How much high school teachers earn in every state

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 3% lower than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $77,570 per year
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 4 teachers

Washington D.C.'s schools were already experiencing issues well before the COVID-19 pandemic, with teachers complaining about a punitive evaluation system, brutal working hours, and high turnover rates. The city is expected to experience a teacher turnover that's higher than most states, according to a recent study from WalletHub, and its teachers already receive some of the worst pay in the country, taking into account the local cost of living.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 6% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $49,730
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 8

North Dakota's teacher shortages span virtually all subject areas. Some schools lack science, math, and English teachers, according to the North Dakota Association of Colleges for Teacher Education President Stacy Duffield, who has a doctorate in education.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 21% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $47,310
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 9

The number of Missouri high school teachers in May 2021 was 24,080. In Missouri, the starting salary for teachers is around $25,000 a year, among the lowest in the U.S., and the average attrition rate in the state has been 11% for the last six years.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 22% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $49,280
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 6

Arizona has been experiencing severe teacher shortages across the board. Here, the average salary for a starting teacher is $40,554, which is lower than the U.S. average. A projected 2,600 teaching positions were still unfilled by mid-September, well into the start of the 2022 school year.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 23% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $60,670
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 7

Over the next five years, the University of Colorado Denver will utilize about $7 million in federal grant money for the expansion of a teacher preparation model for Colorado's rural communities. The federal government has applauded this effort, touting it as an emerging program that's getting results when it comes to addressing teacher shortages.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 24% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $48,100
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 8

At the beginning of the 2022-2023 academic school year, this state was experiencing a teacher shortage, with 300 open teaching positions. Shortages include certified positions and non-certified staff such as paraprofessionals.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 24% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $48,650
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 9

Because of the rising cost of living in the state and teacher pay remaining much lower than the U.S. average, Montana has been experiencing both teacher retention and recruitment challenges. However, the state has been working to remedy this problem with the passing of the TEACH Act, which aims to incentivize schools to increase their starting teacher salaries.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 24% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $48,670
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 6

At the start of the 2022-2023 academic year, North Carolina faced a teacher shortage. The best estimate of teaching vacancies was 4,400 for this fall, according to a survey that the North Carolina Superintendents Association carried out, with 98 superintendents out of 115 responding to the survey in August.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 24% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $48,940
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 6

Indiana had 1,572 open teaching positions as of Sept. 1, 2022. Additionally, as of the same date, the number of vacant student support staff, office staff, or school leadership positions was 1,174.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 25% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $61,220
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 6

Schools in Minnesota are currently at a breaking point. According to a paper released by Education Minnesota, many teachers are feeling that since the pandemic began, the Minnesota education system has been underfunded and ignored.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 26% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $61,130
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 9

There are shortages in administrators and teachers in Vermont, but these numbers aren't as high in areas like special educators, paraeducators, and substitutes. The approximate numbers of need for Vermont schools are 490 for substitutes, 485 for instructional support, 245 for special education, 122 for facilities, 115 for teachers, 82 for nurses, 55 for administrators (including superintendents, principals, and other leaders of education programs), and 22 for music.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 26% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $62,060
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: no data available

In the 2021-2022 academic year, only 51% of public school teachers who had been working for five years in Hawaii were still employed. In an effort to remediate the chronic teacher shortage problem in the state, since January 2020, Hawaii's Department of Education has been compensating teachers in specific situations and roles with shortage differentials.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 27% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $50,150
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 9

At the beginning of the 2022-2023 academic year, Kansas faced a teacher shortage that was building for years. In March 2022, the number of teacher vacancies in Kansas was around 1,400.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 27% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $61,820
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 8

The number of high school teachers in New Hampshire in May 2021 was 4,830. Like other states, New Hampshire experienced a teacher shortage at the start of this school year.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 28% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $48,650
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 10

Because of the teacher shortage in Arkansas, teachers, students, and supporters went to the state capitol when Arkansas Democrats were in a special legislative session to raise teacher salaries. The plan was to create a $42,000 minimum teacher salary and a raise of $4,000 to Arkansas teacher salaries. However, this bill died in the House.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 28% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $49,550
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 10

Linda Clark, a member of the state's board of education, said in June 2022 that schools in Idaho were facing an unprecedented, systemwide teacher hiring "crisis." While Idaho public schools have historically struggled with finding special education, science, and math teachers, the same is now true when it comes to trying to hire elementary school teachers as well.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 28% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $49,710
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 9

In Louisiana, the number of high school teachers in May 2021 was 15,600. But according to Cade Brumley, the Louisiana state superintendent of education, the state was still short 2,520 teachers as of late September 2022.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 28% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $49,730
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 11

