Georgia teacher salaries by school district, 2024-25
Georgia teachers who worked the whole 2024-25 school year were paid a median of $74,141, supplements included.1 That's 93,787 of the 124,398 teachers on the payrolls of Georgia's 180 public school districts.
What is the typical teacher salary in Georgia?
- Teachers on the payroll
- 124,398
- 2024-25, public school districts
- Middle district
- $67,768
- median pay, each district counted once
- Metro Atlanta starting salary
- $60,000 to $62,434
- bachelor's, five largest districts, 2026-27
- School districts
- 180
- county and city districts
Which Georgia school districts pay teachers the most?
By median total pay of teachers who worked the whole 2024-25 school year, among districts with at least 10 of them.1
Highest median teacher pay
- Atlanta Public Schools2,548 full-year teachers$92,912
- Cobb County6,420 full-year teachers$91,604
- Buford City339 full-year teachers$86,678
- Fulton County3,235 full-year teachers$85,494
- Decatur City369 full-year teachers$84,511
- Clayton County2,374 full-year teachers$83,357
- Marietta City571 full-year teachers$82,278
- Bartow County805 full-year teachers$82,269
- Fayette County1,198 full-year teachers$81,755
- DeKalb County5,289 full-year teachers$81,627
Georgia median, $74,141
Middle district: $67,768
Each bar counts the districts whose median teacher pay falls in a $5,000 band. The dashed line marks the middle district, $67,768.
Metro Atlanta teacher salary schedules, 2026-27
The official schedules of Georgia's five largest districts, from each district's own document: starting pay with a bachelor's (T-4) and a master's (T-5) certificate, and the top of the schedule (doctorate, T-7). Each district page has the full schedule.
| District | Starting, bachelor's | Starting, master's | Top of schedule | Median paid, 2024-25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gwinnett County | $61,146 | $66,276 | $114,000 | $76,113 |
| Cobb County | $60,604 | $65,731 | $125,262 | $91,604 |
| DeKalb County | $60,000 | $63,100 | $113,300 | $81,627 |
| Fulton County | $60,506 | $66,514 | $118,572 | $85,494 |
| Atlanta Public Schools | $62,434 | $68,776 | $128,375 | $92,912 |
Work years differ: Atlanta Public Schools' schedule covers 202 days, Fulton and DeKalb 190, Cobb 183. The schedules are for 2026-27; the median paid is for 2024-25 and includes supplements.
Do Georgia high school teachers earn more than elementary teachers?
Median total pay of full-year teachers statewide by the kind of class they teach, 2024-25. "Other" covers ESOL, gifted, career and technical, alternative school and preschool teachers.1
- Elementary (34,404)$72,246
- Middle school (14,362)$73,044
- High school (18,643)$78,440
- Special education (17,965)$71,876
- Other (8,413)$80,101
Compare teacher pay at every Georgia school district
Median total pay of teachers who worked the whole 2024-25 school year, and how many teachers each district had on its payroll. Click a column to sort it.1
Showing 1 to 25 of 180 districts, highest median pay first.
| Atlanta Public Schools (APS) | $92,912 | 3,405 | 2,548 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cobb County | $91,604 | 7,786 | 6,420 |
| Buford City | $86,678 | 397 | 339 |
| Fulton County (FCS) | $85,494 | 4,198 | 3,235 |
| Decatur City | $84,511 | 473 | 369 |
| Clayton County | $83,357 | 3,733 | 2,374 |
| Cartersville City | $83,210 | 323 | 8 |
| Marietta City | $82,278 | 759 | 571 |
| Bartow County | $82,269 | 1,022 | 805 |
| Fayette County | $81,755 | 1,468 | 1,198 |
| DeKalb County | $81,627 | 7,071 | 5,289 |
| Walton County | $81,476 | 987 | 804 |
| Houston County | $80,853 | 2,062 | 1,610 |
| Burke County | $80,339 | 313 | 258 |
| Cherokee County | $79,190 | 3,014 | 2,498 |
| Calhoun City | $78,602 | 267 | 206 |
| Paulding County | $77,859 | 2,151 | 1,804 |
| Forsyth County | $77,763 | 3,729 | 3,071 |
| Social Circle City | $77,266 | 148 | 115 |
| Gwinnett County (GCPS) | $76,113 | 13,872 | 10,717 |
| Carrollton City | $75,999 | 414 | 284 |
| Bremen City | $75,558 | 151 | 119 |
| Dawson County | $75,216 | 289 | 215 |
| Wheeler County | $75,131 | 76 | 50 |
| Oconee County | $74,722 | 608 | 509 |
No district matches. Clear the search or pick another county or size.
Gwinnett County is the largest district, with 13,872 teachers.
Questions about Georgia teacher salaries
How much do teachers make in Georgia?
Georgia public school teachers who worked the whole 2024-25 school year were paid a median of $74,141, supplements included. That covers 93,787 teachers in 180 school districts.
Which Georgia school district pays teachers the most?
Atlanta Public Schools, with a median of $92,912 for full-year teachers in 2024-25, followed by Cobb County ($91,604) and Buford City ($86,678).
What is the starting salary for teachers in metro Atlanta?
On the 2026-27 schedules of Atlanta Public Schools, Gwinnett, Cobb, Fulton and DeKalb, a new teacher with a bachelor's degree starts at $60,000 to $62,434. Atlanta Public Schools starts highest.
Do high school teachers in Georgia earn more than elementary teachers?
A little: full-year high school teachers were paid a median of $78,440 in 2024-25, elementary teachers $72,246. Coaching and other supplements are part of that pay.
Sources for the Georgia teacher figures
Pay is everything a district paid each teacher in the 2024-25 school year (July to June): salary plus supplements for coaching and extra duties. Pay figures count only teachers the district also paid the year before who were paid at least 90% as much this year, so people who started, left or went part time during the year don't pull them down; the file has no hours or start dates. Substitutes, aides and Pre-K lottery teachers aren't counted. The Department of Audits and Accounts compiles the file from what each employer reports and says it has not audited or reviewed it. Medians and ranks are our own arithmetic. The metro Atlanta schedules are cited on each district's page.
- Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts, Open Georgia, salaries and travel, fiscal years 2024 and 2025: title and total pay of every school district employee, July 2024 to June 2025, and the year before to see who worked the full year.