Bucks County tops the state in average teacher salary, as nearly half of Pennsylvania counties lag behind the national average, according to data from the National Education Association and the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
Teacher salaries across the country rose about 4.1% to $69,544 in the 2022-2023 school year, while salaries are expected to rise about 3.1% to about $71,699 in the 2023-2024 school year, according to a report of April from the NEA.
Despite that increase, the average teacher, adjusted for inflation, is earning about 5% less than five years ago, and most school districts have starting salaries of less than $50,000, according to the NEA.
“As many as 77% of U.S. school districts still pay starting salaries of less than $50,000 (28.6% start as teachers with less than $40,000), while only 16.6% of districts have teacher salaries above $100,000,” the report adds.
Pennsylvania ranks 11th in the nation with an average teacher salary of about $74,945 for the previous school year, according to the NEA.
View last year’s salary data: Bucks County ranks high for average teacher salary. View salaries in your area
Education department salary statements for the 2023-2024 school year show that Bucks County school districts paid classroom teachers an average salary of about $93,944, the highest of any county in the state. Montgomery County was close behind with an average teacher salary of $93,790 and Allegheny County ranked third with an average salary of $86,405.
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Although every county in the state has an average teacher salary above the NEA’s $50,000 benchmark for “low pay,” five Pennsylvania school districts do not meet that figure: the Blacklick and Conemaugh Valley school districts in Cambria County; and the North Star, Salisbury-Elk Lick and Turkeyfoot Valley Area school districts in Somerset County.
In just 1% of Pennsylvania’s 500 school districts, teachers receive an average of more than $100,000 per year. New Hope-Solebury, Bucks County, tops those nine school districts with an average wage of $111,968, followed by Lower Merion ($110,695) and Upper Dublin ($107,829) in Montgomery County.
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Philadelphia City School District ranks 108th in the state with an average salary of $82,151. With an average salary of $92,454, Central Bucks, the state’s third largest district, ranks 26th in average teacher salary.
Search the database below to see how your Pennsylvania school district ranks for average salary in the state.
Data used for this story includes the Education Department’s summary staff salary report for the 2023-2024 school year. The data shows the average salary for administrators, teachers and other staff for every public school district, charter school and technical school in the state as of Oct. 1, 2023.
This story focused only on teacher salaries in public school districts. The average salaries of the provinces were calculated using a weighted average based on the average salaries and the total number of teachers reported in the data per province.
Chris Ullery is the Philadelphia Hub Data Reporter for the USA Today Network. Reach him at cullery@couriertimes.com or find him on Twitter at @ulleryatinell.
This article originally appeared in Bucks County Courier Times: Teacher pay in PA ranks 11th in the nation, Bucks County tops
