Average Teacher Salary in United States for 2024

In this article, we will look at the average Teacher salary for 2024 in United States and how that compares to other countries and professions. We'll also look at interesting salary data points like median salary, 25th and 75th percentile salaries, salary amounts based on experience, bonus ranges and more!

The data in this article has been compiled using official government salary data, salary surveys, and other sources such as job postings which contain salary information.

All salary information is in the local currency, which is the United States dollar. To keep things simple, we are using the USD currency code instead of the currency symbol $.

How Much Does a Teacher Make in United States?

A Teacher working in United States will typically earn around 73,800 USD per year, and this can range from the lowest average salary of about 35,000 USD to the highest average salary of 114,300 USD.

Average Annual Salary
73,800 USD
Average Monthly Salary
6,150 USD

Lowest Annual Salary
35,000 USD
Lowest Monthly Salary
2,916 USD

Highest Annual Salary
114,300 USD
Highest Monthly Salary
9,525 USD

These are average salaries for a Teacher in United States and include benefits such as housing and transport. It's also possible for a Teacher to earn more or less than the average salaries shown above.

Teacher salaries will vary a lot based on your experience, location, skills, and gender. Keep reading below to research more data on each of these areas.

Distribution of Teacher Salaries in United States

So we've looked at the average salaries a Teacher will earn in United States. The next interesting data point is the distribution of salaries.

Salary ranges

We already know that a Teacher can earn between 35,000 USD and 114,300 USD on average in United States. This is known as the range in statistics.

The difference between the maximum and minimum values is a good indicator of variability in salaries, and can be used by employers to figure out how much they can expect to pay, and for employees to know how much they can earn.

Median salary

The median salary for a Teacher in United States is 74,700 USD. This is the middle value in the distribution of salaries.

What this means is that approximately 50% of the population earn less than 74,700 USD, and 50% of the population earn more than 74,700 USD.

If you are earning more than the median salary, that's a good indicator that you are being paid well.

If you're not earning more than the median salary, your objective should be to increase your earnings to be at least as high as the median salary (which you can do by asking for a pay rise, looking for a better paying job, etc).

Percentiles

Percentiles are similar to the median salary, but instead of looking at the middle value, they look at the values in the top and bottom half of the distribution.

For the average Teacher salary in United States, 25% of the population are earning less than 51,300 USD while 75% of the population earn more than 51,300 USD.

75% of the population earn less than 97,400 USD, and 25% of the population earn more than 97,400 USD.

Like the median salary, the 25th and 75th percentile salaries can be used to determine which quartile you fall into so that you know whether you are being paid well enough compared to others in your profession and location.

The difference between a median and an average salary

The median and average salary are both indicators you can use to see if you are being paid fairly based on the overall population.

  • If your salary is higher than the average and the median salary, you are earning well compared to others.
  • If your salary is lower than the average and the median salary, it could indicate you are not being paid well enough.
  • If you are somewhere in between then it's tricky to determine if you are being paid well enough and you might need to research more closely.

Teacher Salary by Experience Level in United States

The most important factor in determining your salary after the specific profession is the number of years experience you have. It stands to reason that more years of experience will result in a higher wage.

We have researched the average teacher salary based on years of experience to give you an idea of how the average changes once you've worked for a certain amount of time.

  • 0 - 2 Years Experience. A Teacher in United States that has less than two years of experience can expect to earn somewhere in the region of 44,800 USD.
  • 2 - 5 Years Experience. With two to five years of experience the average Teacher salary would increase to 54,900 USD.
  • 5 - 10 Years Experience. From five to ten years of experience as a Teacher, the average salary would be 75,900 USD.
  • 10 - 15 Years Experience. Once you have more than ten years of experience the average salary reaches around 95,500 USD.
  • 15 - 20 Years Experience. A Teacher with 15 to 20 years of experience can earn an average of 103,600 USD.
  • 20+ Years Experience. For a Teacher with more than 20 years, the expected average salary increases to 109,700 USD.

