Teachers have the incredibly important job of educating the next generation of Americans, but how much they're paid varies widely across the country.
Nationwide, the average public school teacher salary for the 2017-2018 school year was $60,483, according to data from the Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics. While the nominal teacher salary has increased over the last couple decades, when adjusted for inflation, average salary has dropped over time — about 1.3% lower than the $61,275 (in 2017-18 dollars) average in the 1999-2000 school year.
