US states by secondary school teacher mean annual wage

New York had the highest secondary school teacher mean annual wage of 51 states in 2019, at $87,240. South Dakota had the lowest, at $44,610. The median was $59,180 and the figure for the United States was $65,930. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Highest87,240New York

Lowest44,610South Dakota

Median59,18051 states

United States65,930History

Map of states, 2019

Under 52K
52K to 56K
56K to 59K
59K to 65K
65K to 73K
73K and over

USD, 2019. 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, 2019

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	2019 USD	Change on 2018
1	New York	87,240	+2.3%
2	California	85,080	+5.7%
3	Massachusetts	81,070	+1.3%
4	Connecticut	78,540	+2%
5	New Jersey	78,090	+2.2%
6	Maryland	77,050	+6.1%
7	Rhode Island	75,950	+6.3%
8	Alaska	75,820	-2.7%
9	Illinois	74,340	+2.7%
10	Oregon	71,780	-1.2%
11	Washington	71,690	+6.1%
12	Virginia	69,070	+0.4%
13	Delaware	66,920	+2.9%
13	Pennsylvania	66,920	+3.2%
15	District of Columbia	66,670	+2.3%
16	Vermont	66,660	+1.2%
17	Minnesota	64,960	+0.5%
18	Ohio	64,410	+4%
19	Michigan	63,000	+0.1%
20	Hawaii	62,580	+2.9%
21	Wyoming	61,400	+1.3%
22	Utah	61,050	+3.4%
23	New Hampshire	60,720	-1.3%
24	Nebraska	60,500	+5.2%
25	Georgia	59,860	+3.1%
26	Wisconsin	59,180	+1.4%
27	Nevada	58,090	+0.3%
28	Texas	58,000	-0.3%
29	Florida	57,880	+6.9%
30	New Mexico	57,410	+3.7%
31	South Carolina	56,730	+4.3%
32	Iowa	56,570	+0.1%
33	Colorado	56,370	+2.3%
34	North Dakota	56,250	+1.5%
35	Maine	55,260	+1.9%
36	Kentucky	55,100	-2%
37	Tennessee	55,060	+2.7%
38	Indiana	53,150	+0.2%
39	Montana	52,360	+3.3%
40	Louisiana	52,090	+0.5%
41	Kansas	52,050	+1.1%
42	Alabama	51,950	+1.5%
43	Arkansas	51,870	+0.2%
44	Missouri	50,980	-6.1%
45	Idaho	50,640	-1%
46	Arizona	50,320	+3.5%
47	North Carolina	49,930	+4.9%
48	West Virginia	47,610	+1.2%
49	Oklahoma	47,320	+11.2%
50	Mississippi	46,580	-1.3%
51	South Dakota	44,610	+3.8%

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/oesm19st.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, 2019) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19st.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, 2019. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 15 May 2026, https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19st.zip. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/secondary-teacher-salary/us-states?period=2019. 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, 2019. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19st.zip. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/secondary-teacher-salary/us-states?period=2019.

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, 2019 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19st.zip, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/secondary-teacher-salary/us-states?period=2019 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{bureau_us_states_by_secondary_2019,
  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, 2019}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19st.zip},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/secondary-teacher-salary/us-states?period=2019. 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/oesm19st.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, 2019
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/15
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19st.zip
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/secondary-teacher-salary/us-states?period=2019
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/secondary-teacher-salary/us-states?period=2019.
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/oesm19st.zip. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

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

New York, with $87,240 in 2019, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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

South Dakota, with $44,610 in 2019.

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.