A new teacher in the District of Columbia started at an average of $64,640 in the 2024-25 school year. In Montana, the average was $36,682. That gap is $27,958 ($64,640 minus $36,682), so a first-year teacher in DC earned about 1.76 times what a first-year teacher in Montana did.
Both figures come from the Teacher Salary Benchmark Report by the National Education Association (NEA), a teachers union that collects salary schedules from school districts each year. Nationally, the average starting salary rose 3.4% to $48,112, up from $46,526 in 2023-24, NEA reported. After adjusting for inflation, NEA said, real growth in starting pay was just 0.7%.
The five highest-paying places for new teachers were DC ($64,640), Washington ($60,658), California ($59,424), New Jersey ($58,727), and Utah ($57,849). The five lowest were Montana, Nebraska ($39,561), Missouri ($40,682), Oklahoma ($41,294), and Kentucky ($41,901). Among the 50 states alone, Washington's average start beat Montana's by $23,976.
The $50,000 mark is still out of reach in most districts. NEA collected starting salaries from 11,365 school districts, and 3,973 of them, or 35%, paid new teachers at least $50,000. That leaves 7,392 districts, about 65%, below $50,000. Most districts cleared a lower bar: 10,303, or 91%, started teachers at $40,000 or more. Only 1,027 districts, or 9%, started at $60,000 or more, the starting salary that Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Frederica Wilson proposed in separate bills, according to NEA.
Fourteen states averaged under $45,000, including North Carolina at $44,952 (38th). For the licensing steps there, see allk12's guide on how to become a teacher in North Carolina. The table below ranks all 50 states and DC by average starting salary. The last column adjusts each figure for local prices, which is explained further down.
| Rank | State | Average starting salary, 2024-25 | Change from 2023-24 | Adjusted for local prices |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | $64,640 | 2.0% | $58,817 |
| 2 | Washington | $60,658 | 4.7% | $56,683 |
| 3 | California | $59,424 | 1.7% | $53,671 |
| 4 | New Jersey | $58,727 | 2.0% | $53,975 |
| 5 | Utah | $57,849 | 3.8% | $58,514 |
| 6 | Maryland | $57,293 | 5.2% | $54,586 |
| 7 | New Mexico | $54,372 | 1.8% | $58,964 |
| 8 | Massachusetts | $54,216 | 3.0% | $51,265 |
| 9 | Alaska | $53,650 | 2.3% | $52,414 |
| 10 | Pennsylvania | $52,198 | 3.4% | $53,497 |
| 11 | Hawaii | $51,835 | 0.0% | $47,144 |
| 12 | Wyoming | $51,776 | 3.1% | $55,859 |
| 13 | New York | $51,612 | 3.1% | $47,824 |
| 14 | Connecticut | $51,053 | 2.4% | $49,274 |
| 15 | Virginia | $50,448 | 3.7% | $49,897 |
| 16 | Arkansas | $50,076 | 0.1% | $57,600 |
| 17 | Nevada | $49,731 | 5.0% | $49,741 |
| 18 | Texas | $49,465 | 1.9% | $50,965 |
| 19 | Florida | $49,435 | 1.6% | $47,803 |
| 20 | Delaware | $49,344 | 1.9% | $49,439 |
| 21 | Georgia | $48,722 | 11.6% | $50,598 |
| 22 | South Carolina | $48,426 | 8.4% | $51,655 |
| 23 | Rhode Island | $48,242 | 2.2% | $47,167 |
| 24 | Iowa | $48,139 | 17.4% | $54,852 |
| 25 | Alabama | $47,955 | 7.4% | $53,989 |
| 26 | Tennessee | $47,230 | 5.2% | $51,410 |
| 27 | South Dakota | $47,196 | 3.7% | $53,277 |
| 28 | Vermont | $46,963 | 5.5% | $47,942 |
| 29 | Oregon | $46,854 | 5.4% | $45,330 |
| 30 | Louisiana | $46,850 | 0.4% | $53,114 |
| 31 | Illinois | $46,655 | 3.5% | $46,675 |
| 32 | Minnesota | $46,477 | 3.3% | $47,127 |
| 33 | Idaho | $46,253 | 1.1% | $48,436 |
| 34 | Indiana | $45,958 | 2.1% | $49,243 |
| 35 | Colorado | $45,489 | 7.2% | $44,142 |
| 36 | West Virginia | $45,294 | 6.1% | $50,610 |
| 37 | North Dakota | $45,252 | 3.5% | $50,868 |
| 38 | North Carolina | $44,952 | 5.7% | $47,656 |
| 39 | Arizona | $44,869 | -2.7% | $44,567 |
| 40 | Kansas | $44,163 | 3.2% | $49,033 |
| 41 | Maine | $44,152 | 4.2% | $45,494 |
| 42 | New Hampshire | $44,010 | 3.3% | $42,250 |
| 43 | Mississippi | $43,814 | 3.1% | $50,388 |
| 44 | Wisconsin | $43,288 | 2.4% | $46,005 |
| 45 | Michigan | $43,093 | 3.5% | $44,787 |
| 46 | Ohio | $42,222 | 3.0% | $45,511 |
| 47 | Kentucky | $41,901 | 4.3% | $46,475 |
| 48 | Oklahoma | $41,294 | 0.3% | $47,009 |
| 49 | Missouri | $40,682 | 4.7% | $44,796 |
| 50 | Nebraska | $39,561 | 1.9% | $43,906 |
| 51 | Montana | $36,682 | 2.8% | $38,757 |
Source: National Education Association, Teacher Salary Benchmark Report, 2024-25. Starting salary is the pay for a teacher with a bachelor's degree and no experience, averaged across a state's reporting districts without weighting by size. Price adjustment uses U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis regional price parities for 2024: each salary divided by the state's index over 100.
