High School Teacher Salary in 2027: Pay by State and Experience

How Much Does a High School Teacher Make in 2027?

A high school teacher makes a median of $72,040 a year in 2027, or about $34.63 an hour, on the May 2025 federal wage survey. The salary range runs from $48,780 at the 10th percentile to $107,600 at the 90th, with median pay of $72,040 between them.

High school teachers earn a median of $72,040 a year, and half of the roughly 1,065,210 secondary teachers in the country earn more than that. The BLS lists an hourly figure of $34.63, but it should be read with care because most teachers are salaried on a contract covering the school year, typically nine or ten months, not a full twelve. The annual figure already reflects that calendar, which is one reason many teachers take summer jobs or teach summer school to add income. The mean of $76,320 sits above the median, a sign that the high end pulls the average up.

The gap of $58,820 between the lowest-paid and highest-paid tenth is driven mostly by geography and years of service, because public school pay usually follows a schedule that rises automatically with each year worked and each level of education completed. Reaching the top is rarely about one raise. It is the accumulation of steps over a long career, a master's degree or extra graduate credits that move the teacher to a higher lane and a high-paying state or metropolitan district. Extra-duty pay for coaching, advising or department leadership adds to the base but is usually modest.

Which States Pay High School Teachers the Most in 2027?

High school teachers earn the most in Washington, at $102,670, and the least in Oklahoma, at $48,710, across 50 states and the District of Columbia in the May 2025 survey.

Few things move a high school teacher's pay as much as the state line. Among the states and the District of Columbia, high school teachers earn the most in Washington at $102,670, California at $101,370, New York at $97,070, Massachusetts at $95,260, Rhode Island at $92,610 and the District of Columbia at $82,750. The lowest medians are in Oklahoma at $48,710, Mississippi at $50,980, South Dakota at $51,050 and West Virginia at $56,610, close to a two-to-one distance, so identical credentials and years of experience can produce very different paychecks across a state line.

The catch is cost of living. The states that pay most, on the coasts and in the Northeast, also tend to have the highest housing costs, so a $102,670 salary in Washington does not stretch as far as the raw number suggests, and a lower nominal salary in a low-cost state can leave a teacher with comparable or better buying power. Anyone weighing a move for pay should set local rent or mortgage costs and state taxes beside the salary schedule and not the headline median alone.

The survey also reports Guam at $62,860 and Virgin Islands at $59,520 and Puerto Rico at $59,100 for high school teachers, but Guam and Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico are territories, not states, so they sit outside the ranking above.

How Does a High School Teacher's Salary Change With Experience?

A high school teacher's salary rises steadily with time on the job, and the percentile bands map roughly onto career stage. A first-year teacher usually starts near the bottom of the district schedule, in the neighborhood of the $48,780 that marks the lowest-paid tenth, sometimes lower in a low-paying state. By mid-career, often with a master's degree, a teacher typically earns nearer the $72,040 median. Veterans at the top of the schedule, after decades of service and with advanced credits, reach toward the $107,600 that marks the top tenth, especially in high-paying states.

Most of this movement is automatic instead of negotiated, which is unusual among careers. Public districts publish a step-and-lane schedule, where the step is the number of years taught and the lane is the level of education completed. Two teachers with the same years and the same degree are paid the same, and raises come from advancing on the grid and not from asking a boss. The trade-off is that the ceiling is fixed by the top of the schedule, so a teacher who wants to earn well beyond it generally has to change districts, change states or move into a role such as instructional coordinator or administration.

How Does a High School Teacher's Pay Compare With Other Education Careers?

High school teachers rank 4th of the 8 education careers we cover by median pay, the highest of the classroom roles. The $72,040 median is above the $63,970 for elementary school teachers and the $65,120 for special education teachers, and below the $77,440 for instructional coordinators, the step many teachers take to leave the classroom while staying in instruction.

What Do Salary Websites Say a High School Teacher Earns?

Private salary sites put a high school teacher's pay between $55,100 at Salary.com and $67,765 at Glassdoor. All five figures sit below the BLS median of $72,040. The sites gather pay differently, from job postings to self-reported salaries, and the highest of them is labeled median total pay, which counts bonuses and extra pay alongside the base salary.

What Drives a High School Teacher's Pay?

A high school teacher's pay is driven first by sector and district. Public schools employ the large majority of high school teachers, about 81 percent according to the BLS, and pay on transparent schedules, with stronger salaries, pensions and union protections, while private and religious schools set pay individually and often pay less, though some well-funded independent schools compete and offer smaller classes and sometimes housing. Large suburban and urban districts in the high-paying coastal and Northeastern states tend to have the highest schedules and deepest benefits, and small rural districts often pay near the bottom while asking teachers to cover several subjects.

Subject and assignment matter too. Many states struggle to staff math, science, world languages and special education, so teachers in those fields sometimes get signing bonuses or stipends and more hiring leverage, while teachers in fields with a larger candidate pool compete harder for the same openings. The base schedule is usually the same for every subject, so the difference shows up in bonuses and in how quickly someone lands a permanent job.

How Can a High School Teacher Earn More?

A high school teacher can raise a salary by earning a master's degree, adding a high-need endorsement, pursuing National Board Certification, moving into leadership or coordination or changing districts or states.

• Earn a Master's Degree. Moving into a higher lane on the salary schedule is the most reliable raise open to a public school teacher. A master's in a content area, in curriculum and instruction or in educational leadership permanently shifts a teacher to a higher pay lane, and the increase compounds over every remaining year of the career.
• Add a High-Need Endorsement. An endorsement in a shortage field such as mathematics, science, special education, English as a second language or a world language makes a teacher eligible for more positions and, in many districts, for stipends or hiring bonuses, and it increases mobility between schools and states.
• Pursue National Board Certification. The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards offers an advanced certification that many states and districts reward with an annual supplement or a bump on the schedule. The process is demanding, but the increase recurs for as long as the certificate is maintained.
• Move Into Leadership or Coordination. Department chair, instructional coach, dean and instructional coordinator roles add stipends or a higher salary line, and they are the usual first step toward assistant principal and principal jobs, which pay well above the teaching schedule but require an administrator license and usually a master's in educational leadership.
• Change Districts or States. Pay is set by local schedules, so moving from a state near $48,710 in Oklahoma to one near $102,670 in Washington can raise a salary substantially for the same work. Weigh the higher schedule against the higher living costs before moving.

The degree behind the lane change is covered in the high school teacher career guide, and the secondary education ranking compares the fully online programs.