(ABC4) – How do teacher salaries compare to each other across the states?
The National Education Association (NEA) released a report taking a closer look at the 2022 average starting salaries for teachers in every state along with the average general salary in each state.
For 2020-2021, the study found the average salary for public school teachers was $65,293, an increase of 1.8% over 2019-2020.
Adjusting for inflation, the average teacher salary declined by 3.9% over the past decade.
Take a look at how teachers’ salaries are stacking up from state to state:
| State | Average Starting Salary | Average Salary |
| Mississippi | 36,653 | 46,862 |
| South Dakota | 40,128 | 49,547 |
| West Virginia | 37,987 | 50,261 |
| Florida | 44,040 | 51,009 |
| Missouri | 33,234 | 51,557 |
| Arkansas | 35,803 | 51,668 |
| Idaho | 39,842 | 51,817 |
| Arizona | 40,554 | 52,157 |
| Louisiana | 42,185 | 52,472 |
| Tennessee | 39,024 | 52,871 |
| Indiana | 38,158 | 53,072 |
| Montana | 32,495 | 53,133 |
| South Carolina | 37,704 | 53,188 |
| North Carolina | 37,127 | 53,458 |
| Kansas | 39,100 | 53,619 |
| Kentucky | 37,373 | 54,139 |
| Alabama | 41,163 | 54,271 |
| Oklahoma | 38,074 | 54,762 |
| North Dakota | 40,907 | 54,837 |
| New Mexico | 41,737 | 54,923 |
| Nebraska | 36,491 | 56,463 |
| Maine | 37,580 | 57,167 |
| Utah | 44,349 | 57,226 |
| Texas | 44,527 | 57,641 |
| Nevada | 41,277 | 58,167 |
| Virginia | 42,448 | 58,831 |
| Wisconsin | 38,961 | 59,992 |
| Wyoming | 46,826 | 60,234 |
| Georgia | 38,692 | 60,553 |
| New Hampshire | 39,737 | 61,849 |
| Vermont | 42,251 | 62,483 |
| Ohio | 38,231 | 63,082 |
| Michigan | 37,820 | 64,262 |
| Delaware | 43,448 | 65,141 |
| Minnesota | 41,234 | 66,561 |
| Oregon | 39,338 | 68,565 |
| Illinois | 41,228 | 70,705 |
| Hawaii | 50,123 | 70,922 |
| Pennsylvania | 46,991 | 71,476 |
| Alaska | 49,907 | 73,061 |
| Maryland | 48,510 | 74,006 |
| Rhode Island | 44,592 | 75,966 |
| New Jersey | 54,053 | 77,677 |
| Washington | 51,040 | 79,388 |
| Connecticut | 47,477 | 79,742 |
| Washington D.C. | 56,313 | 80,659 |
| California | 49,933 | 85,856 |
| Massachusetts | 48,372 | 86,755 |
| New York | 47,618 | 90,222 |
According to the NEA, 55% of teachers reported plans to leave their profession sooner than expected. 90% of teachers also reported feeling burnout.
Nationally, teachers earn 19% less than similarly skilled and educated professionals.
Gov. Spencer Cox addressed the issues with teacher pay at a conference earlier this year saying:
“With the price of housing, with inflation happening right now, I don’t want to live in a state where teachers can’t buy a home. That’s not okay,” Cox said. Utah’s current teacher salary is “actually a significant improvement from years past, and it tells you how far we have to go.”
While raising teacher salaries seems like an easy fix, it could potentially cost millions for the state to raise every individual teacher’s salary in Utah.
