How much are Sacramento teachers paid? Search averages for California school districts

Average teacher pay in California rose sharply again last school year, eclipsing six figures for the first time.

Districts paid teachers an average of $101,084 in the 2023-24 school year, an increase of 6.2% from 2022-23, new state data show.

Even with the significant pay bump, salaries barely kept pace with rising prices. Statewide, average teacher pay increased by about 31% between 2015-16 and 2023-24. By comparison, inflation rose about 30% during the same period.

Teacher pay was highest in Silicon Valley’s Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District, where teachers earned, on average, about $170,536.

A quick way to adjust pay for cost of living is to calculate the difference between the average teacher salary and the cost of the typically priced home. A teacher making $170,536 in Mountain View would have a hard time buying the median-valued home in Santa Clara County, which costs about $1.6 million at the end of 2024, according to real estate tracking firm Zillow. By that metric, many of the best-off teachers are in rural districts where salaries are relatively modest, but home prices are low.

Average teacher pay depends on several factors. Pay increases with seniority, so a district with mostly veteran teachers would tend to pay more on average than a district with more inexperienced teachers. Cost of living also plays a role, as districts in expensive communities must pay more to attract talent.

Sacramento region teacher pay

Among the 15 school districts with the most students in the four-county Sacramento region, the highest average teacher pay last school year was about $113,000 at the Roseville Joint Union High School District. The lowest average pay was about $83,000 at Woodland Joint Unified.

The average teacher pay at Sacramento City Unified was about $102,700 last school year, up 6% from the prior year.

It was about $94,600 at Elk Grove Unified; $90,900 at San Juan Unified; $95,100 at Twin Rivers Unified and $90,600 at Folsom Cordova Unified.

How we got teacher salary data

The salary data is taken from a form sent to school districts each year. Districts educating the large majority of the state’s students usually complete the form. The figures used in this story show the “average salary paid” line from the form. That line is “the average salary that is paid to an employee on the certificated salary schedule. The average salary is determined by dividing the total salary schedule cost by FTE,” an acronym for full-time equivalent teachers.

This story was originally published January 8, 2025 at 5:00 AM.