Smart money: What teachers make, how long it takes and what it buys them

Nancy Waymack, Nithya Joseph

What teachers are paid matters. Many factors play a role in making the decision to become a teacher, but for many people compensation heavily influences the decision not only to enter the profession but also whether to stay in it and when to leave. For teachers, knowing where salaries start and end isn't enough; they must also understand the path they will take from starting salary to the top of the scale.

Read our statement on revised rankings here.

See an interactive map of lifetime earnings in all 113 districts here (revised 12/5/2014).

See our Smart Money infographic below: