Nominal leaders and laggards (NEA 2023-24)
| State (examples from NEA 2025 Rankings & Estimates) | Average public teacher salary 2023-24 | Nominal position |
|---|---|---|
| California | $101,084 | Top of the NEA list |
| New York | $95,615 | Second |
| Massachusetts | about $92,076 | Near the top |
| US context | state averages span roughly $53k-$101k | Wide spread |
| Mississippi | $53,704 | Lowest in the NEA table |
| Florida | $54,875 | Near the bottom |
| Missouri | $55,132 | Near the bottom |
NEA's accompanying explainers warn that high average salaries cluster in expensive coastal states. A California teacher earning six figures can still feel tighter cash flow than a Midwestern teacher earning less in a cheaper metro.
Why cost of living changes the ranking
| Lens | What it answers | What it misses |
|---|---|---|
| NEA average salary | Who pays the highest nominal wage | Housing, taxes, commuting |
| BEA Regional Price Parities | How pricey a state's goods and housing are | District-level school pay schedules |
| Starting salary / steps | What a new teacher actually receives | District supplements and unions |
| Benefits (pension, health) | Long-run compensation | Hard to compare across states in one cell |
Learning Policy Institute and similar analyses have published cost-of-living-adjusted snapshots for some years using BEA RPP. Those adjusted tables often lift lower-nominal Midwestern or Southern states and pull down high-nominal coastal ones. Always check the year on both the salary file and the RPP file before multiplying them together.
How to pick a state with both columns
1. Pull the latest NEA Rankings and Estimates average for the state.
2. Pull that state's BEA RPP (US = 100). Divide salary by (RPP/100) for a rough purchasing-power index.
3. Open a target district's salary schedule for BA step 1 and MA step 10; state averages hide district gaps.
4. Add pension contribution rules and health premiums; two states with the same average salary can differ by thousands in net.
For occupation pages that already wire BLS wages on this site, imaging roles such as MRI tech vs radiology tech salary show how national medians behave when SOC data exist. Teaching averages here come from NEA, not a single BLS teacher SOC in WageLark's table.
Caveats before you move
Licensure is not portable without paperwork. Reciprocity agreements help but still require fingerprinting, tests, or coursework.
"Average teacher salary" mixes veterans and newcomers. A state can rank high because of a senior workforce, not because new hires are well paid.
Rural districts inside a high-pay state may post schedules closer to national midpoints. Rank the district, not only the state.