How much do teachers get paid in New Jersey?
Refreshed annually
Teachers made between $65,800 and $82,200 per year in 2025, depending on the role. These figures represent the annual median wage for New Jersey pre-K–12 teachers. Preschool teachers tend to be at the lower end of the range, while high school teachers tend to be at the higher end, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates. The median wage is the midpoint — half of teachers in each role earn more, and half earn less.
For comparison, in New Jersey, the median wage across all occupations was $58,600 in 2025 — about 11% lower than the median preschool teacher wage.
$65.8K
median annual wage for preschool teachers in New Jersey (2025)
$78.8K
median annual wage for middle school teachers in New Jersey (2025)
Among teachers working in elementary, middle, and high schools, annual pay varied by the grade level taught. In New Jersey in 2025, preschool teachers earned the least, earning around $65,790 annually. High school teachers made the most at around $82,200 per year. In other words, high school teachers earned about 25% more than preschool teachers.
High school teachers earn $82,200 annually, more than any other NJ teachers
Median annual salary of elementary and secondary school teachers, excluding teachers of students with disabilities and technical teachers (NJ, 2025)
Do New Jersey teachers make more or less than the US average?
Teacher salaries vary nationwide. In 2025, New Jersey teachers earned more than the national median for every grade level reported. The largest percentage difference was among middle school teachers, who earned 22% more than the national median. Preschool teachers — typically the lowest-paid group — earned about 32% more than their counterparts nationwide.
New Jersey teachers earn more than the national average at every level.
Median annual salary of elementary and secondary school teachers, excluding teachers of students with disabilities and technical teachers (NJ, 2025)
How much do special education teachers make in New Jersey? What about technical education teachers?
Pay also varies by specialization. Teachers of students with disabilities (collected in the data as “special education”), earn about the same or less than general education teachers at all levels except preschool in New Jersey. In 2025, the median wages for teachers of students with disabilities ranged from 2% lower to 17% higher than those of other teachers at the same grade level.
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The largest difference for teachers of students with disabilities was at the preschool level, where they earned $76,800 per year compared to $65,800 for other preschool teachers, a 17% difference.
Some schools, primarily middle and high schools, also employ technical teachers. These teachers provide vocational and technical training in fields such as automotive repair, culinary arts, cosmetology, and information technology, to help students develop career skills. In New Jersey, their median wages were $68,300 at the middle school level and $83,800 at the high school level in 2025, 13% lower and 2% higher, respectively, than those of general education teachers at the same levels.
In New Jersey, teachers of students with disabilities out-earned other teachers only at the Kindergarten level.
Median annual salary of elementary and secondary school teachers (NJ, 2025)
How does the government help low-income students?
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Methodology
USAFacts standardizes data, in areas such as time and demographics, to make it easier to understand and compare.
Page sources
USAFacts endeavors to share the most up-to-date information available. We sourced the data on this page directly from government agencies; however, the intervals at which agencies publish updated data vary.
