Leon County teachers earned an average annual wage of $53,226 in 2025, ranking 44th among Florida’s 67 counties, according to a county-by-county wage analysis.
The ranking places Leon County in the lower third of Florida counties for average teacher pay. The analysis also compares teacher compensation with the average wage of all workers in each county, providing another way to assess how competitive teacher salaries are within the local labor market.
Leon County’s average annual wage for all workers was $64,947 in 2025, ranking 13th statewide. That means the average Leon County teacher earned about 82% of the average wage for all workers in the county.
That produces a significant disparity between the two rankings.
Leon County ranked 44th for teacher pay but 13th for overall worker pay. In other words, while Leon County has relatively high wages compared with many Florida counties, its teachers’ average pay does not keep pace with the county’s broader labor market.
The analysis ranks Leon County 60th among the 67 counties when teacher wages are measured as a percentage of the county’s overall average wage. Only seven counties have a larger gap between teacher pay and the average wage of all workers.
That places Leon County in a notably different position from counties where teaching salaries are more competitive with local wages. In Bradford County, for example, teachers earned 129.6% of the county’s average wage, the highest ratio in Florida. Monroe County ranked second at 123.6%. At the other end of the spectrum, Miami-Dade teachers earned 69.8% of the county’s average wage.
The numbers have implications beyond the headline teacher salary.
For someone considering a teaching career in Leon County, the relevant comparison may not simply be what teachers earn in other school districts. Potential teachers can also compare the $53,226 average teacher wage with the $64,947 average wage available across the county’s broader workforce.
That makes teaching potentially less financially attractive to workers who have the qualifications to pursue other professions.
The same issue can affect retention. Existing teachers who can transfer their skills to other occupations or other Florida school districts may have an incentive to leave if competing opportunities offer higher compensation relative to the local cost of living and labor market.
The data therefore presents a two-part challenge for Leon County Schools. Its average teacher wage is already below the midpoint of Florida counties, ranking 44th, while the gap between teacher pay and other wages in Leon County is even more pronounced, with the county ranking 60th statewide on the teacher-to-overall-wage measure.
The figures do not, by themselves, establish that Leon County is losing teachers because of compensation or quantify the number of teachers who leave for higher-paying jobs. But they do show that teacher pay is comparatively weak both within Florida’s school districts and relative to the broader Leon County labor market.
For school officials seeking to recruit and retain high-quality teachers, that distinction could be important. Raising teacher salaries can make the profession more competitive not only against neighboring school districts, but against the other employment opportunities available to college-educated workers in Leon County.
Regional comparison raises additional concerns
The regional comparison provides another measure of Leon County’s competitiveness.
Among the seven North Florida counties examined, five pay their teachers more on average than Leon County. Jefferson leads the group at $59,241, followed by Santa Rosa at $58,498, Okaloosa at $57,408, Bay at $55,787 and Escambia at $53,556. Leon’s average of $53,226 is higher than only Wakulla at $52,646 and Gadsden at $50,533.
But the more significant difference is how teacher salaries compare with wages for other workers within each county.
In Jefferson County, teachers earned nearly 20% more than the average worker, while teachers in Wakulla earned about 4% more than the countywide average. Bay County teachers were essentially at wage parity with other workers, and Santa Rosa teachers earned nearly 10% more than the county average.
The situation is different in the counties where teacher salaries are closer to or below Leon’s. In Escambia, teachers earned 85.4% of the average wage for all workers, compared with Leon’s 82%. Okaloosa teachers earned 89.9% of the countywide average.
The regional numbers suggest that Leon County faces competition on two fronts. Several nearby counties offer teachers higher average salaries, while others make teaching more competitive relative to the wages available in their local economies.
For Leon County Schools, that means teacher recruitment is taking place in a regional labor market where candidates can find districts offering higher salaries or, in some cases, a stronger relationship between teaching pay and other local employment opportunities.
The data does not establish how many Leon County teachers have left for these counties or whether salary differences are the reason they leave. But it does show that Leon’s teacher compensation is less competitive than that of many nearby counties, adding another challenge for the district as it seeks to attract and retain teachers.
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