Best Districts To Teach: Princeton Schools Among Top 10 In NJ

PRINCETON, NJ – Princeton Public Schools always tops the list of best school districts in the state. And a lot of the credit goes to the teachers. Niche recently released rankings on the "best places to teach" in the United States and in New Jersey. And once again Princeton has topped the list.

The school district was ranked 6th 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.

In Princeton, the average salary of a teacher is $89,076. This is above the median public-school teacher salary in the state last year totaling $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.

Princeton Schools was recently ranked 3rd in Niche’s 2023 Best Schools and Districts rankings released last week.

Here are the top 25 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
11. Margate City School District, $91,722
12. Berkeley Heights Public School District, $84,875
13. Pompton Lakes School District, $85,604
14. Edison Township School District, $85,993
15. Moorestown Township Public School District, $77,983
16. Glen Ridge Public School District, $86,236
17. Summit Public School District, $77,646
18. South Brunswick School District, $80,048
19. Morris Hills Regional School District, $86,897
20. Tenafly Public School District, $87,898
21. Ocean City School District, $92,453
22. Old Bridge Township School District, $85,038
23. West Orange Public Schools, $90,003
24. Southern Regional School District, $84,385
25. Little Falls Township Public Schools, $69,877

(With reporting from Josh Bakan, Patch Staff)

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