US states by secondary school teacher mean annual wage

Alaska had the highest secondary school teacher mean annual wage of 51 states in 2015, at $80,550. Oklahoma had the lowest, at $42,960. The median was $54,240 and the figure for the United States was $60,440. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Highest80,550Alaska

Lowest42,960Oklahoma

Median54,24051 states

United States60,440History

Map of states, 2015

Under 48K
48K to 51K
51K to 54K
54K to 59K
59K to 66K
66K and over

USD, 2015. Source: BLS, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May estimates, state cross-industry file: annual mean wage, secondary school teachers except special and career or technical education (25-2031). Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, 2015

USD. Source: BLS, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May estimates, state cross-industry file: annual mean wage, secondary school teachers except special and career or technical education (25-2031). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	States	2015 USD	Change on 2014
1	Alaska	80,550	+11.7%
2	New York	79,720	+4%
3	Connecticut	75,190	+7%
4	California	74,770	+2.9%
5	New Jersey	74,070	+1.8%
6	Massachusetts	72,280	+1.8%
7	Illinois	69,300	-1.2%
8	Rhode Island	66,580	-1%
9	Maryland	66,080	+4.2%
10	Virginia	65,010	+4.7%
11	Pennsylvania	64,380	+3.6%
12	Minnesota	63,360	+4.4%
13	District of Columbia	62,340	+4.8%
14	Washington	61,920	-0.5%
15	Oregon	60,730	+5.8%
16	Michigan	60,400	-3.9%
17	Ohio	59,660	+0.2%
18	Delaware	58,870	-0.1%
19	Wyoming	58,560	-1.1%
20	Utah	57,020	+2.3%
21	New Hampshire	56,850	-0.4%
22	Hawaii	56,800	+2.3%
23	Georgia	55,460	+1%
24	Wisconsin	55,360	+1.4%
25	New Mexico	54,590	+8%
26	Vermont	54,240	-0.3%
27	Nevada	54,150	+1.8%
28	Texas	53,640	+2.3%
29	Kentucky	53,430	+2.3%
30	Colorado	52,650	+1.3%
31	South Carolina	51,590	+1.2%
32	Maine	51,480	+4.8%
33	Nebraska	51,320	+0.9%
34	Iowa	51,310	+4.1%
35	Indiana	51,200	-0.4%
36	Tennessee	50,570	+1.4%
37	Florida	50,550	+0.1%
38	Alabama	49,960	+0.2%
39	Louisiana	49,800	-0%
40	Montana	48,960	-0.3%
41	Arkansas	48,600	+0.6%
42	North Dakota	48,410	+0.5%
43	Missouri	47,960	-0.4%
44	Kansas	47,680	+1.1%
45	Arizona	47,060	-0.4%
46	Idaho	44,550	-3.8%
46	West Virginia	44,550	+0.1%
48	North Carolina	44,520	+2.3%
49	South Dakota	43,530	+2.5%
50	Mississippi	43,100	+1.4%
51	Oklahoma	42,960	-1.5%

Other periods

About this ranking

Average (mean) annual wage of secondary school teachers, except special and career or technical education (Standard Occupational Classification 25-2031), in US dollars, from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Public and private high schools. Estimates refer to May of each year.

Teachers report an annual salary for the school year, so BLS publishes no hourly rate for them. Excludes special education, career and technical education and middle school teachers. Up to May 2009 the occupation was defined under the 2000 classification, which excluded vocational education teachers. Pay is straight-time gross pay: base rate, cost-of-living allowances, commissions, production bonuses and tips. Overtime, shift differentials, nonproduction bonuses and employer-paid benefits are excluded.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the states are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May estimates, state cross-industry file: annual mean wage, secondary school teachers except special and career or technical education (25-2031). https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15st.zip. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May estimates, state cross-industry file: annual mean wage, secondary school teachers except special and career or technical education (25-2031) (US states by secondary school teacher mean annual wage, 2015) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15st.zip

MLA 9

Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May estimates, state cross-industry file: annual mean wage, secondary school teachers except special and career or technical education (25-2031), US states by secondary school teacher mean annual wage, 2015. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 15 May 2026, https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15st.zip. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/secondary-teacher-salary/us-states?period=2015. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May estimates, state cross-industry file: annual mean wage, secondary school teachers except special and career or technical education (25-2031). US states by secondary school teacher mean annual wage, 2015. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15st.zip. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/secondary-teacher-salary/us-states?period=2015.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May estimates, state cross-industry file: annual mean wage, secondary school teachers except special and career or technical education (25-2031), US states by secondary school teacher mean annual wage, 2015 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15st.zip, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/secondary-teacher-salary/us-states?period=2015 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{bureau_us_states_by_secondary_2015,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May estimates, state cross-industry file: annual mean wage, secondary school teachers except special and career or technical education (25-2031): US states by secondary school teacher mean annual wage, 2015}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15st.zip},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/secondary-teacher-salary/us-states?period=2015. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May estimates, state cross-industry file: annual mean wage, secondary school teachers except special and career or technical education (25-2031). https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15st.zip. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
TI  - Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May estimates, state cross-industry file: annual mean wage, secondary school teachers except special and career or technical education (25-2031): US states by secondary school teacher mean annual wage, 2015
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/15
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15st.zip
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/secondary-teacher-salary/us-states?period=2015
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/secondary-teacher-salary/us-states?period=2015.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May estimates, state cross-industry file: annual mean wage, secondary school teachers except special and career or technical education (25-2031). https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15st.zip. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

Which state has the highest secondary school teacher mean annual wage?

Alaska, with $80,550 in 2015, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which state has the lowest secondary school teacher mean annual wage?

Oklahoma, with $42,960 in 2015.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May estimates, state cross-industry file: annual mean wage, secondary school teachers except special and career or technical education (25-2031). Retrieved 2026-10-12.