Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2013 | 2 a.m.
Nevada school teachers get paid slightly below the national average, according to a DePaul University professor’s analysis.
Top 10 states (including D.C.), with highest annual teacher salaries
1. New York: $75,279
2. Massachusetts: $73,129
3. Washington, D.C.: $70,906
4. Connecticut: $69,766
5. California: $69,324
6. New Jersey: $68,797
7. Alaska: $65,468
8. Maryland: $65,265
9. Pennsylvania: $63,521
10. Rhode Island: $63,474
Bottom 10 states, with lowest annual teacher salaries
42. Kansas: $47,464
43. North Dakota: $47,344
44. Florida: $46,944
45. Arkansas: $46,632
46. New Mexico: $46,573
47. West Virginia: $46,405
48. North Carolina: $45,947
49. Oklahoma: $44,128
50. Mississippi: $41,994
51. South Dakota: $39,580
Sun coverage
The National Center for Education Statistics recently released estimated average annual salaries for public school teachers in 50 states and Washington, D.C.
Some caveats: The federal report does not account for differences in cost of living, average teacher tenure and benefits, such as pensions. The report also does not differentiate between states with various collective bargaining rules.
The average annual salary for a Nevada schoolteacher is estimated to be $55,957, about $400 below the national average, according to the federal data. The average American public school teacher makes $56,383 a year.
In the Clark County School District, the average teacher makes $66,000 a year, including benefits, according to the district. Salaries for first-year teachers start around $35,000 and top out around $71,000 for a veteran teacher with a Ph.D. and advanced certification.
Nevada has the 18th highest average teacher salary, according to an analysis by Jon Boeckenstedt, associate vice president at DePaul University in Chicago.
Public school teachers in New York are paid the highest — pulling in on average $75,279. Teachers in South Dakota make the least — making on average just $39,580, according to the professor’s research.
Teacher salaries in Nevada have gone up modestly over the past 13 years, increasing by 3.8 percent since the 1999-2000 school year, according to the federal report.
Wyoming had the biggest increase in public teachers’ salaries — jumping by 24 percent to $57,920. North Carolina had the sharpest decline in teacher salaries — dropping by nearly 15 percent to $45,947.
Nevada paid its teachers more than the national average up until around the 1989-1990 school year, according to the federal report. In the 1969-1970 school year, the average teacher in Nevada made the equivalent of $56,543 in today’s dollars — $3,614 more than the national average.
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