Bucks County ranks top in the state for average teacher pay as almost half of Pennsylvania’s counties fall behind the national average, according to data from the National Education Association and the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

Teacher salaries across the country rose by about 4.1% in the 2022-2023 school year to $69,544, with salaries expected to increase about 3.1% to about $71,699, in 2023-2024 school year, according to an April report by the NEA.

Despite that increase, the average teacher is making about 5% less than compared to five years ago, when adjusted for inflation, and most school districts have a starting salary of less than $50,000, according to the NEA.

“A staggering 77% of U.S. school districts still pay a starting salary below $50,000 (28.6% start out teachers at less than $40,000), while teacher salaries top out over $100,000 in only 16.6% of districts,” the report adds.

Pennsylvania ranked 11th in the nation with an average teacher salary of about $74,945 for the previous school year, according the NEA.

Check out last year’s salary data: Bucks County ranks high in average teacher pay. Check out salaries in your district

Education department salary summary data for the 2023-2024 school year show Bucks County school districts paid classroom teachers an average salary of about $93,944, the highest out of every county in the state. Montgomery County was close behind with an average teacher pay of $93,790 and Allegheny County ranked third with an average salary of $86,405.

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Although every county in the state has an average teacher salary above the $50,000 “low pay” benchmark noted by the NEA, five Pennsylvania schools districts don’t meet that mark: Blacklick and Conemaugh Valley school districts in Cambria County; and North Star, Salisbury-Elk Lick, and Turkeyfoot Valley Area school districts in Somerset County.

In just 1% of Pennsylvania’s 500 school districts teachers are paid on average more than $100,000 a year. New Hope-Solebury, Bucks County, is at the top of those nine school districts with an average pay of $111,968, followed by Lower Merion ($110,695) and Upper Dublin ($107,829) in Montgomery County.

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Philadelphia City School District ranks 108th in the state with an average salary of $82,151. At an average salary of $92,454, Central Bucks, the third largest district in the state, ranks 26th highest for average teacher pay.

Search the database below to see how your Pennsylvania school district ranks for average salary in the state.

The data used for this story includes the education department’s Summary Staff Salary Report for the 2023-2024 school year. The data provides the average salary for administrators, teachers, and other staff for every public school district, charter school and technical school in the state as of Oct. 1, 2023.

This story focused only on salaries for classroom teachers in public school districts. The averages county salaries were calculated using a weighted average using the average salaries and total number of teachers reported in the data by county.

Chris Ullery is the Philadelphia Hub Data Reporter for the USA Today Network. Reach him at cullery@couriertimes.com or find him on Twitter at @ulleryatinell.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Teacher pay in PA ranks 11th in the country, Bucks County leads state