Virginia Second-Best State for Teachers, According to Study

Next Monday is World Teachers Day, and to honor that day and the educators it celebrates, online financial resource WalletHub released a study of 2015’s Best and Worst States for Teachers.

After looking at a series of metrics like compensation, competition and academic environment, the study determined Virginia is the nation’s second-best state for teachers, trailing only Massachusetts.

Virginia ranked second in Job Opportunity and Competition, third in Income Growth Potential and 14th in Academic and Work Environment to soar to the top of the list. It placed seventh in Average Starting Salary and cracked the top-20 in Teachers per Student by 2022, Unemployment Rate and Teacher-to-Student Ratio.

Virginia also earned the No. 11 spot in WalletHub’s School Systems Rankings.

Take a look at the top 10 states for teachers in 2015, as well as the bottom five:

1. Massachusetts
2. Virginia
3. Minnesota
4. Wyoming
5. New Jersey
6. Iowa
7. Wisconsin
8. Pennsylvania
9. Kansas
10. Maryland

Bottom Five: Oregon, MIssissippi, Arizona, North Carolina and West Virginia