Secondary Teacher

Plan and deliver instruction, assess student progress, and develop curriculum.

1,011 people hold the Secondary Teacher role across 41 departments in Seattle Public Schools, with a median total compensation of $147,229.

Employees: 1,011
Median pay: $147,229
Departments: 41
Cross-jurisdiction: #1 of 1

Compared with the local labor market

Secondary Teacher pay vs. the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA area

Across all employers in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA area, the median wage for Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education — about 7,720 people — is $102,670. Seattle Public Schools pays a median base salary of $111,231 for this role, 8% above that figure — about the 59th percentile of local pay for the occupation.

Where Seattle Public Schools sits in the local pay range

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$61,140

$82,360

$102,670

$127,290

$132,300

Seattle Public Schools median · $111,231

The bar is the range of annual wages for Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education across every employer in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Seattle Public Schools’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.

And across the country

Nationwide, the median wage for Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education — about 1,065,210 people — is $72,040. Seattle Public Schools’s median base salary is 54% above that national figure, above the 90th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$48,780

$59,980

$72,040

$92,570

$107,600

Seattle Public Schools median · $111,231

Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA range relative to the national one.

Computed over the 1,009 of 1,011 people in this role paid at least $25,000 in base salary. The rest are part-year or part-time records, whose actual pay isn’t comparable to a full-time annual wage.

Median total compensation for this role at Seattle Public Schools is $147,229, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.

Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.

Within Seattle Public Schools