RALEIGH – A couple years ago thousands of teachers donned red shirts and marched on Raleigh to demand higher teacher pay and education funding, led by the ultra Left wing NC Association of Educators, and joined by communists advocating for a more sinsiter ‘Red for Ed’ agenda. That last part doesn’t seem nearly as crazy when looking back on it from 2020, does it?
Well, the crux of the grievance, as artificially embellished as it was, that Republicans (and only Republicans) were shorting teachers and hurting kids by refusing to fund teacher pay increases and education spending. You, of course, know that Republicans were actually raising teacher pay nearly every year, at the fastest rate in our region, and allocating education funds appropriately. Still, activists pointed to North Carolina’s woeful placing on salary ranking lists as evidence of Republican malfeasance, even while denying the reality that it was Democrats that sank the ranking in the first place.
Now, a new analysis of teacher pay in North Carolina takes away even that arbitrary cudgel from the Left. After years of Republicans repairing the budgeting damage done by Democrats, North Carolina ranks 26th in the nation for what educators are paid versus the cost of living in our state.
From John Locke Foundation‘s education guru, Terry Stoops:
“My initial calculations indicate that North Carolina’s average teacher salary, when adjusted for cost of living (COL), ranks 26th in the nation. I explained the methodology used to adjust for cost of living differences in a research brief published last year.
The unadjusted ranking is 30th in the nation, according to a report released by the National Education Association earlier today.”
| State/Jurisdiction | 2019-20 Salary | 2019-20 Rank | COL Index | COL Adjusted Salary | Adjusted Salary Rank |
| Illinois | $68,305.00 | 11 | 89.7 | $76,148.27 | 1 |
| Michigan | $62,185.00 | 16 | 90.1 | $69,017.76 | 2 |
| Pennsylvania | $70,258.00 | 10 | 103.2 | $68,079.46 | 3 |
| Georgia | $60,578.00 | 18 | 90 | $67,308.89 | 4 |
| Washington | $72,965.00 | 8 | 112.2 | $65,031.19 | 5 |
| Ohio | $59,713.00 | 20 | 92.1 | $64,834.96 | 6 |
| Massachusetts | $83,622.00 | 3 | 129.7 | $64,473.40 | 7 |
| Iowa | $58,917.00 | 23 | 91.4 | $64,460.61 | 8 |
| United States | $63,645.00 | N/A | 100 | $63,645.00 | N/A |
| Connecticut | $78,247.00 | 5 | 124.2 | $63,000.81 | 9 |
| Wyoming | $59,014.00 | 22 | 94.5 | $62,448.68 | 10 |
| New Jersey | $76,376.00 | 6 | 122.4 | $62,398.69 | 11 |
| Oklahoma | $54,038.00 | 33 | 86.7 | $62,327.57 | 12 |
| Texas | $57,091.00 | 26 | 91.7 | $62,258.45 | 13 |
| New Mexico | $54,256.00 | 31 | 87.2 | $62,220.18 | 14 |
| Wisconsin | $59,176.00 | 21 | 95.7 | $61,834.90 | 15 |
| Kansas | $52,554.00 | 38 | 86.5 | $60,756.07 | 16 |
| Alabama | $54,095.00 | 32 | 89.6 | $60,373.88 | 17 |
| Delaware | $64,853.00 | 15 | 107.7 | $60,216.34 | 18 |
| Nebraska | $55,267.00 | 28 | 92.8 | $59,554.96 | 19 |
| California | $84,659.00 | 2 | 142.7 | $59,326.56 | 20 |
| Minnesota | $58,663.00 | 24 | 101.2 | $57,967.39 | 21 |
| Tennessee | $51,862.00 | 41 | 90 | $57,624.44 | 22 |
| Indiana | $51,508.00 | 42 | 89.5 | $57,550.84 | 23 |
| Missouri | $50,817.00 | 44 | 88.3 | $57,550.40 | 24 |
| Maryland | $73,444.00 | 7 | 128 | $57,378.13 | 25 |
| North Carolina | $54,682.00 | 30 | 95.5 | $57,258.64 | 26 |
| Kentucky | $53,907.00 | 35 | 94.2 | $57,226.11 | 27 |
| Rhode Island | $67,323.00 | 13 | 118.6 | $56,764.76 | 28 |
| Arkansas | $49,822.00 | 48 | 88.2 | $56,487.53 | 29 |
| New York | $87,543.00 | 1 | 155.9 | $56,153.30 | 30 |
| Idaho | $52,875.00 | 36 | 94.3 | $56,071.05 | 31 |
| New Hampshire | $60,003.00 | 19 | 108 | $55,558.33 | 32 |
| Colorado | $57,269.00 | 25 | 103.2 | $55,493.22 | 33 |
| Alaska | $70,877.00 | 9 | 128.4 | $55,200.16 | 34 |
| Utah | $52,819.00 | 37 | 96.9 | $54,508.77 | 35 |
| West Virginia | $50,238.00 | 46 | 92.4 | $54,370.13 | 36 |
| North Dakota | $52,328.00 | 39 | 96.5 | $54,225.91 | 37 |
| South Carolina | $51,485.00 | 43 | 95.5 | $53,910.99 | 38 |
| Louisiana | $50,217.00 | 47 | 93.5 | $53,708.02 | 39 |
| Mississippi | $45,192.00 | 51 | 84.7 | $53,355.37 | 40 |
| Virginia | $53,933.00 | 34 | 101.4 | $53,188.36 | 41 |
| Vermont | $61,108.00 | 17 | 116.7 | $52,363.32 | 42 |
| Nevada | $56,672.00 | 27 | 108.8 | $52,088.24 | 43 |
| Oregon | $67,685.00 | 12 | 134.3 | $50,398.36 | 44 |
| Arizona | $50,381.00 | 45 | 100.1 | $50,330.67 | 45 |
| D.C. | $79,350.00 | 4 | 160.7 | $49,377.72 | 46 |
| South Dakota | $49,220.00 | 49 | 99.7 | $49,368.10 | 47 |
| Florida | $48,800.00 | 50 | 99.2 | $49,193.55 | 48 |
| Montana | $52,135.00 | 40 | 108.2 | $48,183.92 | 49 |
| Maine | $54,967.00 | 29 | 115.2 | $47,714.41 | 50 |
| Hawaii | $65,409.00 | 14 | 197.6 | $33,101.72 | 51 |
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