“For the 2023–24 school year, the average public school teacher salary was just under $70,000—well over the average for bachelor’s degree graduates ages 25 to 34 (though many teachers have master’s degrees).
West Virginia paid teachers the least, at around $52,000 per year, while California paid them the most, with an average salary of over $95,000. According to the National Education Association, teacher salaries top out at over $100,000 in 16.6 percent of districts. However, salaries have generally stagnated. From 2002 to 2020, inflation-adjusted teacher salaries declined by 0.6 percent while as per-pupil spending increased.
The reality is that teacher salaries vary widely between states and districts, especially when looking at pay adjusted for the cost of living, making it difficult to make generalizations. Adding to the murkiness, pay doesn’t seem to motivate teachers as much as many people think.
According to a December 2023 report from the National Center for Education Statistics, when public school teachers were asked why they decided to leave the profession, only 9.2 percent said it was because they needed higher pay.
A study from earlier this year also concluded that, among teachers who choose to leave their jobs, most don’t earn more in their new position.”
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“”The biggest relative growth has been in ‘instructional aids’ who assist teachers in the classroom. While teachers were 53.4 percent of all public school system employees in 1990, they were only 47.5 percent in 2022. Aides rose from 8.8 percent of employees to 13.3 percent. It’s not clear why this occurred, but it could be teachers asking for help, regulations requiring more services for kids, or lots of other possible factors.””