Skip Navigation
Digest of Education Statistics
2022 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 211.45.Average base salary for full-time teachers in public elementary and secondary schools, by highest degree earned and school locale: School year 2020-21
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
School locale Percent of teachers who were regular full-time teachers Highest degree earned
All teachers1 Bachelor's
degree
Master's degree Education
specialist2
Doctor's degree
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
   Total  94.0   (0.15) $61,600   (201) $52,540   (187) $66,960   (249) $70,480   (466) $71,280   (1,116)
City 94.0   (0.30) 63,460   (376) 54,310   (368) 68,290   (435) 73,940   (941) 70,290   (2,007)
Suburban 93.9   (0.27) 66,930   (328) 55,960   (334) 72,200   (401) 75,100   (619) 78,990   (1,582)
Town 94.1   (0.41) 54,260   (406) 49,100   (497) 58,220   (495) 62,020   (940) 55,290   (1,965)
Rural 94.0   (0.31) 53,750   (337) 47,930   (332) 58,670   (493) 59,520   (759) 60,780   (2,283)
1Includes teachers with levels of education below the bachelor's degree (not shown separately).
2Education specialist degrees or certificates are generally awarded for 1 year's work beyond the master's level. Includes certificate of advanced graduate studies.
NOTE: This table includes regular full-time teachers only; it excludes other staff even when they have full-time teaching duties (regular part-time teachers, itinerant teachers, long-term substitutes, administrators, library media specialists, other professional staff, and support staff). Teachers' base salary does not include any supplemental contracts for additional work at a school during the school year (e.g., coaching) or during the summer (e.g., teaching summer sessions). Also does not include any income from nonschool sources.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), "Public School Teacher Data File," 2020-21. (This table was prepared July 2023.)

2022 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest