Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary salary

SOC 25-1124 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$79,350

per year, nationally

Middle half

$62,510–$102,730

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

19,830

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-0.2%

1,900 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$49,060$136,050

10th: $49,060
25th: $62,510
Median: $79,350
75th: $102,730
90th: $136,050

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Doctoral or professional degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: None

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	New Hampshire	$101,750	104.2	150	1.74×
2	Delaware	$101,100	99.8	70	1.20×
3	California	$99,860	110.7	2,170	0.93×
4	Massachusetts	$98,750	105.8	960	2.07×
5	Maine	$96,970	97.0	70	0.80×
6	New York	$95,120	107.9	1,520	1.23×
7	Oregon	$91,670	103.4	510	2.03×
8	Maryland	$87,280	105.0	280	0.78×
9	Nevada	$84,980	100.0	90	0.43×
10	Michigan	$83,190	96.2	500	0.88×
11	Illinois	$81,530	100.0	690	0.89×
12	South Dakota	$81,080	88.6	40	0.70×
13	Minnesota	$80,650	98.6	410	1.09×
14	Connecticut	$80,630	103.6	340	1.56×
15	Montana	$79,970	94.6	80	1.18×
16	Iowa	$79,880	87.8	210	1.07×
17	New Jersey	$79,060	108.8	850	1.55×
18	District of Columbia	$78,930	109.9	360	3.97×
19	Utah	$78,570	98.9	180	0.83×
20	Wisconsin	$78,490	94.1	450	1.21×
21	Washington	$78,320	107.0	370	0.81×
22	Colorado	$77,840	103.1	410	1.12×
23	South Carolina	$77,790	93.7	320	1.07×
24	Pennsylvania	$77,210	97.6	1,060	1.37×
25	Alaska	$76,490	102.4	80	1.96×
26	Tennessee	$76,350	91.9	310	0.75×
27	West Virginia	$76,340	89.5	40	0.46×
28	Florida	$76,230	103.4	430	0.34×
29	Missouri	$76,110	90.8	330	0.89×
30	Louisiana	$75,410	88.2	130	0.52×
31	Texas	$75,090	97.1	1,460	0.81×
32	Indiana	$74,590	93.3	660	1.63×
33	Ohio	$74,310	92.8	960	1.36×
34	Virginia	$74,000	101.1	890	1.70×
35	Georgia	$73,370	96.3	280	0.45×
36	New Mexico	$71,720	92.2	60	0.55×
37	Arizona	$71,230	100.7	360	0.86×
38	Alabama	$70,580	88.8	110	0.42×
39	Kansas	$65,890	90.1	140	0.78×
40	Kentucky	$65,630	90.2	180	0.72×
41	North Dakota	$64,540	89.0	30	0.58×
42	North Carolina	$63,900	94.3	690	1.10×
43	Arkansas	$62,900	86.9	120	0.75×
44	Oklahoma	$61,580	87.8	80	0.37×
45	Mississippi	$54,670	87.0	60	0.38×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$171,660	106.4	130	0.60×
2	Fresno, CA	$167,160	102.2	70	1.11×
3	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$125,980	106.7	130	0.95×
4	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$115,040	115.6	240	0.78×
5	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$106,050	111.9	200	1.04×
6	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$103,190	108.8	50	2.00×
7	Amherst Town-Northampton, MA	$99,410	100.2	—	—
8	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$99,100	108.3	630	1.83×
9	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$98,600	112.6	1,460	1.21×
10	Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ	$97,520	100.0	60	1.22×
11	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$97,210	101.8	130	1.46×
12	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$96,550	110.4	190	1.30×
13	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$90,160	105.4	400	2.57×
14	Burlington-South Burlington, VT	$85,230	100.9	60	4.16×
15	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	$84,980	100.2	50	0.35×
16	Ann Arbor, MI	$84,000	100.9	190	6.82×
17	Worcester, MA	$83,490	102.5	70	1.54×
18	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$83,310	113.6	800	1.00×
19	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$83,190	100.3	60	0.25×
20	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$82,890	102.6	500	1.36×
21	San Juan-Bayamon-Caguas, PR	$81,050	—	90	1.01×
22	Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC	$81,030	97.9	190	2.00×
23	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$80,940	103.6	490	0.85×
24	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$80,450	106.9	—	—
25	Harrisonburg, VA	$80,410	94.9	60	7.37×
26	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$80,290	104.8	220	0.90×
27	Columbus, OH	$79,980	95.5	210	1.48×
28	St. Louis, MO-IL	$79,700	95.1	150	0.86×
29	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$79,670	100.1	210	0.56×
30	Syracuse, NY	$79,560	95.7	—	—
31	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$79,510	108.9	650	1.61×
32	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$79,440	98.6	210	0.51×
33	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$79,200	111.1	200	0.73×
34	Knoxville, TN	$79,080	92.6	120	2.24×
35	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$79,060	103.2	—	—
36	College Station-Bryan, TX	$78,740	91.0	70	4.03×
37	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$78,520	104.5	140	0.81×
38	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$78,490	96.9	150	1.40×
39	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$78,480	103.1	330	0.64×
40	Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI	$78,200	95.5	70	0.87×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary$107,310
Postsecondary Teachers, All Other$77,640
Career/Technical Education Teachers, Postsecondary$63,820
Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary$78,620
Business Teachers, Postsecondary$99,080
Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary$80,250
Education Teachers, Postsecondary$75,350
English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary$78,760

Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary earn the most

Best paying metro areas for foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary

Similar occupations

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