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Maine
Statistics on children, youth and families in Maine from the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Maine Children's Alliance
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Why This Indicator Matters
Quality public education helps all students thrive. One component of a successful school system is that teachers are compensated fairly. While it is widely established that higher wages attract more productive individuals into teaching, a recent study also found that for existing teachers, a 10% an increase in wages improves student performance measurably.
For FY 2024-2025, Maine was ranked 41st in the United States for average teacher starting salary. National Educational Association Teacher Pay by state. The Maine state legislature passed a bill to raise minimum teacher salary for 2022-2023 but the average teacher starting salary still lags behind all the other New England states. Given inflation and workforce shortages and the starting pay in other New England states, higher salaries may be needed to attract and retain teachers.
The 2025-2026 average starting teacher salary statewide was $45,829, a $1,690 (4%) increase from the previous year. In every county the starting salary was lower than the liveable wage for a single adult and in some cases less than half of what a liveable wage would be for a family of four.
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For FY 2024-2025, Maine was ranked 41st in the United States for average teacher starting salary. National Educational Association Teacher Pay by state. The Maine state legislature passed a bill to raise minimum teacher salary for 2022-2023 but the average teacher starting salary still lags behind all the other New England states. Given inflation and workforce shortages and the starting pay in other New England states, higher salaries may be needed to attract and retain teachers.
The 2025-2026 average starting teacher salary statewide was $45,829, a $1,690 (4%) increase from the previous year. In every county the starting salary was lower than the liveable wage for a single adult and in some cases less than half of what a liveable wage would be for a family of four.
Definition and Source
PROVIDER
Definition
The starting average first-year teacher salary is based on contracts submitted to Maine's educational union called the Maine Educational Association (MEA). The definition of starting teacher salary is the amount a district has agreed in their contract to pay a first-year teacher by with a Bachelor's Degree and no experience teaching. The average of the county is computed by averaging the contracted starting salaries by district, without regard to how many teachers were hired at that salary.
Data Source
Notes
The year 2026 refers to the school year 2025-2026. Not every district submitted information to the MEA for every year, so the data is based only on districts that did.
These are unweighted averages. This means that it is the average of the counties in the districts starting salaries, not the average pay of all the first-year teachers hired. For example, if a county had two districts and one hired five teachers at $60,000 each and the second school hired one teacher at $30,000, the unweighted average would ($60,000 +$30,000) divided by 2 = $45,000 and not (5* $60,000)+(1*30,000)/6 = $55,000.
These are unweighted averages. This means that it is the average of the counties in the districts starting salaries, not the average pay of all the first-year teachers hired. For example, if a county had two districts and one hired five teachers at $60,000 each and the second school hired one teacher at $30,000, the unweighted average would ($60,000 +$30,000) divided by 2 = $45,000 and not (5* $60,000)+(1*30,000)/6 = $55,000.
Last Updated
September 2026