Bucks County public schools have some of the highest-paid teachers in the state, according to recently published Pennsylvania Department of Education salary reports.
At least one teacher in the Central Bucks School District was paid $191,047 in the 2024-2025 school year — the highest salary recorded in the state data for a full-time classroom teacher.
The highest-paid teachers in most of Bucks County’s 13 school districts rank in the top 50 salaries across the commonwealth. Every district in Bucks County falls within the top 100, the data shows.
The salary reports include information on 202,864 administrators and educators in public and charter schools across Pennsylvania. School leaders provide the department with the data in October each year, which is then typically published in the following spring.
This review of the data is specifically focused on classroom teachers who are marked as a “professional employee” working at the district full-time on an assignment designated as their “primary assignment” in each district.
There are approximately 3,351 teachers who meet those requirements in Bucks County’s public schools, with 2,780 of those teachers making more than the state average teacher pay of $84,003, according to the state data.
Highest teacher salaries by school district
On a list of the highest-paid teachers in the state, southeastern Pennsylvania takes up most of the top 10 spots.
One teacher in Philadelphia, the largest school district in the state, ranks sixth in the state with a salary of $140,909 this school year.
Montgomery County has four teachers that crack the list: one in Abington ($157,424), Lower Merion ($151,240), Cheltenham ($138,000) and Wissahickon ($128,235) school districts, respectively ranking second, third, seventh and 10th statewide.
More Central Bucks staff on leave: HR head, staffer on leave amid Central Bucks allegations at Jamison Elementary
Lancaster School District in Lancaster County has the seventh-highest-paid teacher in the state ($142,532) and the Upper St. Clair School District in Allegheny County employs an educator whose salary ranks at ninth ($128,557).
Apart from Central Bucks, two other school districts in Bucks County fill out the remainder of the top 10 list.
Here’s a breakdown of the highest teacher salaries in each Bucks County school district and where they rank in the state:
-
Central Bucks — highest salary is $191,047, highest in the state.
-
Pennridge — highest salary is $147,711, fourth highest in the state.
-
New Hope-Solebury — highest salary is $128,599, eighth highest in the state.
-
Centennial — highest salary is $121,669, 21st highest in the state.
-
Council Rock — highest salary is $121,226, 22nd highest in the state.
-
Bensalem Township — highest salary is $117,992, 30th highest in the state.
-
Neshaminy — highest salary is $115,517, 43rd highest in the state.
-
Palisades — highest salary is $115,000, 44th highest in the state.
-
Quakertown Community — highest salary is $114,687, 46th highest in the state.
-
Bristol Township — highest salary is $113,047, 49th highest in the state.
-
Bristol Borough — highest salary is $111,429, 58th highest in the state.
-
Pennsbury — highest salary is $111,404, 59th highest in the state.
-
Morrisville Borough — highest salary is $108,981, 73rd highest in the state.
Average elementary teacher salary by school district
Excluding special education teachers, the average elementary school teacher in Pennsylvania makes approximately $82,603, which is about $1,400 less than their peers teaching high school full-time.
The average elementary teacher in Bucks County is paid anywhere between almost $7,000 more to almost 1.5 times more than the average.
Here’s the breakdown of average elementary teacher pay by district, from highest to lowest:
-
New Hope-Solebury — average salary is $120,413.
-
Council Rock — average salary is $113,799.
-
Centennial — average salary is $108,673.
-
Neshaminy — average salary is $107,486.
-
Quakertown Community — average salary is $104,953.
-
Pennsbury — average salary is $101,060.
-
Palisades — average salary is $99,643.
-
Central Bucks — average salary is $97,489.
-
Pennridge — average salary is $96,679.
-
Bensalem Township — average salary is $96,200.
-
Morrisville Borough — average salary is $93,773.
-
Bristol Township — average salary is $92,331.
-
Bristol Borough — average salary is $89,416.
Average secondary school teacher salary by district
Secondary school teachers in Pennsylvania generally make approximately $1,300 more than the state average for all teachers last year, with a statewide average of $85,297.
While most school districts in Bucks County have higher-than-average salaries in middle and high schools, Bristol Borough School District is the only area in the county that pays below average for those teachers.
Here’s the average secondary school teacher pay by district:
-
New Hope-Solebury — average salary is $121,878.
-
Council Rock — average salary is $112,865.
-
Centennial — average salary is $111,142.
-
Neshaminy — average salary is $108,419.
-
Quakertown Community — average salary is $106,514.
-
Central Bucks — average salary is $105,492.
-
Palisades — average salary is $100,396.
-
Bensalem Township — average salary is $99,980.
-
Pennsbury — average salary is $98,711.
-
Pennridge — average salary is $98,159.
-
Bristol Township — average salary is $95,578.
-
Morrisville Borough — average salary is $92,143.
-
Bristol Borough — average salary is $82,212.
Chris Ullery can be reached at cullery@couriertimes.com.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Teacher salaries in Bucks County among highest in Pennsylvania