North Carolina is the only state in the country where teacher pay is expected to drop this year, according to a new report from the National Education Association.
The 2026 report ranks North Carolina 46th in the nation for average teacher pay. The state fell three spots from last year.
Average salaries in the state are projected at $59,971 for the 2025-26 school year. That is a decrease from $60,323 the year before. Meanwhile, the national average public school teacher salary rose 3.5% to $74,495 in 2023-24.
The projected decline comes as lawmakers have yet to pass a state budget, leaving teacher pay largely unchanged while costs continue to rise.
Nationally, teachers are earning about 5% less than they did 10 years ago when adjusted for inflation. North Carolina now trails every neighboring state in educator pay. Teachers would need a 21% raise just to match the average salary in Georgia, $72,758.
Stephanie Wallace, a Forsyth County teacher, said she works multiple jobs to make ends meet, including weekend shifts at a Chili’s restaurant. She said her pay has risen about 9% since 2018, while her living costs have increased far more over the same period.
“If you look at my pay increase as a veteran teacher,” Wallace said, “I am, in fact, making less than I was making about a decade ago.”
The report also shows the state ranks 46th in per-student funding. North Carolina spends about $13,680 per student, which is nearly $5,500 below the national average.
Leaders with the North Carolina Association of Educators blamed the rankings on policy choices. They pointed to tax cuts and the use of public money for private school vouchers.
“The downward trend in our rankings reflects the choices of a General Assembly that has spent years funneling public money away from public schools through corporate tax cuts and the expansion of private school vouchers,” said Tamika Walker Kelly, the group’s president, this morning in a virtual press conference.
State Superintendent Mo Green called the 46th-place ranking “unacceptable.”
“North Carolina is not paying its teachers what they deserve, and we are losing ground while other states move forward,” Green said in a statement to NC Newsline.
Green expressed hope that a budget proposal by Gov. Josh Stein would gain traction in the General Assembly.
Stein pitches NC budget with teacher raises, tax cuts, Medicaid funding
Stein has proposed a new budget that includes about $2.3 billion for public education. The plan calls for an average 11% raise for teachers and would raise starting teacher pay to the highest level in the Southeast.
Green noted that teachers achieved record-high graduation rates and AP performance last year despite being underpaid. “Imagine what they could do with the compensation they have earned,” he said.
NC Newsline reached out to Speaker Destin Hall for comment, but he did not respond immediately.
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