Average Salary by Experience Chart

0-2 Years
44,800 USD
2-5 Years +29%
54,900 USD
5-10 Years +38%
75,900 USD
10-15 Years +24%
95,500 USD
15-20 Years +7%
103,600 USD
20+ Years +7%
109,700 USD

Teacher Salary by Education Level in United States

As well as experience in a job, your education plays a big role in how much you can earn. A lot of higher paying positions require a high level of education, but how much can a degree increase your salary?

In our research we have compared the salaries of employees in the same job and career level with different levels of education to see how much more you can earn at each education level.

The salary you can earn based on your education is very specific to both your location and the career path you choose.

In our research, we looked at the average salary for a Teacher in United States based on the education level of the employees in order to find out whether a better education level would increase your salary.

  • Bachelor's Degree. A Teacher in United States with a bachelor's degree education can earn an average salary of 52,300 USD.

  • Master's Degree. A Teacher in United States with a master's degree education can earn an average salary of 87,700 USD.

Average Salary by Education Chart

Bachelor's Degree
52,300 USD
Master's Degree +60%
87,700 USD

How Much is a Master's Degree or MBA Program?

The approximate cost of a master's degree or post-graduate program like an MBA in United States is around 39,500 to 118,000 USD and takes two years to complete.

As you can see above, there are financial benefits from reaching master's degree level, but don't expect to see much of a salary increase until you have completed the degree.

It's common for people to pursue an MBA or other post-graduate program in order to switch to a a job that pays more. On average, you can expect to earn around 10% more when switching to a new company.

Whether you decide to pursue a master's degree depends on many factors. If you are able to afford it, the numbers suggest that the return on investment is worth it and you could recover the costs in a few years from the salary increase you would receive.

Teacher Salary Compared by Gender

In the modern age, we know that there should never be a pay gap between men and women. Unfortunately, in many professions, there is still a significant difference between the salaries earned by men when compared to the salary of women in the same job.

In United States, a male teacher will earn an average of 74,300 USD, while a female teacher will earn around 72,700 USD.

This means that a male teacher earns approximately 2% more than a female teacher for performing the same job.

Average Salary by Gender Chart in United States

Male
74,300 USD
Female -2%
72,700 USD

Teacher Average Pay Raise in United States

In many countries, an annual pay raise is often given to employees to reward their service with a salary increase.

From our research, we can see that the average pay raise for a Teacher in United States is around 11% every 17 months.

The national average pay raise across all professions and industries in United States is around 8% every 16 months.

In this case, we can see that the number of months between the average pay raise is higher than the typical 12 months.

To make the data more meaningful, we can calculate what the approximate annual pay raise would be using a simple formula:

Annual Increase = ( Increase Rate ÷ Months ) × 12

So for this example, it would be:

Annual Increase = ( 11 ÷ 17 ) × 12  = 8%

What this means is that a Teacher in United States can expect to receive an average pay raise of around 8% every 12 months.

Annual Pay Raise by Industry in United States for 2024

In the chart below, you can see the average annual pay raise percentages for each of the major industries in United States.

You will see that companies in bigger and more lucrative industries tend to have the higher annual pay raises.

Banking
4%
Energy
8%
Information Technology
3%
Healthcare
7%
Travel
2%
Construction
6%
Education
1%

Teacher Bonus and Incentive Rates in United States

Another part of your overall compensation in a job is how much bonus you receive. Some job roles will be more likely to pay a bonus than others and also more likely to have higher bonus rates.

Generally speaking, jobs that are more involved with direct revenue generation will receive higher bonuses based on the performance towards revenue goals.

A Teacher is a low bonus based job, with 32% of employees reporting at least one bonus in the last 12 months.

68% reported that they had not received any bonuses in the previous 12 months.

For the employees that did receive a bonus in the previous 12 months, the reported bonuses ranged from 0% to 4%.

Received Bonus
32%
No Bonus
68%

What are the Types of Bonus?

