A total of 52 school district educators in the Finger Lakes region were paid more than $200,000 in fiscal year 2025-26, according to payroll data reported to the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System (NYSTRS). The highest paid was John Abbott, deputy superintendent of East Irondequoit CSD, at $306,144.

Statewide, the 239,288 public school teachers, superintendents, principals and other administrators employed outside New York City were paid a total of $19.4 billion, according to the Empire Center’s annual educator pay report. Full-time educators averaged $99,652. The Finger Lakes region’s 20,452 full-time educators averaged $77,463, seventh among the state’s nine regions outside New York City.

The Finger Lakes region includes nine counties: Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans, Seneca, Wayne, Wyoming and Yates, as defined by the Office of the State Comptroller.

The full payroll data is available at SeeThroughNY.net.

School districts and BOCES in the Finger Lakes region paid their 26,454 educators a total of $1.6 billion. A total of 11.8 percent were paid $100,000 or more, compared with 34.6 percent statewide.

Among the findings:

• Medina CSD (Orleans County) had the region’s highest average pay for full-time educators, $93,711, followed by Pittsford CSD ($86,339) and Fairport CSD ($86,126). Letchworth CSD had the lowest, $67,057.
• The region’s median full-year superintendent was paid $197,500, fifth of nine regions, compared with $215,922 statewide. A total of 14 superintendents were paid more than the governor’s $250,000 salary.
• School districts in the Finger Lakes region spent $10,231 in educator pay per student, sixth of nine regions, compared with $12,345 statewide.
• In Orleans County, the median full-time educator was paid $74,109, 41 percent more than the median full-time worker living there ($52,556).

Ten Highest-Paid Educators – Finger Lakes

Figures are gross pay reported to NYSTRS for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2026, and do not include fringe benefits such as health insurance and employer pension contributions. Full-time educators are those paid more than the annualized state minimum wage ($32,240). Tallies exclude community colleges, charter schools, the Education Department, vocational boards and the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Explore the Data

The tables below open filtered to the Finger Lakes region. Use the filters to see any other region.

Payroll records for every school district and BOCES can be searched at the Empire Center’s transparency website, SeeThroughNY.net.