Connecticut Teachers' Salaries Below the National Average: Report

By Brian McCready 

October 5 was International World Teachers Day and in recognition of the key role that educators play in children’s lives, the personal finance website WalletHub conducted an in-depth analysis of 2015’s Best and Worst States for Teachers.

In order to help educators find the best teaching opportunities in the country and to draw attention to the need for states to improve in this regard, WalletHub analyzed the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 13 key metrics, ranging from average starting salary to unemployment rate to the projected number of teachers per student by 2022.

Connecticut ranked 34th best for teachers and specifically received low marks for teachers’ salaries compared to other states. (See below for a detailed analysis of how Connecticut fared)

The best states for teachers include, 1. Massachusetts, 2. Virginia, 3. Minnesota, 4. Wyoming, and No. 5. New Jersey.

The worst states for teachers include: 1. West Virginia, 2. North Carolina, 3. Arizona, 4. Mississippi, and 5. Oregon.

Key Stats

• The average starting salary for teachers is two times higher in Wyoming than in Hawaii.
• The median annual salary for teachers is two times higher in Michigan than in Hawaii.
• The projected number of teachers per student by year 2022 is three times higher in North Dakota than in Nevada.
• The pupil-to-teacher ratio is two times higher in California than in Vermont.
• Public school spending per student is three times higher in Vermont than in Arizona.

Specifically for Connecticut, the starting salary for teachers is $29,562, which ranked just 46th best and the median annual salary for teachers is $49,386 or just 40th best.

Teachers’ unemployment rate in Connecticut is 6.6 percent, or 37th best, but the 10-year change in teacher salaries from 2003 through 2013-14 was 24.2 percent which ranked 18th best. Connecticut schools ranked 9th best according to WalletHub when comparing the overall quality of all 50 state’s school systems. That ranking includes how students performed on standardized tests, dropout rates and more than a dozen other factors.

In the category of safest schools, which represents the percentage of Connecticut public school teachers who say they feel threatened with an injury by a student was 7.5 percent or 12th best in the nation.

Read the full report here.