US states by secondary school teacher mean annual wage

New York had the highest secondary school teacher mean annual wage of 50 states in 2020, at $88,890. South Dakota had the lowest, at $45,810. The median was $60,590 and the figure for the United States was $67,340. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Highest88,890New York

Lowest45,810South Dakota

Median60,59050 states

United States67,340History

Map of states, 2020

Under 53K
53K to 56K
56K to 61K
61K to 66K
66K to 76K
76K and over
No data

USD, 2020. Hatched areas have no value for this period. 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, 2020

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	2020 USD	Change on 2019
1	New York	88,890	+1.9%
2	California	86,900	+2.1%
3	Massachusetts	84,130	+3.8%
4	New Jersey	78,900	+1%
5	Connecticut	78,510	-0%
5	Maryland	78,510	+1.9%
7	Washington	77,140	+7.6%
8	Rhode Island	76,270	+0.4%
9	Illinois	76,010	+2.2%
10	Alaska	75,790	-0%
11	Oregon	73,510	+2.4%
12	Pennsylvania	69,530	+3.9%
13	Delaware	68,020	+1.6%
14	District of Columbia	66,800	+0.2%
15	Vermont	66,370	-0.4%
16	Hawaii	66,340	+6%
17	Utah	66,140	+8.3%
18	Ohio	66,010	+2.5%
19	Minnesota	64,570	-0.6%
20	Michigan	62,930	-0.1%
21	Nebraska	62,530	+3.4%
22	New Hampshire	62,210	+2.5%
23	Wyoming	62,170	+1.3%
24	Georgia	61,930	+3.5%
25	Florida	61,530	+6.3%
26	Wisconsin	59,650	+0.8%
27	Nevada	58,150	+0.1%
28	Texas	58,040	+0.1%
29	Colorado	57,950	+2.8%
30	Iowa	57,920	+2.4%
31	Maine	56,810	+2.8%
32	New Mexico	56,710	-1.2%
33	North Dakota	56,610	+0.6%
34	Kentucky	55,740	+1.2%
35	Kansas	55,170	+6%
36	Tennessee	54,700	-0.7%
37	Indiana	54,090	+1.8%
38	South Carolina	53,950	-4.9%
39	Arizona	53,620	+6.6%
40	Alabama	53,170	+2.3%
41	Montana	52,680	+0.6%
42	Arkansas	52,540	+1.3%
43	Louisiana	52,420	+0.6%
44	Idaho	51,790	+2.3%
45	North Carolina	51,460	+3.1%
46	Oklahoma	50,000	+5.7%
47	West Virginia	49,750	+4.5%
48	Missouri	48,570	-4.7%
49	Mississippi	46,100	-1%
50	South Dakota	45,810	+2.7%

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. 1 states with data in other periods have no value for 2020 and are left out rather than filled from another source. 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/oesm20st.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, 2020) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20st.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, 2020. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 15 May 2026, https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20st.zip. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/secondary-teacher-salary/us-states?period=2020. 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, 2020. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20st.zip. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/secondary-teacher-salary/us-states?period=2020.

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, 2020 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20st.zip, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/secondary-teacher-salary/us-states?period=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{bureau_us_states_by_secondary_2020,
  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, 2020}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20st.zip},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/secondary-teacher-salary/us-states?period=2020. 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/oesm20st.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, 2020
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/15
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20st.zip
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/secondary-teacher-salary/us-states?period=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/secondary-teacher-salary/us-states?period=2020.
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/oesm20st.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 $88,890 in 2020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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

South Dakota, with $45,810 in 2020.

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. 1 states have no value for 2020 and are not ranked.