Tennessee Teacher Salaries
What the average teacher earned in every Tennessee district in 2024-25, and what the nine largest districts have agreed to pay in 2026-27.
The state minimum for 2026-27 is $50,000
Base salary for licensed personnel with a bachelor's degree and zero years of experience. It took effect July 1, 2026, and the Tennessee State Board of Education adopted the schedule on July 31, 2026. The floor for 2025-26 was $47,000. Source: State salary schedule for FY 2026-27, Attachment 1 (PDF).
BASE SALARY (BACHELOR'S DEGREE AND ZERO YEARS OF EXPERIENCE) = $50,000
- Bachelor's degree
- 0 years: base. 1 to 5 years: base plus $645. 6 to 10 years: base plus $3,370. 11 to 15 years: base plus $6,900.
- Advanced degree
- 0 to 5 years: base plus $3,605. 6 to 10 years: base plus $7,365. 11 to 15 years: base plus $11,380.
The schedule sets a floor, not a salary. The State Board's cover memo for the item states that the FY2026-27 budget includes $125,000,000 in Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement formula improvements restricted to raising existing educators' pay, that districts are not required to give across-the-board increases based only on seniority or degree, and that most districts already pay above the state minimum. Every district schedule below starts above $50,000.
Verified 2026-08-14 against the state’s own document. State Board of Education meeting materials, July 31, 2026.
A salary schedule and an average salary are not the same number
A salary schedule is what a district agrees to pay by degree and years of experience. An average salary is what its current staff actually earned, which depends on how experienced that staff is. The two answer different questions and are not comparable to each other.
What the nine largest districts pay in 2026-27
Starting pay and the highest published step in each district’s own board-published schedule. Every row links the document it came from.
| District | Starting, bachelor’s | Starting, master’s | Highest published step | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools 201 days | $54,521.41 | $60,070.06 | Step 28: bachelor's $78,705.80, master's $85,036.03, master's plus 30 $91,305.95, education specialist $91,712.43, doctorate $96,980.83 | MNPS salaries and resources page Certificated Teacher Salary 201 Days 2026-27 The district's careers page states that the schedules reflect its approved compensation plans for the 2026-27 school year. 201 days is the standard teacher contract; the district also publishes 206, 216, 221, 241 and 261 day variants. All rates are effective July 1, 2026. |
| Memphis-Shelby County Schools 10 months | $51,827.51 | $55,871.09 | Step 18: bachelor's $72,950.85, master's $78,621.29, education specialist $82,787.57, doctorate $90,575.04 | MSCS teacher pay plan (PDF) Teacher Salary Schedule 2026-2027, 10-Month Schedule Below the step table the schedule adds a one-time veteran increase: $3,000 at year 25 and $1,000 at year 35, in every degree column. |
| Knox County Schools 200 days | $50,089.83 | $54,030.73 | Step 20: CERT1 $77,602.33, CERT2 $81,543.23 | Knox County salary table (PDF) Knox County Schools Salary Table, Annual Rates, 200 days, certified scale effective August 1, 2026 Knox County labels its two certified lanes only CERT1 and CERT2 and publishes no degree legend anywhere: not in the schedule, the salary-schedule FAQ, or the pay-grades page. The figures above are placed in the bachelor's and master's columns because the schedule's advanced-degree supplements begin above a master's (master's plus 30, education specialist, doctorate), but the district itself does not label them, and this page does not assert a mapping the district has not published. |
| Rutherford County Schools 200 days | $50,556.10 | $54,853.37 | Step 25, listed as 36 or more years: bachelor's $75,313.49, master's $81,715.13, master's plus 45 $88,660.93, education specialist $93,093.98, doctorate $97,748.68 | Rutherford County certified pay schedule (PDF) Rutherford County Schools Proposed Certified Pay Schedule 2026-2027 The document the district links from its certified employment resources page is headed "Proposed" and carries a note reading "FY26-27 Proposed Salary increase 2.00%". No board-approval date appears on it. Steps compress above year 21. |
