Where Do Teachers Do Well?

What is the best state in the U.S. for teachers in terms of pay? And how does that compare to the average worker?

Political Calculations latest ranking table seeks to help you find the answer to these questions, along with how your home state might compare with others, and even goes so far as to show how the average teacher's pay compares to that of the average worker in a given state! The data is taken from the most recent data released by the American Federation of Teachers (available as a 480KB PDF document).

The data below is presented in a dynamic table format, which means that you can sort the data from low to high, or high to low by clicking the column headings. Go ahead – you know you want to see who comes out on top!

2003 Average Teachers', Workers' Earnings

State	2003 Average Teachers' Earnings	2003 Average Workers' Earnings	Ratio of Teachers' to Workers' Earnings (%)
Alabama	38,282	31,567	121
Alaska	51,136	36,504	140
Arizona	42,624	34,602	123
Arkansas	39,226	28,494	138
California	56,444	41,864	135
Colorado	43,318	38,891	111
Connecticut	56,516	48,935	115
Delaware	51,122	40,884	125
Dist. of Columbia	62,909	57,914	109
Florida	40,598	32,915	123
Georgia	45,848	36,863	124
Hawaii	45,456	31,974	142
Idaho	40,111	28,272	142
Illinois	53,820	40,574	133
Indiana	45,791	33,395	137
Iowa	38,381	30,220	127
Kansas	38,622	31,794	121
Kentucky	39,831	31,658	126
Louisiana	37,123	30,615	121
Maine	39,864	30,229	132
Maryland	50,303	39,155	128
Massachusetts	53,274	46,569	114
Michigan	54,474	39,484	138
Minnesota	45,010	38,693	116
Mississippi	36,217	27,138	133
Missouri	38,247	33,944	113
Montana	37,184	25,659	145
Nebraska	39,635	29,924	132
Nevada	43,211	34,320	126
New Hampshire	42,689	37,685	113
New Jersey	53,663	45,981	117
New Mexico	38,469	28,941	133
New York	55,181	47,902	115
North Carolina	43,211	33,313	130
North Dakota	35,411	27,197	130
Ohio	47,791	34,607	138
Oklahoma	35,061	29,264	120
Oregon	47,829	33,819	141
Pennsylvania	52,640	36,483	144
Rhode Island	54,809	34,865	157
South Carolina	41,162	30,241	136
South Dakota	33,236	26,751	124
Tennessee	40,318	33,495	120
Texas	40,476	37,442	108
Utah	38,976	30,522	128
Vermont	43,009	31,572	136
Virginia	43,936	38,142	115
Washington	45,437	38,673	117
West Virginia	38,496	28,359	136
Wisconsin	41,687	32,998	126
Wyoming	39,537	29,148	136
U.S. Average	46,597	37,765	123

All data in the table above, with the exception of the average worker's earnings for the District of Columbia, are taken from the American Federation of Teachers' salary survey report. The average District of Columbia worker’s earnings were taken from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data for 2002.

All in all, not bad for a profession that typically only works some 180 days of the year, compared to 260 days for a typical full-time worker!