In Oklahoma, there was a school staffing crisis well before the COVID-19 pandemic. This has been due to various reasons, including less interest in the profession of teaching, school spending cuts, and low teacher pay.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 28% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $50,130
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 7

Some of this state's school districts barely have any certified teachers in their classrooms. In some Tennessee schools, teacher assistants, substitutes, and teachers who have free time are teaching students in a revolving team. In the 2019-2020 academic year, 24% of Tennessee's student population was made up of Black students and only 11% of the state's teachers were Black.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 28% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $60,900
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 7

In May 2021, the number of high school teachers in Wyoming was 1,840. In recent years, Wyoming teachers have experienced stress that has been heightened by mask debates, COVID-19 tracking failures, and substitute shortages, which put teachers in a position where they had to work overtime.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 28% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $61,680
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 8

Illinois, like other states, saw a teacher shortage near the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year. When it came to Chicago area districts, superintendents said that there weren't enough qualified people who were applying for open positions—with most of these open positions being for dual-language, bilingual, and special education teachers.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 30% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $47,350
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 12

Mississippi deals with many of the same issues states in the South are experiencing in education. Along with Alabama, Florida, and New Mexico, Mississippi has attempted to preempt or address shortages over the last couple of years by raising the salaries of teachers.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 30% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $49,850
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 6

West Virginia faced an intense teacher shortage at the beginning of the academic year. In 2021, the number of teacher vacancies in this state was 1,200, according to the West Virginia Department of Education.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 30% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $60,900
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 6

Only weeks before the 2022-2023 academic school year, some of Wisconsin's districts were struggling to fill many school staff positions. Regular teaching jobs were very low due to the pandemic as well as less interest in the teaching profession—but when it came to specialized classes such as home economics, tech education, and music, applications were essentially nonexistent.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 30% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $60,980
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 5

Even before the pandemic, school administrators in the state of Michigan were struggling to hire and retain teachers. Additionally, while shortages used to occur mostly in areas like science and math, shortages are now occurring in fields that used to experience a high number of applicants, like social studies and elementary school.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 30% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $79,120
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 7

The number of high school teachers in Massachusetts in May 2021 was 24,900. When a check of the education jobs website SchoolSpring was done on Oct. 7, 2022, the number of classroom teaching jobs still available in the state was 4,383.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 33% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $59,970
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 9

School districts across the state are struggling to fill staff in many departments, although administrators are concerned the most about vacant support and teaching positions. There are many reasons why positions remain unfilled, including a lack of affordable housing availability.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 42% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $59,820
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 7

In May 2021, the number of high school teachers in Iowa was 11,080. Iowa is experiencing a shortage in K-12 education positions like substitutes, bus drivers, and paraeducators.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 43% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $72,600
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 10

Around the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year, this state was facing a teacher shortage. To tackle this problem, Delaware leaders passed House Bill 315, which would provide funding for the hiring of substitute teachers who will teach temporarily in schools with higher needs. It would also implement the creation of professional development programs.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 43% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $73,110
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 7

Near the start of the 2022-2023 school year, Virginia was experiencing a teacher shortage. During the previous academic year, the number of vacant full-time teaching positions was 2,593.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 44% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $58,310
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 7

Looking for a teaching job? Alabama has plenty. In the last several years, Alabama has attempted to preempt or address shortages by raising the salaries of teachers.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 44% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $58,510
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 7

South Carolina has long had a problem with finding enough teachers. In one county in the state, $10,000 signing bonuses are being offered to new teachers as a creative way of addressing this year's teacher shortage.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 44% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $60,810
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 6

According to a 2021 teacher retention performance audit of the public education system in Utah, it's expected that schools will have a teacher shortage of nearly 200,000 teachers by the year 2025. Perhaps even worse, many districts in the state may not be able to retain their teachers for more than five years.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 44% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $60,900
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 7

Recent legislation has been passed to mitigate Nebraska's teacher shortage problem. The state is providing some loan forgiveness to student teachers and loosening the restrictions in place regarding teachers' ability to move to Nebraska from another state.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 44% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $61,060
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 8

School districts in the state had to use creative strategies to attract talent, such as changing to four-day workweeks and approving significant increases in pay. Additionally, according to a recent online survey of Texas K-12 teachers, most teachers had "seriously considered" abandoning the profession of teaching in 2022, which demonstrates a 19% increase in this sentiment compared to two years ago.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 45% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $77,540
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 8

