General

• As of May 2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), salaries for the 8.4 million workers in education, training and library occupations ran a mean $23.81 per hour or $49,530 per year. However, hourly rates are merely extrapolated by dividing the mean annual rates by 2080 hours. Many teachers, such as professors, work irregular hours, so their salaries cannot translate directly to hourly rates. The mean for education is higher than the mean $20.90 per hour or $43,460 per year earned by all 130.64 millions workers in the U.S.
  
  

College

• The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) released a salary survey for the 2009 to 2010 school year showing that the average postsecondary teacher salary was $65,724 per year. Salaries differed by rank, with full professors making a mean $88,158, associate professors earning $68,655, assistant professors getting $58,520 and instructors receiving $47,565. The institution with the highest pay for professors was Harvard University in Massachusetts, paying a mean $191,200 per year, followed by Columbia University in New York, offering $188,600.
  
  

Secondary School

• The BLS shows that 1.09 million secondary school teachers, not including those in special and vocation education, made a mean $55,150 per year as of May 2009. Their largest employers were elementary and secondary schools, with 1.08 million workers. They also had the highest salaries at a mean $55,210 per year. The 74,070 teachers in New York state make the highest wages at a mean $68,010 per year, while those in Nassau County, New York, share the same distinction for metropolitan areas at a mean $83,560 per year.
  
  

Elementary School

• Elementary school teachers, except for those in special education, made a mean $53,150 per year as of May 2009, according to the BLS. Most worked in the 1.54 million positions available at elementary and secondary schools, which offered the highest mean pay at $53,190 per year. Rhode Island shows the highest salaries at a mean $68,410 per year for 4,010 positions. In urban areas, Nassau County, New York, leads again with a mean of $83,090 per year for 16,220 teachers.