There are a number of difference types of bonus you can receive in a job. Including:

  • Individual performance bonus - This is a bonus that is awarded to an individual employee for general performance in the job. It's the most common type of bonus.
  • Company performance bonus - This is a bonus that is awarded to a company employees to share profit with the staff.
  • Goal based bonus - This is a bonus that is awarded to an individual employee (or a team) for achieving specific goals, objectives, or milestones.
  • Holiday bonus - This type of bonus is usually paid around the holidays, often the end of the year, and is a token of appreciation for the hard work throughout the year.

Government vs Private Sector Salaries

Another commonly asked question is whether you get paid a higher salary working in the public (government) sector or the private sector.

Public sector employees in United States earn approximately 6% more than private sector employees in the same role.

Public Sector
98,800 USD
Private Sector -6%
93,100 USD

Salaries for Jobs Similar to a Teacher

In the table below, we have salary information for jobs that are similar to a Teacher in United States.

Job Title Category Salary
Bilingual Paraprofessional Bilingual 103,600 USD
Interpreter Bilingual 82,200 USD
Language Specialist Bilingual 115,600 USD
Linguist Bilingual 127,600 USD
Multilingual Host Bilingual 91,600 USD
Translator Bilingual 90,900 USD

Salary Comparison by City

If you want to compare salaries with different cities in United States, you can use the links below to explore the data for each specific city we have researched.

City Average Salary
Atlanta 69,650 USD
Austin 80,300 USD
Baltimore 70,350 USD
Boston 74,850 USD
Bristol 58,950 USD
Chicago 84,450 USD
Cincinnati 63,700 USD
Cleveland 63,500 USD
Dallas 78,300 USD
Denver 73,800 USD
Detroit 72,450 USD
Honolulu 59,650 USD
Houston 84,100 USD
Indianapolis 77,750 USD
Iowa City 58,550 USD
Jacksonville 78,850 USD
Kansas City 66,900 USD
Kent 60,300 USD
Las Vegas 71,750 USD
Long Beach 70,000 USD
Los Angeles 83,750 USD
Memphis 76,650 USD
Miami 68,300 USD
Minneapolis 65,600 USD
New Orleans 66,100 USD
New York 90,000 USD
Oakland 64,600 USD
Oklahoma City 70,550 USD
Orlando 61,350 USD
Philadelphia 87,050 USD
Phoenix 83,200 USD
Sacramento 71,950 USD
San Antonio 85,100 USD
San Diego 83,850 USD
San Francisco 77,550 USD
San Jose 76,250 USD
Seattle 77,300 USD
Tampa 63,700 USD
Vancouver 62,500 USD
Washington D.C. 76,150 USD

Salary Comparison by State

The table below includes links to the average salary for each state in United States.

City Average Salary
Alabama 72,900 USD
Alaska 66,150 USD
Arizona 76,100 USD
Arkansas 69,200 USD
California 79,250 USD
Colorado 73,650 USD
Connecticut 69,900 USD
Delaware 65,350 USD
District of Columbia 64,600 USD
Florida 80,050 USD
Georgia 81,950 USD
Hawaii 70,600 USD
Idaho 68,500 USD
Illinois 79,750 USD
Indiana 77,750 USD
Iowa 71,400 USD
Kansas 71,750 USD
Kentucky 71,700 USD
Louisiana 75,500 USD
Maine 66,850 USD
Maryland 76,250 USD
Massachusetts 74,350 USD
Michigan 80,250 USD
Minnesota 75,650 USD
Mississippi 70,800 USD
Missouri 71,900 USD
Montana 67,000 USD
Nebraska 66,450 USD
Nevada 71,450 USD
New Hampshire 65,400 USD
New Jersey 77,750 USD
New Mexico 68,600 USD
New York 81,900 USD
North Carolina 73,950 USD
North Dakota 64,550 USD
Ohio 82,150 USD
Oklahoma 71,750 USD
Oregon 75,200 USD
Pennsylvania 79,250 USD
Rhode Island 65,250 USD
South Carolina 75,000 USD
South Dakota 68,000 USD
Tennessee 75,500 USD
Texas 81,450 USD
Utah 68,000 USD
Vermont 66,150 USD
Virginia 78,800 USD
Washington 78,400 USD
West Virginia 68,850 USD
Wisconsin 76,250 USD
Wyoming 65,500 USD

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