| Hamilton County Schools 201 days | $50,003.78 | $55,325.25 | Placement 30: bachelor's $77,500.58, advanced degree $85,746.60, doctorate $92,605.73 | Hamilton County human resources page 2026-2027 Certified Salary Schedule, Appendix A of the Memorandum of Understanding 2026-2029 Hamilton County no longer publishes a standalone salary-schedule page; the schedule is Appendix A of the professional employees MOU, linked from the human resources page. The master's figure is the schedule's "Advanced Degree" lane, which combines master's, master's plus 45 and education specialist. The district does not publish a master's-only lane. |
| Williamson County Schools 200 days | $52,124 | $57,968 | Step 21, the highest published: BSNH $76,578, BS $77,698, master's $84,222, master's plus 30 $89,276, education specialist $91,460, doctorate $93,510 | Williamson County teacher salary schedule (PDF) 2026-2027 Teacher Salary Schedule, 200 Day Contract The starting figure is the column headed BSNH, which the schedule marks as the lane for employees hired on or after July 1, 2014, meaning current new hires. The plain BS column does not begin until step 12, at $60,379. The schedule adds that teachers above step 21 receive the percentage agreed during the budget process. |
| Clarksville-Montgomery County School System Certified schedule | $51,000 | $55,858 | Step 28, the highest published: bachelor's $81,576, master's $87,134, master's plus 30 $89,914, advanced degree $96,165 | CMCSS salary schedules page Certified Salary Schedule, effective July 1, 2026 The schedule carries a footnote reading "2.0% COLA added in FY2027 effective paydate 9/5/2025 with exception of Bachelor Step 0 will be $51,000". The 2025 date in that footnote conflicts with the 9/5/2026 date in the document header; both are reproduced as printed rather than silently corrected. |
| Sumner County Schools 200 days | $50,500 | $53,783 | Step 27 and above, the highest published: bachelor's $72,535, master's $77,248, education specialist $81,111, doctorate $84,761 | Sumner County employee pay scale page 200 Day Certified Salary Schedule 2026-2027 The schedule carries the district's own disclaimer: there is no guarantee the board will approve future salary increases or steps, and schedules are reviewed annually. |
| Wilson County Schools 200 days | $50,016 | $53,623 | Step 30 and above, the highest published at 200 days: bachelor's $77,429, master's $81,036, education specialist $82,840, doctorate $84,643 | Wilson County salary schedules page Wilson County Board of Education 2026-2027 Salary Schedule for Educators, effective July 1, 2026 Board approval is stated in the document's own title. The schedule publishes 200, 220, 240 and 260 day columns; the figures above are the 200 day teacher columns. |
Average salary in every district, 2024-25
142 of 144 local education agencies report an average. Statewide, the average classroom teacher earned $63,487.
What the three columns count
The three averages cover three different groups of employees, which is why they differ inside the same district. These are the state’s own definitions, from the footnotes of the table above.
- Classroom teacher
- VOCATIONAL TEACHERS, HOME/HOSPITAL INSTRUCTION, SPECIAL EDUCATION RELATED SERVICES, AND GRADES K-12 TEACHERS.
- Instructional personnel
- PRINCIPALS, ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS, ATTENDANCE TEACHERS, SUPERVISORS, SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGISTS, SCHOOL SOCIAL WORKERS, LIBRARIANS, VOCATIONAL TEACHERS, HOME/HOSPITAL INSTRUCTION, SPECIAL EDUCATION RELATED SERVICES, SPECIAL EDUCATION PSYCHOLOGISTS, SPECIAL EDUCATION PRINCIPALS, SPECIAL EDUCATION SUPERVISORS, AND GRADES K-12 TEACHERS.
- Licensed educators
- The broadest of the three groups in the state’s table. The Annual Statistical Report prints definitions for classroom teachers and instructional personnel only, so this page does not define the licensed educators column beyond what the state publishes.
District averages: Tennessee Department of Education, 2025 Annual Statistical Report, TABLE 5 - AVERAGE SALARY 2024-2025 (Excel bundle), retrieved 2026-08-14. The report covers the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, which is the 2024-25school year. Two agencies, the Achievement School District and the Tennessee Charter Commission, print no salary figures in the state’s table and are shown as Not reported rather than as zero.
District schedules: each row links the district document it was read from, all retrieved 2026-08-14. Related: teacher retention by school and TCAP results by district.