Teacher salary

Quoted Expert
Dr. Bryan Carter Ph.D.

Average teacher salary

$47,989

$23.07 hourly rate

Entry-level teacher salary
$32,000 yearly salary
Updated January 8, 2025

How much does a teacher make?

The average teacher salary in the United States is $47,989. Teacher salaries typically range between $32,000 and $70,000 yearly. The average hourly rate for teachers is $23.07 per hour.

Teacher salary is impacted by location, education, and experience. Teachers earn the highest average salary in Maryland.

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Where can a Teacher earn more?

Compare salary by location
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Vs
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71k
51k
31k
11k
Maryland$61,238
Memphis, TN$41,397
Compare salary by company
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105k
85k
65k
45k
King Low Heywood Thomas$90,187
The Nightingale-Bamford School$74,802

Teacher salary estimates from across the web

Based on the latest salary information compiled by Zippia, Salary.com, Indeed, Glassdoor, Ziprecruiter, Payscale and CareerExplorer, the average salary for a teacher typically falls between $39,506 and $60,902.
zippia
$47,989yearly
glassdoor[1]
$51,879yearly
indeed[2]
$39,506yearly
Salary.com[3]
$58,751yearly
ZipRecruiter[4]
$46,590yearly
payscale[5]
$53,150yearly
CareerExplorer[6]
$60,902yearly

Average teacher salary by state

Highest paying states for teachers

Rank
ascdesc
State
ascdesc
Avg. Salary
ascdesc
Hourly Rate
ascdesc
1Maryland$61,254$29.45
2Connecticut$53,838$25.88
3New York$57,919$27.85
4District of Columbia$57,460$27.63
5Illinois$48,469$23.30
6Massachusetts$53,435$25.69
7Michigan$46,247$22.23
8New Jersey$50,693$24.37
9Texas$47,693$22.93
10Pennsylvania$47,859$23.01
11Washington$53,255$25.60
12Virginia$51,980$24.99
13California$57,193$27.50
14Alaska$54,655$26.28
15Rhode Island$49,690$23.89
16Hawaii$59,222$28.47
17Nevada$42,775$20.56
18Ohio$45,004$21.64
19Georgia$45,908$22.07
20Oregon$48,930$23.52
21New Mexico$42,397$20.38
22Florida$43,926$21.12
23Wyoming$44,652$21.47
24Kentucky$44,120$21.21
25Alabama$44,472$21.38
26Nebraska$42,129$20.25
27Tennessee$41,591$20.00
28Delaware$43,641$20.98
29Minnesota$41,413$19.91
30Kansas$40,196$19.32
31New Hampshire$40,231$19.34
32Iowa$40,723$19.58
33Arizona$38,865$18.69
34West Virginia$41,909$20.15
35Colorado$39,734$19.10
36South Carolina$40,110$19.28
37North Carolina$39,642$19.06
38Utah$41,116$19.77
39Wisconsin$40,132$19.29
40Louisiana$40,425$19.44
41Indiana$37,673$18.11
42Mississippi$39,537$19.01
43Oklahoma$35,931$17.27
44Arkansas$38,244$18.39
45Montana$34,041$16.37
46Vermont$38,680$18.60
47Idaho$37,629$18.09
48North Dakota$38,308$18.42
49Missouri$36,768$17.68
50Maine$35,260$16.95
51South Dakota$35,107$16.88

Highest paying cities for teachers

The highest-paying cities for teachers are Baltimore, MD, San Francisco, CA, and New York, NY.

Rank
ascdesc
City
ascdesc
Avg. Salary
ascdesc
Hourly Rate
ascdesc
1Baltimore, MD$61,238$29.44
2San Francisco, CA$59,480$28.60
3New York, NY$58,392$28.07
4Washington, DC$57,472$27.63
5Boston, MA$53,240$25.60
6Virginia Beach, VA$52,444$25.21
7Washington, NJ$51,436$24.73
8Portland, OR$48,557$23.34
9Chicago, IL$48,531$23.33
10San Antonio, TX$48,291$23.22
11Philadelphia, PA$48,239$23.19
12Detroit, MI$46,502$22.36
13Atlanta, GA$45,874$22.05
14Columbus, OH$45,125$21.69
15Covington, KY$44,330$21.31
16Jacksonville, FL$44,038$21.17
17Las Vegas, NV$42,640$20.50
18Albuquerque, NM$42,370$20.37
19Austin, MN$42,129$20.25
20Memphis, TN$41,397$19.90

Teachers are the most in-demand in these five cities:

  1. Baltimore, MD
  2. San Francisco, CA
  3. New York, NY
  4. Washington, DC
  5. Boston, MA

Teacher salary details

A teacher's salary ranges from $32,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $70,000 at the 90th percentile.

Average Teacher Salary Graph
Average Teacher Salary Graph, Trends, and Summary

What is a teacher's salary?

