Average Tri-City teacher salary tops $90K. Check our education database

Eric Rosane
Bob Brawdy/bbrawdy@tricityherald.com

The average teacher from the Tri-Cities region took home a little more than $90,000 this past school year, and had a base salary of about $85,300.

That’s according to calculations by the Tri-City Herald using the total salaries of more than 3,600 local teachers — including certificated educators, contractors and substitutes.

These teachers taught in Kennewick, Richland, Pasco, North Franklin, Prosser, Finley, Kiona-Benton City, Paterson, Columbia and for Educational Service District 123.

The data was provided by the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Education (OSPI), covering the 2023-24 school year. The salary information the Herald used does not include benefits packages.

Washington public school teachers are among the highest paid in the nation, with an average base salary of about $86,800, according to FOX 13 Seattle.

That’s significantly higher than the national average, which hovers around $69,500.

But high inflation in recent years has hindered the spending power for many teachers, aides and paraeducators, who continue to report financial struggles.

Most teachers spend their own money on classroom supplies, about $673 per year on average, according to Education Week.

Here are the average total teacher salaries, broken down by school district in the Tri-Cities region:

  • Richland: $95,900.

  • Kennewick: $91,800.

  • Columbia (Burbank): $91,800.

  • Kiona-Benton City: $90,700.

  • Pasco: $85,800.

  • North Franklin: $85,800.

  • Finley: $85,700.

  • Prosser: $85,100.

  • Paterson: $78,500.

Ki-Be, Finley lead in certificated experience

Some teachers’ total salaries are thousands of dollars higher than their listed base salary because they are paid extra for coaching contracts, additional certifications or to lead a department.

Those duties are paid extra because they often include work outside the 180 school days they’re obligated to teach.

Pay scales and salaries are mostly negotiated between teacher unions and the individual school district. Overall, base salaries vary depending on a teacher’s level of college education and their years of teaching experience.

But Washington state law also requires school districts to pay full-time certificated teachers a minimum salary of $40,000, with adjustments based on regional and inflationary costs.

During the 2023-24 school year, new teachers — fresh out of college and with no years of certification experience — earned $60,600 in Richland, $59,600 in Pasco and $59,500 in Kennewick.

The average teacher in each school district had the following number of years of certificated teaching experience:

  • 15 years in Kiona-Benton City and Finley.

  • 13 years in Richland, Kennewick, Columbia, North Franklin and Prosser.

  • 12 years in Paterson.

  • 11 years in Pasco.

Ceiling for Tri-City teachers

Richland pays their most experienced teachers a bit more than Kennewick or Pasco.

According to an analysis of the district’s highest base salaries, Richland pays about $111,000.

Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser pay about $106,000.

North Franklin, Kiona-Benton City and Columbia School District pay their top earners a little more than $104,000.

In the Finley School District, it’s about $102,000.

And in the small south Benton County school district of Paterson, which only teaches up to 8th grade, teachers top out at nearly $90,000.

Advertisement