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

SOC 25-2031 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$72,040

per year, nationally

Middle half

$59,980–$92,570

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

1.1M

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-1.6%

66,200 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.

$48,780$107,600

10th: $48,780
25th: $59,980
Median: $72,040
75th: $92,570
90th: $107,600

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 secondary 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	$102,670	107.0	14,880	0.61×
2	California	$101,370	110.7	99,230	0.80×
3	New York	$97,070	107.9	70,660	1.06×
4	Massachusetts	$95,260	105.8	28,460	1.14×
5	Rhode Island	$92,610	102.3	4,910	1.43×
6	District of Columbia	$82,750	109.9	2,800	0.58×
7	New Jersey	$82,200	108.8	38,140	1.30×
8	Connecticut	$80,970	103.6	14,800	1.27×
9	Illinois	$79,990	100.0	44,670	1.07×
10	Alaska	$79,650	102.4	2,790	1.25×
11	Oregon	$79,570	103.4	11,730	0.87×
12	Pennsylvania	$78,800	97.6	52,240	1.26×
13	Ohio	$78,800	92.8	49,540	1.30×
14	Maryland	$78,670	105.0	16,640	0.88×
15	Delaware	$77,960	99.8	5,360	1.61×
16	New Hampshire	$77,060	104.2	5,860	1.25×
17	Minnesota	$76,460	98.6	16,020	0.79×
18	Utah	$76,330	98.9	11,030	0.93×
19	Vermont	$76,220	98.0	2,450	1.18×
20	New Mexico	$75,900	92.2	8,120	1.36×
21	Georgia	$75,480	96.3	25,730	0.77×
22	Hawaii	$74,310	110.0	5,590	1.30×
23	Colorado	$72,900	103.1	18,310	0.93×
24	Virginia	$72,170	101.1	31,100	1.10×
25	Michigan	$66,030	96.2	25,540	0.85×
26	Nevada	$65,520	100.0	8,920	0.84×
27	Maine	$64,880	97.0	5,540	1.26×
28	Texas	$63,590	97.1	111,660	1.16×
29	Nebraska	$63,450	90.1	7,170	1.02×
30	Wisconsin	$62,870	94.1	15,910	0.79×
31	Wyoming	$62,690	92.7	1,600	0.83×
32	South Carolina	$62,580	93.7	16,080	1.02×
33	Alabama	$61,990	88.8	15,880	1.10×
34	Indiana	$61,880	93.3	20,430	0.93×
35	Tennessee	$61,860	91.9	21,230	0.95×
36	Idaho	$61,690	95.5	6,570	1.12×
37	Kentucky	$61,560	90.2	12,780	0.93×
38	North Dakota	$61,210	89.0	3,070	1.04×
39	Iowa	$61,200	87.8	12,310	1.15×
40	Montana	$60,990	94.6	3,670	1.05×
41	Florida	$60,410	103.4	49,810	0.73×
42	Kansas	$59,920	90.1	10,860	1.10×
43	Louisiana	$59,850	88.2	15,210	1.15×
44	Arkansas	$59,660	86.9	12,890	1.44×
45	Missouri	$59,240	90.8	24,380	1.21×
46	Arizona	$58,360	100.7	21,190	0.95×
47	North Carolina	$57,650	94.3	28,620	0.85×
48	West Virginia	$56,610	89.5	3,590	0.75×
49	South Dakota	$51,050	88.6	3,360	1.07×
50	Mississippi	$50,980	87.0	10,400	1.30×
51	Oklahoma	$48,710	87.8	15,480	1.32×

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

Best paying metro areas for secondary 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	$121,190	102.4	240	0.67×
2	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$108,850	110.5	2,210	1.00×
3	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$108,230	110.4	4,130	0.53×
4	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$105,200	103.7	490	0.55×
5	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$105,060	106.7	6,040	0.82×
6	Walla Walla, WA	$104,940	98.5	120	0.66×
7	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$104,180	105.6	420	0.65×
8	Longview-Kelso, WA	$104,110	97.5	200	0.70×
9	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$102,880	115.6	11,520	0.71×
10	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$102,840	108.8	1,060	0.77×
11	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$102,810	111.9	6,690	0.64×
12	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$102,670	111.1	7,720	0.54×
13	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$102,600	100.1	720	0.81×
14	Vallejo, CA	$102,590	108.5	800	0.81×
15	Napa, CA	$102,510	112.6	300	0.56×
16	Bellingham, WA	$102,160	103.3	430	0.68×
17	Hanford-Corcoran, CA	$102,010	101.6	730	2.19×
18	Modesto, CA	$101,890	104.1	1,900	1.42×
19	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$101,730	107.8	1,040	0.74×
20	Salinas, CA	$101,590	109.0	1,200	0.94×
21	Kingston, NY	$101,300	100.7	560	1.38×
22	Barnstable Town, MA	$101,120	98.4	750	1.16×
23	Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA	$101,010	103.9	260	0.75×
24	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$100,960	113.6	32,250	0.75×
25	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$100,800	112.6	75,780	1.17×
26	Fresno, CA	$100,750	102.2	3,210	0.98×
27	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$100,590	105.1	1,920	0.97×
28	Yakima, WA	$100,560	95.5	600	0.91×
29	Yuba City, CA	$100,170	104.2	670	1.91×
30	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$100,130	106.4	12,450	1.06×
31	Merced, CA	$99,600	98.3	1,020	1.87×
32	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$99,560	108.6	410	0.50×
33	El Centro, CA	$99,440	95.2	780	1.73×
34	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$99,410	100.3	1,180	0.67×
35	Bakersfield-Delano, CA	$99,150	100.9	3,300	1.42×
36	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$98,970	103.6	32,790	1.06×
37	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$98,850	108.3	20,600	1.11×
38	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$98,810	109.9	560	0.84×
39	Chico, CA	$98,210	101.2	400	0.74×
40	Visalia, CA	$97,610	99.8	1,330	1.14×

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 secondary 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.

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

What the range looks like

Getting in

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

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

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