Percentile
ascdesc
Annual Salary
ascdesc
Monthly Salary
ascdesc
Hourly Rate
ascdesc
90th Percentile$70,000$5,833$34
75th Percentile$58,000$4,833$28
Average$47,989$3,999$23
25th Percentile$39,000$3,250$19
10th Percentile$32,000$2,667$15

Highest paying teacher jobs

The highest paying types of teachers are student teacher, history teacher, and middle school teacher.

Job Title
ascdesc
Annual Salary
ascdesc
Monthly Salary
ascdesc
Hourly Rate
ascdesc
Job Openings
ascdesc
Substitute School Teacher$33,215$2,768$15.9782,842
Math And Science Teacher$46,589$3,882$22.4071,273
Summer School Teacher$52,828$4,402$25.4086,467
Teacher-In-Training$37,214$3,101$17.89132,725
Substitute Teacher$32,904$2,742$15.8269,292
Head Start Teacher$33,865$2,822$16.2867,747

How would you rate the starting salaries for Teachers, as well as the prospects for salary advancement?

D

Dr. Bryan Carter Ph.D.

Director, Center for Digital Humanities, Associate Professor, Africana Studies, University of Arizona

Starting salaries for assistant professors are decent. Not great, but will be above the poverty line. It will depend on the type of academic position one receives. Salary prospects for those with digital skillsets will be higher over the years.

Which companies pay teachers the most?

Teacher salaries at King Low Heywood Thomas and Apple are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average teacher salary at companies like Trinity Episcopal School and The SEED School of Maryland are highly competitive.

Rank
ascdesc
Company
ascdesc
Average Salary
ascdesc
Hourly Rate
ascdesc
1King Low Heywood Thomas$90,187$43.36
2Apple$88,228$42.42
3Trinity Episcopal School$83,053$39.93
4The SEED School of Maryland$81,371$39.12
5University of California-Berkeley$80,817$38.85
6German International School New York$80,587$38.74
7Harvard University$80,384$38.65
8OAKWOOD SCHOOL$79,190$38.07
9The Nueva School$78,923$37.94
10Stanford University$78,764$37.87
11City of San Antonio$78,019$37.51
12Marlborough School$77,269$37.15
13Michigan State University$76,595$36.82
14Forest Grove SD$76,540$36.80
15Boston Public Schools$76,209$36.64
16Dwight-Englewood School$75,746$36.42
17New York University$75,364$36.23
18Friends Select School$75,204$36.16
19Cornell University$75,045$36.08
20The Nightingale-Bamford School$74,802$35.96

Wage gap by gender, race and education

$43,000$42,400$41,800$41,200$40,600$40,000
MaleFemale

Teacher salary by industry

The average teacher salary varies across industries:

  • The average teacher salary in the education industry is $49,700, the highest of any industry.
  • The average teacher salary in the finance industry is $49,542.
  • Teachers in the government industry earn an average salary of $44,100, the lowest of any industry.

Highest paying industries for teachers

Rank
ascdesc
Industry
ascdesc
Average Salary
ascdesc
Hourly Rate
ascdesc
1Education$49,700$23.89
2Retail$49,542$23.82
3Professional$49,375$23.74
4Government$44,100$21.20

High Paying Teacher Jobs

Teacher salary trends

The average teacher salary has risen by $6,379 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average teacher earned $41,610 annually, but today, they earn $47,989 a year. That works out to a 9% change in pay for teachers over the last decade.

Compare teacher salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.

Average teacher salary over time

Compare teacher salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.

  • National Average

Teacher salary by year

Year
ascdesc
Avg. Salary
ascdesc
Hourly Rate
ascdesc
% Change
ascdesc
2025$48,000$23.07+2.1%
2024$47,000$22.59+2.4%
2023$45,900$22.05+1.8%
2022$45,000$21.64+2.4%
2021$43,900$21.13+1.6%

Recently added teacher salaries

Company
ascdesc
Job
ascdesc
Location
ascdesc
Date Added
ascdesc
Salary
ascdesc
Baltimore County Public SchoolsDance Classroom TeacherTowson, MD12/18/2024$60,000
West Virginia Department of EducationElementary Teacher-6Th GradeGrantsville, WV12/18/2024$41,355
Department of DefenseTeacher (Substitute)Washington, DC12/18/2024$50,005
The Sunshine House Early Learning AcademyAfter-School Childcare TeacherColumbia, SC12/17/2024$29,218
Spring Education GroupTeacherAurora, CO12/17/2024$37,566
Spring Education GroupPrek TeacherSan Diego, CA12/17/2024$35,479
Steel City AcademyK-3 Elementary TeacherHoliday, FL12/16/2024$45,000
The Salvation ArmyPre-School TeacherSyracuse, NY12/16/2024$39,653
Success AcademyTo Experienced Teachers-Comprehensive Benefits PackageBuffalo, NY12/16/2024$65,000
Success AcademyTo Experienced Teachers-Comprehensive Benefits PackageProvidence, RI12/16/2024$65,000

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