Governance
California ranks at top of nation for educator salaries
Teachers in states with union representation earned an average of 24 percent more than those without
A new National Education Association (NEA) evaluation of teacher pay and state spending on education in the United States shows California is far ahead of the curve in advancing teacher pay. The state ranks number one in the nation for average teacher salary in 2023–24 at $101,084 and second in average teacher starting salary at $58,409. Compared to other college-educated professionals with similar experience, there is an 80-cent wage gap.

The national average public school teacher salary in 2023–24 increased 3.8 percent from the previous year to $72,030 and is projected to grow a further 3 percent in 2024–25. The national average beginning teacher salary was $46,526. At 4.4 percent, the increase in the average starting salary was the largest in the 15 years that NEA has been tracking teacher salary benchmarks. However, accounting for inflation over the past 16 years, adjusted starting salaries are now $3,728 below 2008–09 and teachers are making 5 percent less than they did 10 years ago.

On average, teachers in states with union representation and collective bargaining earned 24 percent more than their colleagues without such representation. The average salary for a teacher in a union-represented position was $77,561 versus $64,325 for those not represented.

For new teacher pay, the percentage of school districts with a starting salary of at least $50,000 increased significantly from 2023–24, from 23.2 percent to 30 percent. Almost 30 percent of school districts have a top teacher salary of at least $100,000; 8 percent have a top teacher salary below $60,000. Over 96 percent of school districts with teacher salaries that top $100,000 are in states with a collective bargaining law.

Other report highlights
In fall 2023, U.S. public schools enrolled 48,979,804 students, a decrease of 0.2 percent from fall 2022 with the greatest declines in West Virginia (-2 percent), New Mexico (-1.9 percent) and Arizona (-1.5 percent). The average daily attendance (ADA) of students decreased by 0.3 percent nationwide, from 45,255,348 in 2022–23 to 45,101,472 in 2023–24. California’s ADA has held steady over the last two years, ranking 32 out of all states and the District of Colombia.

For per-pupil spending, the national average in 2023–24 based on fall enrollment was $16,990, a gain of 2.7 percent from $16,546 in 2022–23. The following had the highest per-student expenditures: New York ($31,514), Vermont ($28,697) and the District of Columbia ($27,905). Idaho ($9,942), Utah ($11,289) and Oklahoma ($11,311) had the lowest per-student expenditures. California ranks 17th in the country, spending $18,969 per student. While spending rose from $18,325 in 2022–23, California still fell in ranking by one spot.

The top five states with the most school districts are Texas with 1,209, followed by California with 1,018, Illinois with 852, Michigan with 832 and Pennsylvania with 787. For enrollment, California tops the list with 5,837,690 students, followed by Texas with 5,531,236; Florida with 2,872,320; New York with 2,404,319; and Illinois with 853,391.

California ranks number five in the nation for average salaries of education support professionals (ESPs) at $41,013. Among ESPs working full time, the average earnings in 2023–24 was $34,954. In states where there are bargaining laws covering ESPs, average earnings were $38,554. In states that do not have a bargaining law but where bargaining may take place, the average ESP earnings was $34,623. In states where bargaining is prohibited, the average ESP earnings was $35,879.

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