The Best And Worst States For Teaching Jobs In 2024

Many U.S. states are facing severe teacher shortages, creating ample opportunity for professionals in this field. But earning potential, cost of living and work environments for teachers vary drastically from place to place.

If you plan to become a teacher but aren’t sure where you want to work, we can help. On this page, Forbes Advisor uses data from the National Education Association, the National Center for Education Statistics, the U.S. Census Bureau and other trustworthy sources to rank the best and worst states for teaching jobs. We also explore teaching salaries and common challenges to the teaching profession.

Keep reading to learn more about the best and worst states for teachers.

Ranking: The Best and Worst States for Teaching

The table below ranks each U.S. state based on the state of the teaching profession in that state.

The data we used to determine this ranking includes average teaching salaries, average starting salaries, retirement scores, public school enrollment fluctuations and forecasts, per-student spending and housing costs.

Top-Ranked States for Teaching

Let’s look at the top five states for teaching jobs, according to our ranking methodology.

1. Washington

Washington’s average teacher salary is $81,510, which is higher than most other states—the fifth-highest in the U.S., in fact.¹ Washington also has an excellent retirement score of 81.90%.² Retirement scores are based on factors such as vesting period, teacher contribution rate and amortization cost.

2. Utah

Teachers earn an average annual salary of $59,671 in Utah, with an average starting salary of $46,880. While these numbers aren’t the highest, the state has an impressive teacher retirement score of 77.60%, which falls at the higher end of the range.¹,²

3. Minnesota

Teachers in Minnesota earn an average annual salary of $64,184 and an average starting salary of $42,293. In addition, the state spends $15,205 per student.¹ The median monthly housing cost is $1,294, which is more affordable than many other states.³

4. Virginia

In Virginia, the average annual salary for teachers is $61,367, and the average starting salary is $43,845. The teacher retirement score is 68.50%, and the state spends $15,002 per student.¹,²

5. Massachusetts

The average annual teacher salary in Massachusetts is $89,538, which is higher than all other states. The average starting salary is $49,503. The state’s teacher retirement score is 46.20%, and the state spends $22,712 per student.¹,²

Bottom-Ranked States for Teaching

Below are the five states that rank at the bottom of our list for the teaching profession.

Missouri

Teachers in Missouri earn an average annual salary of $52,481 and an average starting salary of $34,052.¹ This starting salary is lower than most other states. The teacher retirement score is 57.50%, and the median monthly housing cost is $966.²,³

New Mexico

Missouri teachers earn an average annual salary of $54,272 and an average starting salary of $42,981.¹ The teacher retirement score is 56.10%.² In addition, public school enrollment in New Mexico is projected to decrease by 15.58% from 2021–31.⁴

Kentucky

Teachers in Kentucky earn an average annual salary of $54,574, while the average annual starting salary is $38,010.¹ The teacher retirement score is 39.70%, which is lower than most other states.² While the state spends $13,268 per student, enrollment is projected to decrease by 5.65% from 2021–31.²,⁴

West Virginia

In West Virginia, teachers earn an average annual salary of $50,315, while the average annual starting salary is $38,052. West Virginia spends $14,442 per student, and the median monthly housing cost is $695.¹,³ Student public school enrollment is projected to decrease by 13.99% from 2021–31.⁴

Mississippi

Mississippi teachers earn an average annual salary of $47,902, while the average annual starting salary is $37,729. Although the state spends $10,829 per student, public school enrollment rates declined 9.89% from 2010–21 and are projected to continue declining by 12.37% from 2021–31.¹,⁴

Where Do Teachers Make the Most Money?

Average annual salaries for teachers vary considerably by state. The following table explores the highest-paying states for teaching jobs in the U.S. according to data from the National Education Association.1 We rank states based on a combination of average teacher salary and average starting salary for teachers.

Below, we also highlight the top five states for teacher salaries.

