Average teacher salaries are up across the board, but inflation is minimizing superintendents’ efforts to improve teacher pay.
When accounting for inflation, teacher pay decreased by 5% over the last decade, despite average salaries reaching nearly $74,500 last school year, according to new data from the National Education Association, the country’s largest teachers union.
Elected officials are barring districts’ ability to adjust teacher salaries, according to NEA President Becky Pringle.
“Leaders have tolerated widening income inequality, allowing CEO compensation to climb dramatically while educators struggle to maintain their spending power,” Pringle said.
Pringle suggested that unions greatly increase teachers’ purchasing power. Union members earn 24% more on average in states with collective bargaining rights, according to the data.
“Unions help ensure educators are paid fairly and have the working conditions they need to support their students,” Pringle said.
Important teacher pay figures
- $48,112: The national average starting teacher salary.
- Mississippi: Ranked last in the nation for average teacher salary at $54,975.
- California: Ranked first in the nation for average teacher salary at $103,552.
- Montana: Ranked last in the nation for average starting teacher salary at $36,682.
- Washington, D.C.: Ranked first in the nation for average starting teacher salary at $64,640.
- $80,176: The average salary for K12 teachers in states covered by bargaining laws.
- Top-end salary growth: 31% of school districts now have a maximum salary of at least $96,000. Seven percent still pay a top salary below $60,000.
- $38,494: The average salary for full-time education support professionals. Inflation-adjusted pay has fallen nearly 9% over the past decade.
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Leadership action
Amid budget deficits and enrollment declines, superintendents are looking for unique ways to boost teacher salaries, and in some cases, balance wages.
For instance, Colorado’s Boulder Valley School District has the highest teacher salaries in the state, nearing $100,000—roughly $20,000 above the state average, according to CBS News. However, maintaining such high compensation levels has become difficult, Superintendent Rob Anderson told the news outlet.
Roughly 46% of Boulder Valley’s teachers are at the top of the pay scale, earning between $92,814 and $129,589 per year. Additionally, roughly 90% of the district’s budget is spent on salaries, primarily teachers.
The district is offering $15,000 buyouts to veteran teachers and replacing them with newer, lower-cost educators. The new structure would raise new teacher starting salaries while shedding some of the district’s highest-paid staff.
Unions are also pressing district leaders to improve teacher pay. This week, the Milwaukee school board approved wage increases for employees represented by the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association, according to WISN.
The board approved a 1.5% increase starting in July 2026 and another 1.3% increase by January 2027, contributing to a total 2.63% based increase by next year.
The decision to implement the district’s final offer came after a mediator declared an impasse in negotiations between the district and the union.
“There were no easy decisions here, however we are ultimately bringing employees to a full 2.63% increase by January while maintaining our obligation to present a balanced budget to the Board next month,” said Superintendent Brenda Cassellius.
The union shut down multiple blocks outside the district headquarters in protest of announced job cuts. Last month, Milwaukee Public Schools said it plans to cut approximately 260 non-classroom positions to address a $46 million structural budget deficit, WISN reports.
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