Pay for elementary school teachers is unusually consistent across the country: $46,140 at the bottom of the range, $104,650 at the top, a spread of only 2.27×. Where you work matters less for this role than it does for most — which usually points to pay being set by structure (scales, licensure, collective agreements) rather than local bidding.
Ten per cent of elementary school teachers earn below $47,960 and ten per cent above $104,340 — a 2.18× band. The upside from median to 90th percentile is 63%, which is a normal amount of room for experience and specialisation to matter. An offer below the 25th percentile is worth questioning; one above the 75th is worth taking seriously.
5 of the ten best-paying metros for elementary school teachers are in WA. When one state dominates the top of the table like this, cost of living is doing part of the work but rarely all of it — state licensing rules, public-sector pay scales and the presence of a few large employers usually explain the rest. If you are comparing an offer in WA against one elsewhere, adjust for housing before concluding anything.
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater WA | $104,650 | — | 0.81 | 950 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom CA | $103,390 | — | 1.09 | 10,480 |
| Walla Walla WA | $102,980 | — | 0.94 | 220 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue WA | $102,920 | — | 0.78 | 14,560 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara CA | $102,860 | — | 0.77 | 7,810 |
| Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard WA | $102,650 | — | 1.07 | 900 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim CA | $101,860 | — | 0.8 | 44,790 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont CA | $101,860 | — | 0.84 | 17,860 |
| Modesto CA | $101,640 | — | 1.4 | 2,450 |
| Bellingham WA | $101,230 | — | 0.97 | 790 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara CA | $101,030 | — | 1.21 | 2,170 |
| Western Washington nonmetropolitan area | $100,920 | — | 1.23 | 1,430 |
| Vallejo CA | $100,790 | — | 1.3 | 1,680 |
| Mount Vernon-Anacortes WA | $100,730 | — | 1.07 | 500 |
| Napa CA | $100,410 | — | 0.82 | 570 |
| El Centro CA | $100,390 | — | 1.48 | 860 |
| Kennewick-Richland WA | $100,380 | — | 1.22 | 1,410 |
| Wenatchee-East Wenatchee WA | $100,340 | — | 1.11 | 510 |
| Barnstable Town MA | $100,320 | — | 0.97 | 810 |
| Salinas CA | $100,220 | — | 1.37 | 2,280 |
| Merced CA | $100,120 | — | 2.19 | 1,560 |
| Massachusetts nonmetropolitan area | $99,490 | — | 1.33 | 490 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura CA | $99,420 | — | 1.06 | 3,060 |
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville CA | $99,260 | — | 1.14 | 1,000 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma CA | $99,060 | — | 1.19 | 2,180 |
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Missouri nonmetropolitan area | $46,140 | — | 2.02 | 1,440 |
| Lake Havasu City-Kingman AZ | $46,460 | — | 1.03 | 520 |
| Enid OK | $46,840 | — | 1.33 | 280 |
| Southwest Oklahoma nonmetropolitan area | $46,870 | — | 1.83 | 1,020 |
| Cape Girardeau MO-IL | $47,100 | — | 2.58 | 1,030 |
| Southeast Missouri nonmetropolitan area | $47,160 | — | 2.18 | 3,200 |
| Tucson AZ | $47,220 | — | 1.01 | 3,530 |
| Central Louisiana nonmetropolitan area | $47,280 | — | 1.9 | 1,320 |
| Lawton OK | $47,330 | — | 1.19 | 450 |
| North Missouri nonmetropolitan area | $47,330 | — | 2.26 | 2,140 |
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Florida nonmetropolitan area | $63,050 | — | 2.97 | 2,990 |
| Cape Girardeau MO-IL | $47,100 | — | 2.58 | 1,030 |
| Slidell-Mandeville-Covington LA | $59,850 | — | 2.37 | 2,080 |
| East-Central Montana nonmetropolitan area | $50,690 | — | 2.37 | 1,280 |
| North Missouri nonmetropolitan area | $47,330 | — | 2.26 | 2,140 |
| Northeastern South Carolina nonmetropolitan area | $60,750 | — | 2.2 | 1,510 |
| Merced CA | $100,120 | — | 2.19 | 1,560 |
| Hanford-Corcoran CA | $98,470 | — | 2.18 | 950 |
| Southeast Missouri nonmetropolitan area | $47,160 | — | 2.18 | 3,200 |
| Jacksonville NC | $48,370 | — | 2.13 | 1,000 |
| East Kentucky nonmetropolitan area | $59,130 | — | 2.04 | 1,680 |
| Southwest Missouri nonmetropolitan area | $46,140 | — | 2.02 | 1,440 |
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York-Newark-Jersey City NY-NJ | $96,900 | — | 1.17 | 98,900 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin IL-IN | $78,390 | — | 1.14 | 45,840 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim CA | $101,860 | — | 0.8 | 44,790 |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands TX | $64,500 | — | 1.05 | 30,980 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria DC-VA-MD-WV | $79,470 | — | 1.1 | 30,940 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington TX | $65,070 | — | 0.76 | 27,350 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington PA-NJ-DE-MD | $78,570 | — | 0.9 | 23,380 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell GA | $76,570 | — | 0.91 | 23,370 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton MA-NH | $98,060 | — | 0.84 | 20,340 |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach FL | $58,300 | — | 0.79 | 19,910 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario CA | $98,520 | — | 1.23 | 18,850 |
| Detroit-Warren-Dearborn MI | $65,210 | — | 1.08 | 18,390 |
Figures come from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics programme, May 2025 release, SOC code 25-2021. OEWS surveys employers, so it reports what is actually paid rather than what job advertisements claim, and it excludes the self-employed. Estimates cover 510 of 528 metropolitan areas — near-complete coverage, which means the ranges above are reliable rather than drawn from a handful of markets. Read the methodology.