Teacher Salary in North Carolina 2026,
$54,930 Median | BLS Data by City

North Carolina teachers earn a median $54,930 a year per BLS OEWS May 2025, with the middle half between $47,470 and $59,730 and a full range of $45,570 to $62,590. That is 14.1% below the $63,970 national median. BLS publishes no hourly wage for this occupation, and the figure is anchored on elementary teachers rather than covering every teaching role.

Raleigh-Cary at $60,170, then Greensboro-High Point at $59,730, Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia at $58,680, Burlington at $56,740 and Winston-Salem at $56,510. The differences are local supplements: the state base schedule is identical everywhere, and counties with stronger revenue bases top it up more.

Through the Department of Public Instruction, under the State Board of Education. You complete an approved educator preparation programme and the required licensure examinations to receive the initial professional licence, which converts to a continuing professional licence after demonstrated practice. North Carolina also issues residency licences allowing candidates to teach while completing preparation, which is now a major entry route in shortage subjects.

Because the base is legislated and has not kept pace. The General Assembly sets the statewide schedule, and while it has been raised repeatedly, it starts low and flattens quickly — which is why the state 25th percentile of $47,470 and the 75th of $59,730 are only about twelve thousand dollars apart. Districts can only add supplements from county revenue, so wealthy counties partially close the gap and poorer ones cannot.

It is the main lever available. With the state schedule fixed, the supplement is what separates Raleigh-Cary's $60,170 from Winston-Salem's $56,510, and it is set by county commissioners rather than by the state. For a North Carolina teacher, choosing the county is a bigger financial decision than almost anything else, and the state's flat 4.5% tax with no local income tax means the whole difference arrives in the pay packet.

It removes negotiation and compresses the range. North Carolina teachers do not bargain salary; the General Assembly sets the steps and the county adds a supplement. That produces the very tight $47,470 to $59,730 middle half seen here, and it means career earnings growth is largely a matter of service years plus whichever county you teach in. It also makes the profession's pay a political question in a way it is not in locally bargained states.

Two things. The wage row is elementary teachers used as a broad anchor, so secondary, special education and specialist roles have distributions this page does not separate. And it is an annual figure for school-year work — North Carolina teachers are not paid for twelve months, so comparing $54,930 against a twelve-month professional salary overstates the gap in one direction while understating the effective rate in the other.

County, certification and stipends, in that order. Moving to a high-supplement district is the single largest step and it can be worth several thousand dollars immediately. National Board certification carries a state salary increase. Beyond those, stipends for mentoring, coaching, hard-to-staff assignments and extended contracts are what reach the $62,590 ninetieth percentile — and, for many North Carolina teachers, summer work outside the schedule entirely.