FL Teacher Pay Lowest In The U.S. For The Third Year In A Row: Study

For the third year in a row, teachers in Florida have the lowest salary in the U.S., according to a new study from the National Education Association.

With Florida ranking No. 50 for educator pay, California took the No. 1 spot with an average teacher salary of $103,552, data from the labor union shows. The national average teacher salary is $74,495.

Patch has reached out to the state’s Department of Education for comment. This story will be updated if the department responds.

Though average teacher pay in the Sunshine State increased to $56,663 in the 2025-26 school year — a 3.3 percent jump over the year prior — it still lags behind all other states and isn’t keeping pace with inflation, the study shows.

“Over the last decade, the average teacher salary actually fell 12.4 [percent], when adjusted for inflation, while Florida’s average teacher salary rankings have fallen from 47th to almost dead last in the nation,” the Florida Education Association said in a news release. “Meanwhile, education staff professionals, who are essential to school operations, are even worse off, earning just $34,645 on average — well below Florida’s living wage of $63,853 for a family of one adult and one child to have a modest but adequate standard of living.”

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The average teacher starting salary in Florida is $49,435 ranking at No. 19 in the U.S. The national average starting teacher salary is $48,112.

FEA president Andrew Spar knows first-hand how teacher pay can affect local schools and students.

“In the past five years, my daughter has had her full roster of teachers for an entire school year only once. In 7th grade, she went half a year without a science teacher after hers left midyear. In 8th grade, she had no dance teacher during her final quarter of the year, and in 9th grade, she spent the first ten weeks without an English teacher. This year, her anatomy teacher left mid-year, and it took more than six weeks to find a replacement,” he said. “These incidents are a disruption to her learning and, unfortunately, they’ve become the norm for far too many students across Florida. When public dollars are diverted away from public schools, and teachers can’t afford to stay in the profession, it’s students who lose. Public schools have been forced to cut essential services, lay off teachers and staff, and increase class sizes, all of which put students last.”