Where Teachers Get Highest Pay Has Shifted Over Past Three Years

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.