Trends in Teacher Salaries over the Last Decade

One would think that with the increase in demands of educators over the last ten years, the salaries of these individuals would increase proportionally.  Not so in the state of Maryland.

The scatterplot below illustrates the salaries in each state (1989-89, 1998-99).  The points falling in the upper right-hand corner illustrate the states that value educators.

The state of Maryland ranks 48th in the country with respect to the percent increase in teacher salaries over the last 10 years, with an average increase of only 25.5%.  Number 1 ranked New Jersey has increased the average teacher salary by 57.3%.  No wonder Maryland has had such a shortage of new teachers!  The national average percent increase in teacher salaries is 36.9%, over 11% higher than the increase in Maryland!
 


 
Average
 Salary
 State 1988-1989 1998-1999 Percent Change Rank
New Jersey 32,862 51,692  57.30%  1
West Virginia 21,904 34,248 56.40% 2
Pennsylvania 31,248 48,457 55.10% 3
Arkansas 21,736 32,761 50.70% 4
Idaho 22,732 34,062 49.80% 5
Oregon 29,385 43,789 49.00% 6
Utah  23,023 34,007 47.70% 7
Nevada 28,836 42,528 47.50% 8
Illinois 31,195 45,286 45.20% 9
Georgia 26,920 38,993 44.80% 10
North Carolina 25,650 36,883 43.80% 11
Louisiana  22,469 32,000 42.40% 12
Alabama 25,190 35,820 42.20% 13
Kentucky  24,920 35,383 42.00% 14
Indiana 29,169 41,159 41.10% 15
New Hampshire 26,703 37,405 40.10% 16
Maine 24,938 34,906 40.00% 17
Ohio 29,166 40,734 39.70% 18
Tennessee 25,619 35,490 38.50% 19
South Dakota 20,525 28,386 38.30% 20
Nebraska 23,845 32,880 37.90% 21
South Carolina 25,060 34,506 37.70% 22
Michigan 35,530 48,711 37.10% 23
Delaware 31,585 43,223 36.80% 24
Vermont 26,819 36,697 36.80% 25
Massachusetts 32,200 44,051 36.80% 26
New York 36,654 49,686 35.60% 27
Iowa 25,884 35,007 35.20% 28
Rhode Island 34,234 46,286 35.20% 29
Connecticut 37,659 50,277 33.50% 30
Kansas 25,992 34,634 33.20% 31
Florida 26,971 35,916 33.20% 32
Oklahoma 23,400 31,107 32.90% 33
Washington 29,146 38,530 32.20% 34
California 35,172 46,326 31.70% 35
District of Columbia 36,787 48,275 31.20% 36
New Mexico 24,554 32,161 31.00% 37
Mississippi 22,579 29,550 30.90% 38
North Dakota 22,249 29,002 30.40% 39
Texas 26,513 34,448 29.90% 40
Virginia 29,056 37,709 29.80% 41
Montana 24,421 31,536 29.10% 42
Colorado 29,557 38,157 29.10% 43
Hawaii 31,307 40,416 29.10% 44
Missouri 25,981 33,463 28.80% 45
Wisconsin 31,046 39,374 26.80% 46
Minnesota 31,395 39,809 26.80% 47
Maryland 33,900 42,545 25.50% 48
Arizona 28,499 34,582 21.30% 49
Wyoming 27,689 33,480 20.90% 50
Alaska 41,832 48,275 15.40% 51
source: American Federation of Teachers
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