Best School Districts To Teach In NJ: How Does Lawrence Township Rank?

LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – While money isn't the only factor, teacher salaries do play a role in determining a good place to teach. Niche recently released rankings on the "best places to teach" in the United States and in New Jersey.

Lawrence Township Public Schools was ranked 164th in the state for best places to teach. The platform's methodology incorporates several factors, including a school district's overall Niche grade, resources and facilities, and student-teacher ratio.

But 30 percent of the calculations include each district's average teacher salary and teacher salary index — the average teacher salary normalized by median household income by county.

With a student-teacher ratio of 14:1, the average salary of a teacher in Lawrence Township is $74,934. The median public school teacher salary in the state last year was $74,186, according to the state Department of Education.

Teacher salaries depend on numerous factors like district contracts, seniority and local cost of living.

Teachers in New Jersey have the highest average starting salaries in the country at $54,053 in the 2020-21 school year, according to the National Education Association. The average starting salary for teachers in the nation for 2020-21 was $41,770. However, the cost of living in New Jersey is among the highest in the country.

And with inflation hitting the country, teacher salaries reached their lowest inflation-adjusted levels since the Great Recession, the National Education Association said.

Here are the top 10 school districts to teach in, along with their average teacher salaries:

1. Millburn Township School District, $87,061
2. Livingston Board of Education School District, $86,615
3. West Essex Regional School District, $83,593
4. North Valley Regional High School District, $91,517
5. Pascack Valley Regional High School District, $99,322
6. Princeton Public Schools, $89,076
7. Ridgewood Public School District, $89,201
8. Mountain Lakes School District, $95,062
9. West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District, $78,101
10. Hopewell Valley Regional School District, $84,083

(With reporting from Josh Bakan, Patch Staff)

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