Alaska has historically relied on recruiting its teachers from the contiguous states. According to the website of Alaska Teacher Placement, the number of jobs that were open in Alaska school districts as of July 2022 was 1,100. This included a variety of positions such as speech pathologists, counselors, language teachers, sports coaches, support staff, paraeducators, special education staff, and principals.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 46% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $60,040
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 6

In Kentucky, the number of high school teachers in May 2021 was 11,790. According to the Kentucky Department of Education, the percentage of current teachers who are at risk of quitting their jobs in the near future is 72%.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 46% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $60,150
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 8

New Mexico has been cited as an example of a state that has provided solutions that help in bringing teachers back to classrooms, such as permitting retired teachers to be substitute teachers, increasing school bus driver and teacher salaries, and asking that a paperwork committee help teachers with their paperwork. New Mexico also made it easier for new teachers by allowing those applying to teaching jobs to provide a portfolio instead of subject skills tests to demonstrate their teaching competency. The condensed four-day school week is also common in this state.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 46% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $77,360
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 7

According to the Maryland board of education, the number of teachers who left in 2022 was 5,516, with the majority resigning voluntarily. To attract more teachers, Maryland has offered teachers who were national board certified a pay bump of $17,000, and support for professional development credits that went toward the renewal of their educator certificate.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 46% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $78,100
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 10

According to Donald Williams, the executive director of the Connecticut Education Association, the percentage of teachers leaving is as high as 20% in some districts. Connecticut has eased some of its regulations, such as allowing educators from a variety of states with valid, active certificates to quickly apply for and obtain a Connecticut certification.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 46% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $80,740
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 4

Washington, like others on this list, faced a teacher shortage just before the start of the 2022-2023 school year. The district of Seattle Public Schools had 121 openings at the beginning of August 2022. Between April 2022 and August 2022, 606 teachers left their jobs as a result of transfers, funding changes, retirements, and resignations.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 47% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $60,940
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 6

Florida is experiencing a shortage of paraprofessionals, bus drivers, and other support staff. To deal with this problem, Florida has given temporary teaching certificates to untrained teachers and raised teacher pay.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 47% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $61,640
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 5

In Georgia, retirement rates for teachers have continued to outpace new trainee applications, and as a result, some districts in Georgia have increased incentives and pay to deal with shortages. Georgia has also made it possible for retired teachers to teach in the classroom again while keeping their pension benefits.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 47% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $76,090
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 4

Oregon dealt with employment problems by giving teachers emergency licenses. There were 438 emergency licensed teachers employed by school districts in the state, an increase from 181 the year before.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 47% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $76,880
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 11

Experts say Rhode Island's teacher pipeline is diminishing as fewer people aspire to become teachers. Only 478 completed their teacher training and 395 were certified in the state in 2021-2022, compared to 748 having completed their training and 600 being certified in 2017-2018.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 47% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $78,070
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 8

New Jersey had many teachers leave as a result of pandemic-related retirements, burnout, and an aging teacher population. But the state is relaxing requirements for teacher certification. Newark, the state's largest city, has announced that it will be offering higher base salaries, signing bonuses for teachers of subject areas that have had long-term vacancies, and referral bonuses to staff.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 51% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $63,730
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 4

Near the start of the 2022-2023 academic year, Nevada faced a teacher shortage, with thousands of teaching jobs left vacant, according to officials. Some Nevada school districts addressed this problem by offering teachers retention bonuses, as well as offering relocation bonuses to teachers who moved from another state or more than 100 miles away.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 52% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $76,290
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 10

Pennsylvania lifted restrictions so that teachers who have licenses from other states can teach there. Chris Lilienthal, assistant director of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, said that the three leading factors of shortages are burnout, benefits, and pay.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 62% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $75,330
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 11

In Ohio, the number of high school teachers in May 2021 was 58,040. One of the reasons for Ohio's shortage is young people being less interested in pursuing teaching as a career. Enrollment in programs for teacher preparation in the state fell by almost 50% from 2010 to 2018.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 66% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $97,340
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 9

Rural, poor districts in New York often did not have strong teacher candidates for any subject, as well as a lack of special education and bilingual teachers. According to a report released by the Office of the New York State Comptroller in February 2022, nearly 2,000 teachers had left public schools in New York City during the pandemic.

- Median high school teacher salary vs. all occupations: 67% higher than overall
- Median salary for high school teachers: $96,390
- High school teachers employed per 1,000 jobs: 6

California schools in wealthy neighborhoods often saw less teacher turnover, while a large number of districts in the state that serve many high-needs students experienced severe teacher shortages. California has addressed the teacher shortage by allowing teaching candidates that have taken certain approved college courses to skip subject matter and basic skills tests.