Which state has the most public school teachers?
🔎 Skip to the answer (ranking table)Guess
Which states employ the most public school teachers? Tap them most-to-least.
Tapping assigns 1→4 in order
I bet… California — most kids means most teachers, right?
Answer
The real order is…
Flip alert! Texas employs the most teachers even though California has more students — which means fewer kids per teacher in Texas.
📚 Background Not California! Texas employs the most public-school teachers — about 373,000 — even though California has more students. More teachers for fewer students… can you work out what that means for the size of a Texas class? (NCES, Digest of Education Statistics) (opens in a new tab)
🔍 Explore more: 🍎『The great teacher flip: more kids, fewer teachers?』→ I bet… California — most kids means most teachers, right?
Compare
Public school teachers (full-time positions, by state, Fall 2022)
Highest: Texas (373,332 teachers); lowest shown here: Alaska (7,160 teachers).
Note: teachers counted as full-time positions — Fall 2022, NCES.
Geography is destiny!
Recap
🏅 Today's discovery
🏅 Texas is the USA's #1!
🐕 States in Numbers
Quiz a friend!
📋 See the ranking table (top 50)
| Rank | State | Value |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | Texas | 373,332 teachers |
| #2 | California | 271,586 teachers |
| #3 | New York | 215,761 teachers |
| #4 | Florida | 156,787 teachers |
| #5 | Illinois | 135,363 teachers |
| #6 | Pennsylvania | 127,037 teachers |
| #7 | Georgia | 121,301 teachers |
| #8 | New Jersey | 117,661 teachers |
| #9 | Ohio | 102,323 teachers |
| #10 | North Carolina | 99,980 teachers |
| #11 | Virginia | 92,651 teachers |
| #12 | Michigan | 85,880 teachers |
| #13 | Massachusetts | 76,978 teachers |
| #14 | Missouri | 69,838 teachers |
| #15 | Tennessee | 65,781 teachers |
| #16 | Indiana | 65,597 teachers |
| #17 | Washington | 63,272 teachers |
| #18 | Maryland | 62,236 teachers |
| #19 | Wisconsin | 60,011 teachers |
| #20 | Minnesota | 56,124 teachers |
| #21 | South Carolina | 55,947 teachers |
| #22 | Colorado | 53,552 teachers |
| #23 | Arizona | 49,566 teachers |
| #24 | Connecticut | 44,007 teachers |
| #25 | Kentucky | 43,023 teachers |
| #26 | Oklahoma | 42,124 teachers |
| #27 | Alabama | 42,022 teachers |
| #28 | Louisiana | 41,110 teachers |
| #29 | Arkansas | 38,815 teachers |
| #30 | Kansas | 37,885 teachers |
| #31 | Iowa | 36,138 teachers |
| #32 | Mississippi | 33,768 teachers |
| #33 | Utah | 31,164 teachers |
| #34 | Oregon | 30,906 teachers |
| #35 | Nebraska | 23,911 teachers |
| #36 | Nevada | 23,076 teachers |
| #37 | New Mexico | 21,572 teachers |
| #38 | West Virginia | 18,670 teachers |
| #39 | Idaho | 18,121 teachers |
| #40 | Maine | 15,192 teachers |
| #41 | New Hampshire | 14,731 teachers |
| #42 | Hawaii | 11,984 teachers |
| #43 | Montana | 11,036 teachers |
| #44 | Rhode Island | 10,786 teachers |
| #45 | South Dakota | 10,261 teachers |
| #46 | Delaware | 9,991 teachers |
| #47 | North Dakota | 9,581 teachers |
| #48 | Vermont | 7,934 teachers |
| #49 | Wyoming | 7,312 teachers |
| #50 | Alaska | 7,160 teachers |
Source: National Center for Education Statistics (Fall 2022)
Sources
Data as of: Fall 2022
NCES Digest of Education Statistics: Table 208.30, public school teachers by state (Fall 2022, FTE) (opens in a new tab) (2026-07-26) — Official published full-time-equivalent teacher counts (the committed raw file holds the Fall 2022 'Total' column per state as published; display rounds to whole teachers after ranking).
↳ On the NCES Digest table 208.30, find your state's row and read the Fall 2022 'Total' column.