New Jersey is 3rd Best State for Teachers According to Study

Personal finance website WalletHub has ranked New Jersey the third best state (including the District of Columbia) for teachers.  Only Washington and Utah are better, according to the study.  New Hampshire comes in dead last, begging the question whether “living free” is worth the tradeoff for teachers.  Perennial competitors Massachusetts and Connecticut may rank higher for their overall systems in some studies but they come in 11th and 14th respectively in this comparison.

When it comes to “teacher friendliness” here’s where New Jersey is ranked for selected categories:

• 4^th – Avg. Starting Salary for Teachers (Adjusted for Cost of Living)
• 6^th – Avg. Salary for Teachers (Adjusted for Cost of Living)
• 3^rd – Quality of School System
• 4^th – Pupil-Teacher Ratio
• 2^nd – Public-School Spending per Student
• 29^th – Teachers’ Income Growth Potential
• 26^th – 10-Year Change in Teacher Salaries
• 9^th – Statewide School Reopening
• 1^st – Existence of Digital Learning Plan

Last month, WalletHub ranked Jersey City’s schools at 241 for “spending equity.”

For more details on the ranking along with expert commentary, go to https://wallethub.com/edu/best-and-worst-states-for-teachers/7159/#main-findings