Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education salary

SOC 25-2022 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$64,370

per year, nationally

Middle half

$58,530–$80,490

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

620,090

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-2.0%

40,500 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.

$48,080$102,540

10th: $48,080
25th: $58,530
Median: $64,370
75th: $80,490
90th: $102,540

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Bachelor's 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 middle school teachers, except special and career/technical education 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	Washington	$102,140	107.0	10,510	0.74×
2	California	$98,950	110.7	37,300	0.51×
3	New York	$94,840	107.9	38,670	1.00×
4	Connecticut	$93,610	103.6	7,920	1.17×
5	Rhode Island	$92,760	102.3	2,370	1.19×
6	Massachusetts	$89,450	105.8	16,570	1.14×
7	District of Columbia	$79,900	109.9	1,540	0.55×
8	Utah	$79,180	98.9	5,960	0.86×
9	Alaska	$78,940	102.4	1,150	0.89×
10	New Jersey	$78,770	108.8	23,650	1.38×
11	Maryland	$78,510	105.0	14,530	1.32×
12	Oregon	$78,350	103.4	6,940	0.89×
13	Pennsylvania	$77,930	97.6	22,720	0.94×
14	Ohio	$77,090	92.8	30,450	1.38×
15	Illinois	$76,110	100.0	24,770	1.02×
16	New Mexico	$75,240	92.2	4,260	1.23×
17	Vermont	$73,940	98.0	1,620	1.33×
18	New Hampshire	$71,140	104.2	3,120	1.15×
19	Hawaii	$69,230	110.0	2,480	0.99×
20	Delaware	$67,780	99.8	2,350	1.22×
21	Nevada	$66,300	100.0	3,910	0.63×
22	Georgia	$64,780	96.3	23,610	1.21×
23	Michigan	$63,790	96.2	15,420	0.88×
24	Colorado	$63,760	103.1	13,280	1.16×
25	Maine	$63,590	97.0	2,780	1.09×
26	Virginia	$63,520	101.1	18,290	1.12×
27	Texas	$63,390	97.1	80,160	1.43×
28	Minnesota	$62,640	98.6	8,890	0.76×
29	Nebraska	$62,510	90.1	4,150	1.02×
30	Wyoming	$62,480	92.7	1,290	1.15×
31	Wisconsin	$61,960	94.1	14,460	1.23×
32	Alabama	$61,770	88.8	10,000	1.19×
33	Montana	$61,550	94.6	1,980	0.97×
34	Kentucky	$61,120	90.2	8,040	1.01×
35	Idaho	$60,930	95.5	2,360	0.69×
36	South Carolina	$60,810	93.7	9,750	1.06×
37	Indiana	$60,700	93.3	11,700	0.92×
38	Tennessee	$60,690	91.9	13,060	1.00×
39	Kansas	$60,580	90.1	6,230	1.09×
40	Iowa	$60,450	87.8	6,270	1.01×
41	North Dakota	$60,100	89.0	1,400	0.82×
42	Arizona	$59,710	100.7	9,020	0.70×
43	Arkansas	$59,570	86.9	6,140	1.18×
44	Missouri	$59,310	90.8	11,330	0.97×
45	Florida	$58,940	103.4	31,370	0.79×
46	Louisiana	$58,760	88.2	5,560	0.72×
47	West Virginia	$57,210	89.5	4,090	1.46×
48	North Carolina	$52,010	94.3	20,650	1.05×
49	South Dakota	$50,980	88.6	2,130	1.17×
50	Mississippi	$50,790	87.0	6,260	1.35×
51	Oklahoma	$48,440	87.8	7,620	1.12×

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 middle school teachers, except special and career/technical education wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for middle school teachers, except special and career/technical education

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	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$106,920	102.4	160	0.76×
2	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$105,030	110.4	3,330	0.74×
3	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$104,410	103.7	420	0.81×
4	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$104,320	105.6	300	0.79×
5	Fresno, CA	$104,250	102.2	850	0.45×
6	El Centro, CA	$104,140	95.2	250	0.97×
7	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$103,880	110.5	530	0.41×
8	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$102,560	111.1	5,230	0.63×
9	Merced, CA	$101,770	98.3	180	0.56×
10	Walla Walla, WA	$101,540	98.5	80	0.82×
11	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$101,390	100.1	600	1.17×
12	Modesto, CA	$101,250	104.1	740	0.95×
13	Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA	$100,900	103.9	180	0.87×
14	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$100,810	106.4	4,860	0.71×
15	Bellingham, WA	$100,430	103.3	330	0.91×
16	Barnstable Town, MA	$99,600	98.4	480	1.27×
17	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$99,360	106.7	1,570	0.36×
18	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$99,360	106.9	2,340	1.45×
19	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT	$98,880	100.9	1,860	0.56×
20	Yakima, WA	$98,760	95.5	470	1.21×
21	Kingston, NY	$98,660	100.7	360	1.53×
22	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$98,370	113.6	12,780	0.51×
23	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$98,020	107.8	380	0.47×
24	Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY	$97,900	109.4	2,390	2.22×
25	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$97,850	100.3	920	0.90×
26	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$96,500	112.6	39,310	1.04×
27	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$96,030	102.7	2,490	1.04×
28	Napa, CA	$95,590	112.6	130	0.42×
29	Longview-Kelso, WA	$94,190	97.5	150	0.91×
30	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$94,170	108.3	11,530	1.07×
31	Vallejo, CA	$93,680	108.5	270	0.47×
32	Bakersfield-Delano, CA	$93,480	100.9	—	—
33	Hanford-Corcoran, CA	$92,040	101.6	120	0.63×
34	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$90,870	108.6	310	0.64×
35	Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY	$89,950	95.8	2,870	1.35×
36	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$89,590	105.4	3,540	0.73×
37	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$89,450	101.8	3,810	1.34×
38	New Haven, CT	$89,100	104.6	1,080	0.97×
39	Pittsburgh, PA	$84,800	94.7	4,390	0.99×
40	Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ	$82,760	98.9	860	1.28×

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 middle school teachers, except special and career/technical education wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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

Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where middle school teachers, except special and career/technical education earn the most

Best paying metro areas for middle school teachers, except special and career/technical education

Similar occupations

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