.4%
-4.4%
-8.8%
3.1%
3.6%
1.9%
-4.1%
12.4%
-1.9%
-0.2%
-1.3%
11.7%
-1.6%
-4.3%
-6.0%
-8.0%
-3.6%
-1.4%

Nominal Change
FY 2008-09 to FY 2017-18
7.9%
19.3%
5.1%
10.5%
20.4%
8.7%
13.2%
9.0%
22.3%
2.7%
6.5%
5.3%
9.0%
7.7%
2.1%
17.2%
7.6%
10.6%
3.6%
19.1%
9.8%
18.9%
2.5%
10.2%
9.5%
11.4%
18.8%
20.6%
8.4%
15.4%
10.8%
3.1%
21.9%
5.7%
26.9%
6.1%
5.6%
16.6%
16.9%
14.2%
5.8%
35.8%
11.7%
13.1%
8.1%
26.5%
7.5%
5.9%
2.1%
0.7%
6.9%
11.2%

Inflation Adjusted Change
FY 2008-09 to FY 2017-18
-7.4%
2.5%
-9.8%
-5.1%
3.4%
-6.7%
-2.8%
-6.4%
5.0%
-11.9%
-8.5%
-9.6%
-6.4%
-7.5%
-12.3%
0.7%
-7.6%
-5.0%
-11.1%
2.3%
-5.8%
2.1%
-12.0%
-5.3%
-6.0%
-4.3%
2.0%
3.5%
-6.9%
-0.9%
-4.9%
-11.5%
4.6%
-9.2%
8.9%
-8.9%
-9.3%
0.1%
0.3%
-1.9%
-9.1%
16.6%
-4.1%
-2.9%
-7.2%
8.6%
-7.7%
-9.0%
-12.3%
-13.6%
-8.2%
-4.5%