1. Washington

• Average annual teacher salary: $81,510
• Average annual starting salary for teachers: $52,142

2. California

• Average annual teacher salary: $88,508
• Average annual starting salary for teachers: $51,600

3. New Jersey

• Average annual teacher salary: $79,045
• Average annual starting salary for teachers: $55,143

4. Massachusetts

• Average annual teacher salary: $89,538
• Average annual starting salary for teachers: $49,503

5. New York

• Average annual teacher salary: $91,097
• Average annual starting salary for teachers: $47,981

Teaching Jobs by the Numbers

• There were approximately 3.7 million full-time teachers in the U.S. as of the 2021–22 academic year.⁵
• K-12 education professionals report the highest rates of burnout in the U.S.⁶
• As of October 2022, 44% of public schools in the U.S. had at least one teaching vacancy, with 26% reporting multiple teaching vacancies.⁷
• The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects hundreds of thousands of teacher jobs to open each year on average from 2022–32 due to people changing professions and retiring.⁸,¹¹,¹²
• Teacher turnover rates are higher than they were before the Covid-19 pandemic.⁹
• More than 8 in 10 public schools report “stunted behavioral and socioemotional development” among students due to the pandemic.⁷

Schools and teachers experience challenges that affect job satisfaction among educators and student success in classrooms. Common challenges include burnout, teacher turnover, staff shortages, absenteeism and student behavior problems. We examine several of these below.

Teacher Burnout

• Forty-four percent of K-12 education workers experience burnout at work very often or always, the highest rate compared to other professionals in the U.S.⁶
• College and university workers report the second-highest rate of burnout, with 35% reporting feeling burned out very often or always.⁶
• Globally, 52% of teachers report burnout.¹⁰
• Twenty-nine percent of public schools report higher rates of staff seeking mental health support since the Covid-19 pandemic.⁷

Teachers are at high risk for burnout. They may experience excessive stress from being held responsible for their students’ academic progress, pressure to achieve better educational outcomes and student behavior problems. In addition, the Covid-19 pandemic brought on new challenges with the sudden implementation of remote learning without sufficient preparation or resources for teachers.

Teacher Turnover

• Between the 2021–22 and 2022–23 academic years, Washington state saw the highest rates of teacher turnover in 30 years.⁹
• In that same time frame, Maryland and Louisiana saw the highest teacher turnover rates in 10 years.⁹
• The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics does not project a significant change in the number of K-12 teaching jobs from 2022–32, but it does project high average annual numbers of teacher job openings in that time frame:
  • Kindergarten and elementary school teachers: 109,000 job openings per year¹²
  • Middle school teachers: 42,200 job openings per year¹¹
  • High school teachers: 67,100 job openings per year⁸

High teacher turnover may result in students losing their relationships with teachers they trust, inexperienced teachers filling empty positions and classrooms with long-term substitutes. All of these potential changes can negatively impact students.

The BLS projects hundreds of thousands of teacher job openings between 2022 and 2032, though it forecasts minimal growth for the field overall. According to the BLS, many of the projected new openings for teaching positions will result from the need to replace teachers who retire or leave the teaching profession altogether.

School Staffing Shortages

• At the beginning of the 2022–23 academic year, the South had the largest share of public schools reporting teacher vacancies; the West had the largest share of public schools that reported being fully staffed.⁷
• Going into the 2023–24 school year, 45% of public schools reported being understaffed, down from 53% the previous academic year.⁷
• Around 80% of public schools with teacher vacancies have difficulty filling positions with fully certified teachers.⁷
• The most common teacher hiring difficulty is too few candidates applying for teaching roles.⁷

Aspiring educators must earn teaching degrees to ensure they receive the proper training to obtain teacher certification. However, many schools don’t receive enough qualified applicants for open teaching positions. This lack of candidates is especially problematic when filling teaching jobs for certain subjects, such as physical science, foreign languages and special education.

