Teacher Salary in Mississippi (2026)

Worth knowing: Mississippi's substantial recent teacher pay raises are a distinctive structural feature of MS public education compensation most national teacher surveys understate. MS HB 530 of 2022 (signed by Gov. Tate Reeves April 2022, effective 2022-23 school year) raised the MS minimum teacher salary by ~$5,140 averaged across MS career teachers with substantial step + lane adjustments for veteran teachers + restructured MS teacher pay scale to address MS being among the lowest US average teacher salary states pre-2022 (~$45K MS average teacher salary pre-2022 vs ~$66K US average teacher salary). The reform built on Gov. Phil Bryant's 2014 + 2016 MS teacher pay raises restoring MS teacher salaries closer to the US Southeast average. MS Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS, ~$32B AUM, ~150K active + ~110K retired members, founded 1952, the substantial defined-benefit pension serving substantially all MS public employees including teachers + state government + university faculty + parish + municipal workers) provides the MS public employee pension with substantial funded-ratio + UAL challenges + ongoing MS legislative attention. MS does NOT recognize public-sector collective bargaining for K-12 teachers — MS RTW since 1954 (Article 7-B Mississippi Constitution) + MS teacher unions (MAE + Mississippi Federation of Teachers) operate as professional advocacy with limited bargaining authority. The substantial MS charter school growth post-2013 charter authorization legislation (~12 MS public charter schools + ~6K MS charter school students concentrated in Jackson + the Recovery School District equivalent + MS Charter School Authorizer Board) supports substantial MS charter teacher placement. MS flat 4.0% by 2026 + MS personal exemption $6,000 single + no state estate tax + MS RTW since 1954 + MS retirement income FULL EXEMPTION at any age.