Best & Worst States for Teachers (2026)

Teaching is one of the most rewarding careers, with educators playing a vital role in shaping future generations. Yet despite their impact, many teachers are overworked and underpaid. Education remains one of the lowest-paying occupations requiring a bachelor’s degree, and teacher salaries have not kept pace with inflation. Adjusted for inflation, on average, teachers are making 5% less than they did 10 years ago.

Compensation and working conditions vary widely across the country, with some states offering far stronger support for educators than others. States that invest in their teachers are also more likely to retain experienced educators and reduce turnover. To identify the best places to teach, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 24 key measures of teacher-friendliness, including income growth potential, pupil-teacher ratios, and public-school spending per student.

Key Facts

1. The best states for teachers in 2026 are Washington, New York, Virginia, Illinois and Utah.
2. The worst states for teachers in 2026 are New Mexico, Maine, Montana, Hawaii and New Hampshire.
3. Important factors determining the best states for teachers include compensation, tenure protections, state spending per student, school-system quality and turnover rates.

Main Findings

Best States for Teachers

Note: With the exception of “Total Score,” all of the columns in the table above depict the relative rank of that state, where a rank of 1 represents the best conditions for that metric category.

In-Depth Look at the Best States for Teachers

Washington

Washington is the best state for teachers, in part because the pay situation is rapidly improving. Washington has experienced the best change in teacher salaries over the past 10 years, with an increase of over 83%. The state now has the second-highest average annual salary, after adjusting for the cost of living, at $83,938, and the fourth-highest average starting salary, at $52,713.

Washington teachers also have the fourth-lowest period of time before tenure kicks in, with teachers only needing to work three years. In addition, the state has passed various policies to make things in the classroom easier for teachers. For example, it’s one of only 27 states that require annual teacher evaluations, and it has a digital learning plan in place in case schools need to be closed.

To top things off, for teachers who are women and have children themselves, Washington ranks as the 15th-best state for working moms.

New York

New York is the second-best state for teachers, boasting the highest average annual salary for public school teachers after adjusting for the cost of living, at $87,670. Teachers in New York also have the fourth-best income growth potential and the fifth-highest average pensions. On top of that, the state has the strongest tenure protections in the country.

In addition to investing in teachers directly, New York also makes teaching easier by giving schools the resources they need. New York has the highest amount of funding per public-school student in the country, at $33,752, beating out second-place District of Columbia by over $2,000 per student. While increased spending doesn’t always lead to better results, the fact that New York has the eighth-best school systems in the country shows that it does matter.

Due to all of these reasons, it’s no wonder that New York has the lowest teacher turnover rate in the country, at only 4.3%. For comparison, the District of Columbia’s teacher turnover is over 20%!

Virginia

Virginia is the third-best state for teachers, boasting the second-highest income growth potential in the country. While Virginia ranks 12th in the nation for the average starting salary for teachers ($49,300) and 18th for the average teacher salary in general ($67,678), educators can end up seeing big gains throughout the course of their careers.

Demand for teachers is also growing relatively quickly in Virginia. By 2034, the state is projected to have the 16th-lowest number of teachers per 1,000 students.

Finally, Virginia offers tenure to teachers after just 3 years and has the sixth-best school systems in the country.

The methodology can be found on the full version of the article on WalletHub.