Teachers are some of the most important people in Minnesota and the country, as they play a vital role in shaping young minds. Unfortunately, as rewarding a career as it can be, teachers are too often overworked and underpaid.
Statistics show that education jobs are among the lowest-paying occupations that require a bachelor’s degree, and teacher salaries consistently fail to keep pace with inflation.
Shockingly, teachers earn an average of $3,728 less per year than they did 16 years ago, when inflation is taken into account.
However, when it comes to the compensation and treatment of teachers, not all states are created equal. If you or someone you know has a career in education, or is looking to start one, then you’ll want to check out the results of a recent study to determine the best and worst states for teachers in America. Thankfully, Minnesota ranked well.
Finding The Best And Worst States For Teachers
To determine the teacher-friendliest states in the U.S., the team at WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across two key dimensions, “Opportunity & Competition” and “Academic & Work Environment.”
A heavier weight was assigned to the first category due to the fact that competitive salaries and job security are integral to a well-balanced personal and professional life.
Then, an evaluation was done on two dimensions using 24 relevant metrics, including things like average starting salary for teachers, average salary overall, income growth potential, average pension, length of time before tenure kicks in, and more.
SEE NOW: Items People Are Now Prohibited From Bringing Into US Bank Stadium In Minnesota
Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for living and working as a teacher.
Is Minnesota A Teacher-Friendly State?
Once all the data was analyzed and the numbers were crunched, good news arrived for those looking to teach in The Land of 10,000 Lakes. Minnesota ranked as the 8th best state for teachers in America.
Here were the Top 10 Best States For Teachers
Virginia
Utah
Washington
New York
Illinois
Maryland
Georgia
Minnesota
Massachusetts
California
If you’re wondering what the worst states for teachers currently are, the bottom three are Maine, Montana, and Hawaii.