Teacher Absenteeism

• Thirty-five percent of public schools say they are “extremely concerned” about finding substitute teachers.⁷
• Thirty-seven percent of public schools say chronic teacher absences have “increased a lot” since the Covid-19 pandemic.⁷
• Nearly 75% of public schools rely on non-teaching staff and teachers on their free periods to cover classes.⁷

Teacher absenteeism and a lack of qualified substitutes often require schools to find alternative methods for teaching students, such as combining classes, asking other teachers to use their prep periods to cover classes and relying on non-teaching staff or administrators to take over classes.

Student Absenteeism and Behavior Challenges

• Forty-five percent of public schools report that chronic student absences have “increased a lot” since before the pandemic.⁷
• Twenty-nine percent of public schools report concerns about student absenteeism.⁷
• Eighty-three percent of public schools say the Covid-19 pandemic negatively impacted students’ behavioral development.⁷
• Eighty-seven percent of public schools say the Covid-19 pandemic negatively impacted students’ behavioral development.⁷

Student absenteeism and behavior problems, such as threats of violence, physical altercations among students, bullying, substance use, vandalism, classroom disruptions and verbal or physical attacks on teachers or staff create critical challenges in public schools.

Teaching classroom management strategies, hiring a sufficient number of teachers and staff members and providing additional support for teachers, staff and students can help ease serious problems. However, not all schools have or are willing to use the necessary resources to implement these strategies.

The Bottom Line

Teaching is a fulfilling job for many educators, but even the best teachers can experience high levels of stress and burnout. In some cases, teachers choose to leave the profession altogether, creating a high turnover rate in the field. Teaching conditions vary based on many factors, however, including location. The best states for teachers see competitive salaries, strong retirement packages, high rates of student success and affordable costs of living.

Sources

1. National Education Association, Educator Pay Data
2. Bellwether, “Teacher Retirement Systems: A Ranking of the States”
3. U.S. Census Bureau, Median Monthly Housing Costs
4. National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Public School Enrollment
5. NCES, “Public and Private Elementary and Secondary Teachers, Enrollment, Pupil/Teacher Ratios and New Teacher Hires: Selected Years, Fall 1955 Through Fall 2031”
6. Gallup, “K-12 Workers Have Highest Burnout Rate in U.S.”
7. NCES, School Pulse Panel: Responses to the Pandemic and Efforts Toward Recovery
8. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH), High School Teachers
9. Chalkbeat, “Teacher Turnover Rates Hit New Highs Across the U.S.”
10. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, “Prevalence of Burnout Among Teachers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Meta-Analysis”
11. BLS OOH, Middle School Teachers
12. BLS OOH, Kindergarten and Elementary School Teachers

Methodology

To determine the best and worst states to be a teacher, Forbes Advisor Education looked at a variety of metrics, grouped into three categories: compensation, student outcomes, and demographics.

For teacher compensation, we used 2022 data from the National Education Association (NEA) on teachers’ salaries in the beginning of their careers as well as the average salary of teachers with all levels of experience.

We also used the teacher pay gap, which the NEA describes as the difference (in dollar amount) between the average teacher salary and the average salary of a working professional with similar qualifications.

Finally, we included each state’s teacher retirement score, based on 2021 rankings published by Bellwether Education Partners. The overall retirement score was a composite of scores for each state’s teacher retirement system for short-, medium- and long-term teachers, as well as the retirement system’s relative burden to taxpayers.

For student outcomes, data came from government figures available from The Nation’s Report Card. These included average scaled scores for fourth-grade math, fourth-grade reading, eighth-grade math and eighth-grade reading.

For demographics, we focused on general state data that would affect its overall desirability for a teacher. These included spending per student, which affects the resources available to teachers and administrators, with figures coming from the NEA.

We also included the percent change in public school enrollment from 2010–21, and the forecasted change in enrollment between 2021–31, both from the government’s National Center for Education Statistics.

Finally, we included each state’s 2022 median monthly housing costs, which include costs for renters and homeowners, from the U.S. Census’s American Communities Survey.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About U.S. Teaching Jobs