NY ranked top state for teachers in U.S. Here's why

New York is the best state for teachers in the country in 2024, according to a newly-released WalletHub study .

The Empire State topped the list, which compared all 50 states and the District of Columbia across 24 key indicators of teacher-friendliness like teachers' income growth, pupil-teacher ratio and public-school spending per student.

"Despite having one of the most crucial jobs in America - educating the next generation - teachers are often underpaid and underappreciated," Chip Lupo, WalletHub analyst said. "The states that make a teaching career the most rewarding are those that compensate educators well, invest heavily in educational resources, pass laws that improve school-system quality, and provide supportive conditions that lead to low turnover."

Here's why New York prevailed.

What makes New York stand out

New York stood out with the highest average annual salary for public school teachers after adjusting for the cost of living — $82,571 — among all states. The Empire State also has the strongest tenure protections in the country, the highest amount of funding per public-school students in country, $31,839, and the lowest teacher turnover rate of 4.3%, according to WalletHub.

"Teachers in New York also have the eighth-best income growth potential and the fifth-highest average pensions," the study states, as well as the eighth-best school system in the U.S.

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How WalletHub assessed teacher-friendliness

In this study, New York was followed by Washington, Virginia, Utah and Maryland. The worst states for teachers in 2024 are Tennessee, Nevada, New Hampshire, Hawaii and Maine.

WalletHub compared all 50 states and the District of Columbia across two key categories: Opportunity and Completion and Academic and Work Environment . "Because competitive salaries and job security are integral to a well-balanced personal and professional life, we assigned a heavier weight to the first category," the study says.

The Opportunity and Completion category assessed these factors:

• Average starting salary for teachers
• Average salary for teachers
• Teachers' income growth potential
• 10-year change in teacher salaries
• Average teacher pension
• Share of new teachers with inadequate pensions
• Projected competition in year 2030
• Public-school enrollment growth
• Length of time before tenure kicks in
• Teacher tenure protections
• Teacher preparation program completion

And the Academic and Work Environment category included these elements:

• Existence of digital learning plan
• State statute on out-of-school access to instructional materials
• State guidance on accessible technologies
• Quality of school system
• Pupil-teacher ratio
• Public-school spending per student
• Presence of annual teacher-evaluation requirement
• Presence of teacher-effectiveness requirement
• Projected share of teacher turnover
• Share of teachers who feel supported by their administrator
• Average commute time
• Prevalence of childhood disadvantage
• Working mom-friendliness

The weighted average across all metrics were then determined in order to calculate an overall score for each state and the resulting scores were used to rank-order the states. Data used to create the ranking was collected as of Aug. 19, 2024 and the information was sourced from multiple entities, such as the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Education and the National Council on Teacher Quality.

Emily Barnes reports on consumer-related issues for the USA TODAY Network’s NY-Connect Team, focusing on scam and recall-related topics. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @byemilybarnes . Get in touch at ebarnes@gannett.com .

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: NY ranked top state for teachers in U.S. Here's why