How much do teachers make in 2026?
Teachers earn a national median of $63,970 a year according to BLS OEWS May 2025 for SOC 25-2021, elementary school teachers except special education, with the bottom 10% near $47,960 and the top 10% at $104,340 across 1,388,390 workers. Two things about that figure need stating. First, the code is elementary teachers specifically: middle school, secondary and special education teachers are counted in separate BLS rows with their own medians, so this is not an all-teachers number. Second, BLS publishes no hourly wage for this occupation, because teaching is contracted by the school year rather than by the hour, and the annual figures describe the contract year rather than twelve months of work. What sets an individual teacher's salary is almost never negotiation. Public districts publish a salary schedule, usually with steps for years of service and lanes for accumulated university credits beyond the bachelor's degree, and a teacher's placement on that grid determines the number. Those schedules are public documents and are collectively bargained in many states. Movement therefore comes from staying, from earning credits or a master's degree, and from the district you work in. BLS projects a 2% decline through 2034 with roughly 91,000 openings a year. → Full teacher career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $63,970 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Teachers earn a national median $63,970/yr (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 25-2021); the P10 to P90 range is $47,960 to $104,340.
- This wage row is elementary school teachers specifically; middle school, secondary and special education teachers are counted in separate BLS codes with different medians.
- Pay is set by a published district salary schedule with steps for years of service and lanes for university credits, not by individual negotiation, which is why this band is narrow relative to the workforce's size.
- BLS publishes no hourly wage for this occupation because teaching is contracted by the school year, so these annual figures describe a contract year rather than twelve months of work.
US Teacher Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do teachers earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute the published percentile range across the credential tiers this role actually hires at.
Level medians are aligned to the BLS OEWS May 2025 percentile distribution for SOC 25-2021; GlobalCybers does not yet publish a verified placement sample for this role, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
How the numbers on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 25-2021, United States national estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them.
Level and certification medians: distributed across the published BLS percentile range for this SOC code (P10 through P90) according to the credential tiers this occupation actually hires at. They are modeled reference points, not separately surveyed wages.
State and metro figures: modeled — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers state wage index, and for metros by the published metro index for that state. They are estimates of local pay, not BLS state or metropolitan-area observations, and are labelled as modeled in the tables below.
No verified placement sample:GlobalCybers does not yet publish a placement median for this role, so no "verified" figure appears anywhere on this page.
Pay by Career Level
How much does a teacher earn at each career stage?
Teacher pay follows a published schedule rather than performance or negotiation. Each median below is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 25-2021.
By State
Which states pay teachers the most in 2026?
These are modeled state estimates, not BLS state observations: the national median for SOC 25-2021 multiplied by the GlobalCybers state wage index. Teacher pay is genuinely one of the most state-dependent in this dataset, because licensure, funding and bargaining rules are all set at state level and actual salary schedules are published district by district. Use these as directional context and read your target district's own schedule, which is a public document.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($73,570), the highest-paying state shown. See all 51 state salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay teachers the most?
Metro figures are modeled, national median times state wage index times published metro index, and are not BLS metropolitan observations. Salary schedules differ sharply between adjacent districts within the same metro, so a metro-level figure smooths over the variation that matters most when choosing where to teach.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise a teacher’s pay the most?
Median annual pay before and after each credential, based on GlobalCybers placement data cross-referenced with BLS. License upgrades move the needle most; stackable certs add on top.
Impacts are not additive, the licensing rows share the same career ladder. Browse all 167 certifications →
Trade Comparison
How does teacher pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Teachers sit mid-pack on median but carry one of the widest P10–P90 spreads, licensing and specialization drive the upside.
BLS OEWS May 2025. Verify teacher wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a teacher actually take home after taxes?
The medians above are gross base wage.
Estimates use 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction, and 7.65% FICA. Actual take-home varies with filing status, deductions, and local tax.
FAQ
Teacher Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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