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Teacher Pay Data

Teacher Salary by Country 2026: Data, Charts & Comparisons

Statutory annual salaries for full-time teachers in public lower secondary general education, reported in equivalent USD converted using PPPs for private consumption. The 2026 label refers to the page edition; the underlying OECD salary table is the latest available source release.

Indicator: statutory teacher salary Level: lower secondary general Unit: USD PPP Source table: OECD EAG 2025 D3.1

Core Salary Metrics

Values compare scheduled gross annual salaries before income tax, not take-home pay, bonuses, housing support, or private-school compensation.

OECD lower secondary average
USD 61,563
Teachers with 15 years of experience, most prevalent qualifications.
Highest reported row
Luxembourg
USD 137,418, rank 1 of 40 reported countries/economies.
Lowest reported row
Slovak Republic
USD 26,913, rank 40 of 40 reported countries/economies.
Coverage basis
OECD + partners
Country/economy coverage varies by salary point, level, and qualification row.

Highest Verified Lower Secondary Teacher Salary Rows

Annual statutory salary after 15 years of experience, equivalent USD PPP.

The chart shows verified country/economy rows exposed in OECD GPS text for the same lower secondary salary concept.

Data analysis
  • Luxembourg is more than twice the OECD average for lower secondary teachers with 15 years of experience.
  • Germany and the Netherlands are the other verified rows above USD 100,000 PPP.
  • PPP conversion improves cross-country price comparability but does not show net income, taxation, or local housing costs.

Teacher Salary by Country Table

Searchable OECD salary rows for public lower secondary general education. Rank is the OECD/GPS rank shown for the reported row.

OECD Rank Country / Economy Code Salary Unit Year Qualification Row Source Note
1 Luxembourg LUX USD 137,418 USD PPP 2023 Typical qualification OECD GPS, EAG 2025 country profile
2 Germany DEU USD 103,952 USD PPP 2023 Typical qualification OECD GPS, EAG 2025 country profile
3 Netherlands NLD USD 102,711 USD PPP 2023 Typical qualification OECD GPS, EAG 2025 country profile
4 Canada CAN USD 87,285 USD PPP 2023 Typical qualification OECD GPS, EAG 2025 country profile
5 Australia AUS USD 81,842 USD PPP 2023 Typical qualification OECD GPS, EAG 2025 country profile
6 Austria AUT USD 76,722 USD PPP 2023 Typical qualification OECD GPS, EAG 2025 country profile
7 United States USA USD 76,221 USD PPP 2023 Typical qualification OECD GPS, EAG 2025 country profile
8 Denmark DNK USD 73,750 USD PPP 2023 Typical qualification OECD GPS, EAG 2025 country profile
10 Ireland IRL USD 70,865 USD PPP 2023 Typical qualification OECD GPS, EAG 2025 country profile
31 Lithuania LTU USD 44,970 USD PPP 2023 Typical qualification OECD GPS, EAG 2025 country profile
32 Chile CHL USD 44,969 USD PPP 2023 Typical qualification OECD GPS, EAG 2025 country profile
34 Poland POL USD 41,355 USD PPP 2023 Typical qualification OECD GPS, EAG 2025 country profile
35 Hungary HUN USD 34,949 USD PPP 2023 Typical qualification OECD GPS, EAG 2025 country profile
36 Costa Rica CRI USD 33,673 USD PPP 2023 Typical qualification OECD GPS, EAG 2025 country profile
37 Greece GRC USD 30,627 USD PPP 2023 Typical qualification OECD GPS, EAG 2025 country profile
39 Czechia CZE USD 30,359 USD PPP 2023 Typical qualification OECD GPS, EAG 2025 country profile
40 Slovak Republic SVK USD 26,913 USD PPP 2023 Typical qualification OECD GPS, EAG 2025 country profile
Table analysis
  • The verified rows show a wide spread, from USD 26,913 in the Slovak Republic to USD 137,418 in Luxembourg.
  • Ranks are not continuous because only text-verifiable rows from the OECD GPS public index are reproduced in the table.
  • Countries with subnational pay systems may have internal ranges that are not visible in one national row.

Salary Change Index Since 2015

Selected lower secondary teacher salary change index rows, 2015 = 100.

Index rows describe real salary change in the OECD GPS indicator series, not current salary level.

Historical Change Rows

Selected OECD GPS index indicators for lower secondary statutory salaries with 15 years of experience.

Country / Economy Code Index Rank Source Year Interpretation
Lithuania LTU 181 1 / 33 2023 Reported salary index rose relative to 2015.
Hungary HUN 141 2 / 33 2023 Reported salary index rose relative to 2015.
Türkiye TUR 133 3 / 33 2023 Reported salary index rose relative to 2015.
Chile CHL 128 5 / 33 2023 Reported salary index rose relative to 2015.
Poland POL 120 6 / 33 2023 Reported salary index rose relative to 2015.
Israel ISR 109 8 / 33 2023 Reported salary index rose relative to 2015.
Finland FIN 93 28 / 33 2023 Reported salary index was below the 2015 baseline.
Luxembourg LUX 92 30 / 33 2023 Reported salary index was below the 2015 baseline.
Greece GRC 92 30 / 33 2023 Reported salary index was below the 2015 baseline.
Ireland IRL 90 32 / 33 2023 Reported salary index was below the 2015 baseline.
Change analysis
  • A high change index does not mean a high current salary; Lithuania and Hungary show large index gains but remain below the OECD average salary level in the verified rows.
  • Luxembourg keeps the highest reported salary level even though its change index is below 100 in the selected trend indicator.
  • The index should be read as a time-series salary movement, not as a ranking of total compensation.

Comparison Notes

Teacher salary comparisons need a narrow metric because countries report different qualification rules, contract structures, and subnational pay scales.

Statutory salary

Scheduled salary according to official pay scales. It may include regular statutory payments, but it is not the same as average actual earnings.

Actual salary

Average gross earnings received by full-time teachers, including work-related payments where reported. Coverage is narrower in several countries.

PPP conversion

Equivalent USD converted using purchasing power parities for private consumption. It supports price-level comparison but does not equal exchange-rate dollars.

Rank coverage

Rank denominators differ because each OECD indicator has its own available country/economy set.

Source and Methodology

Primary source OECD Education at a Glance 2025, Chapter D3: How much are teachers and school heads paid?
Data table OECD Table D3.1, teachers’ statutory salaries based on most prevalent qualifications at different points in teachers’ careers.
Data portal OECD Data Explorer dataset: Teachers’ statutory salaries
Indicator definition Annual statutory salaries of full-time teachers in public institutions, before income tax and employee deductions.
Unit Equivalent USD converted using PPPs for private consumption.
Level Lower secondary general education where the country row is available in text form.
Reference year OECD EAG 2025 table year is 2024; GPS text rows expose several values with 2023 reference-year labels.
Missing data handling Countries not exposed with a text-verifiable value in the public index are not assigned a numeric value here.

Salary rows were rounded to whole USD as reported. The table does not convert values to local currency, estimate net pay, or fill countries without a verified OECD text value. Historical rows use OECD GPS index indicators where 2015 equals 100.

Methodological Safety Note

Teacher pay is not directly comparable to take-home income. Tax systems, social contributions, housing costs, subnational scales, bonuses, allowances, and private-sector contracts can change the lived value of a salary. Rankings here apply only to the selected OECD statutory salary indicator.

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