Newsweek has put together a map, below, to show the best and worst states to be a teacher in 2025.
The best states for teachers are Virginia, Utah, Washington, New York and Illinois, according to a new analysis by WalletHub, a personal finance website. The worst states are South Dakota, New Hampshire, Maine, Montana and Hawaii.
Why It Matters
Research shows that teaching is among the lowest-paid jobs requiring a college degree, with average teacher salaries failing to keep up with inflation. Many teachers have cited low pay as a major reason they are leaving the profession.
What To Know
To determine the “teacher-friendliest” states in the United States, WalletHub compared all 50 states and the District of Columbia on two dozen metrics graded on a 100-point scale in two categories: Opportunity & Competition and Academic & Work Environment.
Important metrics determining the top states for teachers included ones about pay, job security, quality of the school system and teacher turnover rates. Some metrics—including ones about the average starting salary for teachers and teachers’ income growth potential—were assigned a heavier weight.
Virginia is best state for teachers, according to WalletHub’s ranking, despite ranking 14th in the nation for the average starting salary for teachers ($47,466) and 21st for the average teacher salary in general ($64,691) because educators “can end up seeing big gains throughout the course of their careers” and demand for teachers is also growing. The state also offers teachers tenure after just three years.
The analysis determined that Utah had the second-highest average annual starting salary after adjusting for the cost of living and that teachers there had the second-best 10-year change in salaries, with incomes increasing by 50 percent over the past decade.
Washington, which ranked third, saw the best change in teacher salaries over the past decade, with an increase of more than 75 percent, according to the analysis. The state has the second-highest average annual salary after adjusting for the cost of living, at $79,744 and the fourth-highest average starting salary at $50,369.
According to WalletHub’s ranking, the top 20 states for teachers in 2025 are:
1. Virginia
2. Utah
3. Washington
4. New York
5. Illinois
6. Maryland
7. Georgia
8. Minnesota
9. Massachusetts
10. California
11. New Jersey
12. Connecticut
13. Indiana
14. Florida
15. Arizona
16. Pennsylvania
17. Delaware
18. Mississippi
19. Idaho
20. Kentucky
The worst 20 states for teachers in 2025, per WalletHub:
1. Hawaii
2. Montana
3. Maine
4. New Hampshire
5. South Dakota
6. Wyoming
7. Alaska
8. Missouri
9. Iowa
10. Rhode Island
11. Ohio
12. Nebraska
13. Tennessee
14. Louisiana
15. New Mexico
16. West Virginia
17. Kansas
18. District of Columbia
19. Nevada
20. North Dakota
What People Are Saying
Chip Lupo, a WalletHub analyst, said: “Despite having one of the most crucial jobs in America—educating the next generation—teachers are often underpaid and underappreciated.
“The states that make a teaching career the most rewarding are those that compensate educators well, invest heavily in educational resources, pass laws that improve school-system quality, and provide supportive conditions that lead to low turnover.”