| |

NEA/TSTA: Texas (Again) Ranks 29th in Average Teacher Pay

Image: Blue square logo of TSTA. Says TEA/NEA.
Image: TSTA

Although the Legislature raised teacher pay by more than $4,000 a year, the state still managed to rank 29th nationally for the third consecutive year as of the current (2025-26) school year.

That’s according to data reported today (April 27, 2026) by the Texas State Teachers Association (TSTA) — citing newly released National Education Association (NEA) research.

TSTA stressed that despite teacher raises passed last year, Texas teachers still lag significantly behind various national benchmarks:

Benchmarks
  • Teacher Pay: The average Texas teacher salary (as reported by TEA) is $68,001 — over $8,500 below the NEA computed national average of $76,552.

    • Adjusted for inflation, Texas teachers are actually earning about 3.67 percent less than in 2017.

    • Last year, before the statewide raises went into effect, the TEA calculated the average Texas teacher salary at $63,749, more than $10,000 less than the then-national NEA computed average of $74,495.
  • Per-Student Funding: Texas spends $4,940 less per student than the national average ($15,557 vs. $20,497), ranking Texas 40th nationally, an improvement from 47th nationally last school year.
Photo: TSTA President Ovidia Molina
TSTA President Ovidia Molina criticized state leaders for poor school funding decisions — including the voucher program.
  • Support Staff: Non-teaching school employees average just $33,481 in Texas — nearly $3,000 below the national average — falling far short of what’s needed to cover basic living costs even in the state’s least expensive metro areas.
Criticized

TSTA President Ovidia Molina criticized state leaders for the slow pace of investments in public schools — and specifically called out the $1 billion voucher program for private schools and homeschoolers passed last year, pledging to fight its expansion in the next legislative session.

“Many school districts are still tackling deficits, and Texas still has a serious teacher shortage that will require a larger investment of state dollars in public schools to adequately address,” Molina said, adding:

“Even with last year’s raises, teachers continue to lose spending power to inflation. And our school support staffers are paid much less. Many do not earn enough to cover basic needs for themselves and their families.”