National Averages

• The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that about 1,275,410 teaching assistants were working in 2009, earning an average salary of about $24,280 per year. Those in the top 10th percentile of earners made about $35,350 per year, while those in the lowest 10th percentile made about $15,870 per year. The median 50 percent of earners made an average salary of $22,820 per year.
  
  

Most Common Sectors

• The elementary and secondary schools sector of the industry employed the highest number of teaching assistants in 2009. The estimated 1,023,190 teaching assistants employed in this sector earned an average of $24,500 in 2009. The sector with the second-highest number of teaching assistants, child and daycare services, paid the estimated 106,330 workers in this field an average salary of about $20,480.
  
  

Highest-Paying Industries

• Teaching assistants employed in the colleges, universities and professional schools sector of the industry had the highest average salaries in 2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The estimated 28,430 workers in this sector made about $28,840. Those in the next-highest paying industry, junior colleges, earned an average salary of about $28,560.
  
  

Geopgraphic Differences

• The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that teaching assistants in Alaska, California, Rhode Island, Washington and Connecticut had the highest average salaries out of all states in 2009. Teaching assistants in Alaska earned about $35,290 per year, while those in California earned an average of $29,840. Assistants in the fifth-highest paying state, Connecticut, made about $28,600 per year. Teaching assistants in State College, Pennsylvania, earned the highest salaries out of any metropolitan area, making an average of $36,750 per year.