Sure, teaching isn’t the highest paying gig out there, with a median salary of $57,949 ($3,000 below other professions that require a BA degree). Some teachers, however, can garner paychecks of $100,000 or more. It’s often a simple equation: district + degrees + years on the job. Here are 11 districts that pay six figures (to their longest tenured faculty, at least).
1. Scarsdale, NY
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Scarsdale NY is a short ride from New York City but a world away. It’s a small district with strong schools and high salaries all around.
2. Northern Valley Regional High School District, Demarest, NJ
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In the northeast corner of NJ, the district is made up of two high schools, a special education program, and a curriculum consortium.
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3. Montecito Union Elementary District, Santa Barbara, CA
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Montecito has one “distinguished” K–6 school with 400 students located between the Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean.
4. Monroe-Woodbury Central School District, Orange County, NY
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The five elementary schools, one middle school, and high school that make up Monroe-Woodbury are located in the Lake Region of Orange County at the foothills of the Catskill Mountains.
5. Mountain View Los Altos District, Mountain View, CA
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The Mountain View Los Altos District has a STEM focus, which makes sense for a Silicon Valley school. The district has a high college placement rate (98%) and lots of AP and honors classes. There are also top ranked athletic, debate, and robotics programs.
6. Boulder Valley, CO
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Boulder Valley is the highest paying district in Colorado, which pays 45% above average. Even so, teachers from Boulder Valley rallied to raise teacher pay across the state in a recent march on the state capital.
7. Rondout School, Lake Forest, IL
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This one-school district in Lake County, north of Chicago near the Wisconsin border, organizes the K–8 students into multi-grade learning communities and each students signs a commitment to excellence.
8. Stamford, CT
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The Stamford Public Schools has elementary, middle, high schools, as well as technical education, PreK, and magnet options.
9. Concord-Carlisle Regional School District, Concord, MA
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This district located in east Massachusetts has 2,127 students in PreK through eighth grade. It is high performing, with 88% of students proficient in reading, and 87% proficient in math.
10. Utica Schools, Sterling Heights, MI
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In Utica it pays to complete your higher ed; you can earn six figures with a doctorate degree, and the district has the most teachers earning six figures across Michigan.
11. Putnam Valley Central School District, Putnam Valley, NY
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Teach in the small district of Putnam Valley (one-room schoolhouses were established here in the 1830s). Today, the district is known for low ratios and a focus on sustainability.
Did we miss any districts that pay six figures? Let us know in the comments and we’ll add to this list.
Plus, 11 districts with high starting salaries and 8 districts that need teachers.
