Teaching Salaries & Salary Outlook

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If you are thinking about starting a teaching degree program, you may be interested to know that 479,000 teaching openings are projected for grades preschool through high school between 2006 and 2016–and that’s without special and vocational education positions.

Demand for teachers follows enrollment. States in the southern and western parts of the country are expected to see an increase in demand, while states in the Northeast are expected to see a decline, as projected by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) over the 2006 to 2016 decade. California leads with almost half-a-million teachers, followed by Texas, Florida, New York, and Illinois.

Teaching Degrees: You’ve Got to Learn to Teach

To work in public schools, you must must be licensed by the state in which you’ll be teaching. Requirements vary from state to state–even from school district to school district–but generally a bachelor’s degree, supervised classroom experience (typically called student teaching), and passing a standardized exam are mandatory. For some hard to fill positions, temporary waivers may be made, but eventually, all conditions must be satisfied. Private schools may be exempt from state licensure, but they usually require at least a bachelor’s degree.

Teaching Salaries: Take Your Degree on the Road

If you’re willing to move to new area once you’ve earned that teaching degree, it’s helpful to know where the best paying teaching jobs are to be found. Here’s a summary of the states that pay the best salaries, both public and private sector, (from the 2008 BLS salary reports) based on grade level, in descending order:
Preschool teachers:

1. District of Columbia
2. New Jersey
3. New York
4. Michigan
5. Massachusetts

Mean wages in these states range between $34,580 to $30, 690 respectively, or on the low end of the range, more than 15 percent above the national mean of $26,610.

Kindergarten teachers:
1. New York
2. Rhode Island
3. Connecticut
4. New Jersey
5. California

Mean wages in these states range between $65,730 to $56,540 respectively, or on the low end of the range, more than 14 percent above the national mean of $49,770.

Elementary school teachers:
1. Rhode Island
2. New York
3. Connecticut
4. California
5. New Jersey

Mean wages in these states range between $66,790 to $60,060 respectively or, on the low end of the range, more than 15 percent above the national mean of $52,240.

Middle school teachers:
1. New York
2. Connecticut
3. Rhode Island
4. California
5. New Jersey

Mean wages in these states range between $66,220 to $60,800 respectively or, on the low end of the range, more than 15 percent above the national mean of $52,570.

High school teachers:
1. Illinois
2. New York
3. Connecticut
4. California
5. New Jersey

Mean wages in these states range between $69,830 to $63,720 respectively or, on the low end of the range, more than 17 percent above the national mean of $54, 390.

For teaching, as with most other occupations, pay is based on a number of factors including working conditions, number of hours worked, supply and demand, and cost of living. So, although it is helpful to know where the best paying jobs are, and how much they pay, don’t forget to take all factors into consideration, especially for a job that requires a state license.

Lorraine Watkins
Lorraine Watkins is a business writer and a regular contributor to business and education websites. She is a graduate of California State University, East Bay with an MA in English.

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