Wallethub Ranks Missouri At #34 As A “Best State For Teachers”
With World Teachers’ Day coming up right around the corner, on October 5th, the personal finance website WalletHub.com crunched some numbers together to come up with its list of the best and worst states for teachers.
Based on 24 key indicators of teacher-friendliness…including opportunity and competition, and academic and work environment…Missouri ranked as the 34th best state in the study.
New Hampshire, Hawaii and Maine were ranked as the worst states for teachers while Virginia, Washington and New York were ranked as the best.
Full Report:
With World Teachers’ Day around the corner and teachers making an average of 5% less per year than they did 10 years ago after adjusting for inflation, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on the Best & Worst States for Teachers in 2024, as well as expert commentary, in order to help educators find places to work with good teaching environments and above-average compensation.
WalletHub analyzed the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 24 key metrics, ranging from teachers’ income growth potential to the pupil-teacher ratio to public-school spending per student.
| Best States for Teachers | Worst States for Teachers | |
| 1. New York | 42. Louisiana | |
| 2. Washington | 43. Oklahoma | |
| 3. Virginia | 44. Alaska | |
| 4. Utah | 45. South Dakota | |
| 5. Maryland | 46. District of Columbia | |
| 6. Illinois | 47. Tennessee | |
| 7. Georgia | 48. Nevada | |
| 8. Florida | 49. New Hampshire | |
| 9. California | 50. Hawaii | |
| 10. Indiana | 51. Maine |
Best vs. Worst
- New Mexico has the highest annual average starting salary for teachers (adjusted for cost of living), which is 1.5 times higher than in Montana, the state with the lowest.
- New York has the highest average annual salary for public-school teachers (adjusted for cost of living), which is 1.7 times higher than in Hawaii, the state with the lowest.
- Alaska has the lowest projected number of teachers per 1,000 students by the year 2030 (indicating the size of competition), which is six times lower than in the District of Columbia, which has the highest.
- Vermont has the lowest pupil-teacher ratio, which is 2.2 times lower than in Arizona, the state with the highest.
- New York has the highest public-school spending per student, which is 3.2 times higher than in Utah, the state with the lowest.
To view the full report and your state’s rank, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/best-and-worst-states-for-teachers/7159
Reporter Mike Anthony
