News Story

Where Teachers Get Highest Pay Has Shifted Over Past Three Years

Here’s the top 10 school districts by average pay

Every year, the Michigan Department of Education releases information about teachers’ salaries at public school districts.

For the 2016-17 school year, teachers in Walled Lake Consolidated Schools had the highest average salary. During that year, it was $81,593.

The highest paid average teacher salary district in 2015-16 was Utica Community Schools, with an average salary of $80,334.

Here’s a look at the 10 school districts with the highest average salary:

Four of the current top-10 paying districts were not on the list in the 2014-15 school year (Ann Arbor, Saline, Warren and Lakeview). Four of the districts on the list in 2014-15 are no longer there (Wyandotte, Centerline, Birmingham and Grosse Pointe Schools).

Average pay in the top-10 districts in 2014-15 ranged from $74,824 to $83,903. In the 2015-16 school year, average pay in the highest-paying districts ranged from $74,913 to $80,334. While average salaries at the top five districts have fallen slightly – most likely due to older teachers at the top of the union pay scale being replaced by younger ones at the bottom – average salaries at the next five highest districts have risen slightly.

Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.