Average Salaries & Expenditure Percentage - CalEdFacts
This content is part of California Department of Education's information and media guide about education in the State of California. For similar information on other topics, visit the full CalEdFacts.Statewide Average Salaries
and Expenditure Percentages: 2020–21
The State Superintendent of Public Instruction is required by California Education Code (EC) Section 41409(c) to provide annually to each school district, for use in the School Accountability Report Card (SARC), the statewide salary averages for teachers and administrators and the statewide percentage of expenditures spent on personnel in the following categories:
- Beginning, midrange, and highest salary paid to teachers
- Salaries of school-site principals
- Salaries of district superintendents
- Percentage of expenditures allocated to teacher salaries
- Percentage of expenditures allocated to administrative personnel salaries
Existing law also requires the State Superintendent to group the statewide salary averages and percentage of expenditures by district type (elementary, high, and unified) and by size based on regular annual average daily attendance.
Every school district, except for kindergarten through grade twelve districts with a single school, must include in its SARC (EC Section 41409.3) the statewide averages and expenditure percentages provided by the State Superintendent along with the district’s salaries and expenditure percentages for comparative purposes.
For more information regarding statewide average salary fiscal information, contact the Office of Financial Accountability and Information Services by phone at 916-322-1770 or by email at sacsinfo@cde.ca.gov. Questions concerning program information should be directed to the Policy and Evaluation Division by phone at 916-319-0875 or by email at sarc@cde.ca.gov. Additional information is also available on the California Department of Education SARC web page.
Statewide Average Salaries and Expenditure Percentages for the School Accountability Report Card: 2020–21
ADA = Average Daily Attendance
Elementary School Districts
| Statewide Averages | Small ADA <1,000 |
Medium ADA 1,000 to 4,999 |
Large ADA ≥5,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beginning Teacher Annual Salary | $46,844 | $51,591 | $52,641 |
| Midrange Teacher Annual Salary | $73,398 | $79,620 | $83,981 |
| Highest Teacher Annual Salary | $93,345 |
$104,866 | $107,522 |
| School-Site Principal Annual Salary (Elementary) | $116,457 |
$131,473 |
$136,247 |
| School-Site Principal Annual Salary (Middle) | $122,115 |
$135,064 |
$142,248 |
| School-Site Principal Annual Salary (High) | N/A | $137,679 |
$139,199 |
| District Superintendent Annual Salary | $136,296 |
$205,661 |
$242,166 |
| Percentage Allocated for Administrative Salaries | 6.44% |
5.87% |
5.47% |
| Percentage Allocated for Teacher Salaries | 29.92% |
33.33% | 34.07% |
High School Districts
| Statewide Averages | Small ADA <1,000 |
Medium ADA 1,000 to 3,999 |
Large ADA ≥4,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beginning Teacher Annual Salary | $50,126 |
$50,352 |
$55,947 |
| Midrange Teacher Annual Salary | $61,890 |
$83,849 |
$90,080 |
| Highest Teacher Annual Salary | $99,120 |
$103,007 |
$117,121 |
| School-Site Principal Annual Salary (Elementary) | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| School-Site Principal Annual Salary (Middle) | N/A | $169,216 |
$146,364 |
| School-Site Principal Annual Salary (High) | $128,609 |
$144,431 |
$164,633 |
| District Superintendent Annual Salary | $145,986 |
$193,259 |
$261,984 |
| Percentage Allocated for Administrative Salaries | 5.96% | 5.68% | 4.57% |
| Percentage Allocated for Teacher Salaries | 26.75% | 30.40% | 31.49% |
Unified School Districts
| Statewide Averages | ADA <1,500 |
ADA 1,500 to 4,999 |
ADA 5,000 to 9,999 |
ADA 10,000 to 19,999 |
ADA ≥20,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beginning Teacher Annual Salary | $46,419 |
$48,503 |
$52,478 |
$54,370 |
$51,081 |
| Midrange Teacher Annual Salary | $69,902 |
$74,912 |
$80,810 |
$82,681 |
$77,514 |
| Highest Teacher Annual Salary | $97,912 |
$100,321 |
$101,276 |
$106,610 |
$105,764 |
| School-Site Principal Annual Salary (Elementary) | $111,731 |
$122,160 |
$127,080 |
$135,283 |
$133,421 |
| School-Site Principal Annual Salary (Middle) | $122,012 |
$127,632 | $134,264 |
$141,244 |
$138,594 |
| School-Site Principal Annual Salary (High) | $122,212 |
$137,578 |
$147,200 |
$152,955 |
$153,392 |
| District Superintendent Annual Salary | $150,971 |
$198,665 |
$242,351 |
$264,367 |
$298,377 |
| Percentage Allocated for Administrative Salaries | 6.10% | 5.61% | 5.51% | 5.03% | 4.97% |
| Percentage Allocated for Teacher Salaries | 28.52% | 30.66% | 32.58% | 33.09% | 31.60% |
The average salary of public school teachers in 2020–21 for the State of California was $85,856.
According to Table B-6 of the National Education Association’s (NEA) Rankings & Estimates: Rankings of the States 2021 and Estimates of School Statistics 2022 report, California’s 2020–21 average teacher salary ranked third highest in comparison to all other states. To download and view NEA's full report, please visit NEA's web site 
.