How starting pay differs from average pay
Starting salary and average salary measure different things. NEA defines starting salary as the pay for a teacher with a bachelor's degree and no prior experience. Average salary covers every teacher, from first-year hires to veterans near retirement. NEA put the national average public school teacher salary at $74,495 in 2024-25. The average starting salary of $48,112 is about 65% of that ($48,112 divided by $74,495), or $26,383 less.
Pay rises with degrees and years on the job. NEA's national averages for 2024-25 were $51,775 for a new teacher with a master's degree and $87,331 for the top step of a salary schedule. For more on overall pay, see allk12's look at the states with the best teacher pay. For one district's full schedule, see the DCPS teacher salary scale for 2026-27.
A few notes on how NEA built its numbers. State figures are unweighted averages of districts, so a small rural district counts the same as a large city district. NEA's salary data covered 11,365 of the 14,186 districts it tracked, or 80.1%, representing nearly 2.7 million teachers. NEA also said changes in reporting affected the quality of salary data in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, New Mexico, Maine, and Colorado, so one-year changes there deserve extra caution.
Prices matter, too. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) publishes regional price parities, an index that compares each state's price level with the national level, set at 100. Housing rents are often the main driver of the differences, BEA said. To adjust a salary, divide it by the state's index over 100. DC's 2024 index was 109.9, so $64,640 divided by 1.099 is about $58,817. Montana's index was 94.6, so $36,682 divided by 0.946 is about $38,800.
After that adjustment, New Mexico moves to first place at about $59,000 ($54,372 divided by 0.922). Arkansas, which had the lowest price index of any state at 86.9, climbs from 16th to fourth at about $57,600. California falls from third to 11th. Montana stays last. The price data cover calendar year 2024, which overlaps the 2024-25 school year without matching it exactly, and a statewide index blends cities and rural areas.
States that set a minimum teacher salary
Some states have tried to lift starting pay by raising the legal minimum, NEA noted. Five examples from state sources:
- Arkansas: The LEARNS Act (Act 237 of 2023) requires classroom teachers to be paid a minimum base salary of $50,000 beginning in 2023-24, according to an Arkansas Department of Education memo. NEA's 2024-25 Arkansas average start was $50,076, just $76 above that floor.
- Iowa: House File 2612 raised the minimum to $47,500 in 2024-25 from $33,500, NEA reported, and to $50,000 for 2025-26, according to the Iowa Department of Education. Iowa's average start jumped 17.4%, from $40,997 to $48,139, the largest one-year increase of any state in NEA's table.
- South Carolina: The state minimum for a new teacher was $47,000 in 2024-25, NEA reported. The state's budget sets the minimum for a new teacher with a bachelor's degree at $48,500 for 2025-26 and $50,500 for 2026-27.
- Tennessee: The minimum rose to $50,000 for 2026-27, a $3,000 increase from $47,000, the Tennessee State Board of Education said. The board estimated about 9,632 educators would be affected.
- Missouri: State law set the minimum teacher salary at $25,000 through 2024-25 and $40,000 starting in 2025-26. Missouri ranked 49th in NEA's 2024-25 data at $40,682.
NEA's 2024-25 figures came before the newer minimums in Iowa, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Missouri took effect. NEA said these floor-raising policies have made starting salaries grow faster than pay for mid- and late-career teachers, and it cautioned against raising minimums "without also raising salaries for more experienced teachers or teachers with advanced degrees." In Iowa, the average top salary rose 4.6% in 2024-25, about a quarter of the 17.4% jump in starting pay, NEA reported.
Arizona was the only state where the average starting salary fell in 2024-25. It dropped 2.7%, from $46,128 to $44,869, moving Arizona from 23rd to 39th.
Sources
National Education Association: Starting Teacher Pay
National Education Association: 2024-2025 Teacher Salary Benchmark Report (PDF)
National Education Association: Educator Pay and Student Spending, How Does Your State Rank?
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis: Real Personal Consumption Expenditures by State and Real Personal Income by State, 2024
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis: Regional Price Parities by State and Metro Area
Arkansas Department of Education: LEARNS Teacher Minimum Salary and Raise Fund (FIN-23-041)
Iowa Department of Education: HF 2612 Implementation FAQs
South Carolina General Assembly: Budget for FY 2025-2026, Part IB, Ratified Version
South Carolina General Assembly: Budget for FY 2026-2027, Part IB, Ratified Version
Tennessee State Board of Education: State Minimum Salary Schedule for Fiscal Year 2026-27
Missouri Revisor of Statutes: Section 163.172, Minimum Teacher's Salary
