A total of 186 out of 685 school districts outside New York City last year had a median classroom teacher pay over $100,000, according to data posted today on SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s government transparency website, up from 159 five years earlier.

All eight Rockland County school districts had median pay over $100,000 during the 2023-24 school year, as did 54 of Nassau’s 56 districts, five of Putnam’s six districts, 41 of Westchester’s 46 districts, 59 of Suffolk’s 69 districts and six of Ulster’s nine districts. Orange County had six districts over $100,000, Dutchess had three, and Erie had three.

At the county level, the highest median teacher pay levels were found in:

• Putnam ($126,971)
• Westchester ($123,413)
• Nassau ($121,840)
• Rockland ($119,469)
• Suffolk ($119,123)

Compared to five years earlier (2018-19) and not adjusting for inflation, the difference in county-level median pay ranged from 8 percent lower in Niagara County to 51 percent higher in The Bronx. The pay figures, collected by the state Education Department, do not include employer contributions toward health insurance, pensions, retiree health coverage or other benefits.

Within New York City, median pay topped $100,000 boroughwide in Staten Island and Queens, and in seven Brooklyn districts, four Manhattan districts and three Bronx districts.

The district with the state’s highest median teacher pay was Mid-Hudson’s Scarsdale ($156,432). In other regions, the district with the highest median pay was:

• Cold Spring Harbor (Long Island) ($150,089)
• Sweet Home (Western NY) ($104,467)
• South Colonie (Capital Region) ($98,353)
• Utica City (Mohawk Valley) ($85,996)
• Baldwinsville (Central NY) ($85,081)
• Medina (Finger Lakes) ($81,020)
• Wells (North Country) ($81,481)
• Addison’s (Southern Tier) ($78,904)

Buffalo City School District – the biggest school district outside New York City – employed 3,122 full time classroom teachers, paying a median salary of $80,707.
Figures for the other big school districts were:

• City of Rochester: 2,154 teachers with a median pay of $69,361.
• City of Syracuse: 1,702 teachers with a median pay of $69,030.
• City of Yonkers: 1,445 teachers with a median pay of $146,259.

A district’s median pay reflects the pay scale set by union collective bargaining agreements and where teachers fall on their respective pay scales based on seniority and degree attainment. Teacher union contracts, and individual pay records going back to 2008 for school administrators, teachers and other employees and other school data are searchable on SeeThroughNY.

Teacher salaries are among the biggest cost drivers in New York’s school district budgets. The Empire Center maintains a dashboard that illustrates the major financial drivers including cost components, revenue categories, and per pupil expenditures for New York’s school districts. According to the latest available data for 2022-23, 478 of New York school districts, or 70 percent, paid out at least a quarter of their annual budgets for teacher salaries, with several as high as 40 percent.

The latest teacher pay data highlights New York’s increasingly bloated school district spending, which is the highest in the nation. However, test scores have remained consistently mediocre, with New York’s National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) math and reading scores trailing behind those of Mississippi, Kentucky, and Alabama.

With the annual school district budget vote approaching in a month, New York’s school districts face  pressure to eliminate DEI programs or risk losing federal funding. While federal aid accounts for less than 15 percent of most school districts’ total budgets, NYSED has made it clear that it will not comply with President Trump’s order. As a result, the state will need to find alternative funding sources, and taxpayers will likely bear the burden through higher property and state taxes.

The Empire Center, based in Albany, is an independent, not-for-profit, non-partisan think tank dedicated to promoting policies that can make New York a better place to live, work and raise a family.