Mississippi Chemistry Teacher Salaries

• Mississippi chemistry teachers who worked at secondary schools earned an annual salary that ranged between $30,000 and $44,000 a year according to Teacher World. In Jackson, Mississippi, chemistry teachers earned annual salaries ranging between $27,000 and $30,000 a year, with more experienced teachers earning higher wages. Salaries for chemistry teachers in Starkville, Mississippi were higher than they were in Jackson. Working in Starkville helped chemistry teachers to earn between $35,000 and $50,000 a year as of April 2011, according to iHire.
  
  

Compared to Other Mississippi Teacher Jobs

• Depending on where they worked, some chemistry teachers in Mississippi earned higher salaries than educators who taught more general subjects. For example, the American Federation of Teachers reports that on average, teachers in Mississippi who had five years of experience earned up to $38,990 as of 2010, regardless of the subject they taught. The highest annual salaries went to teachers who had 16 or more years of working experience; these educators earned up to $48,518 a year during the 2009 and 2010 academic year. Teachers with 10 years of experience earned annual salaries that ranged between $35,850 and $42,960 a year in Mississippi regardless of the subject they taught. New teachers earned starting wages that ranged between $30,900 and $35,020 a year.
  
  

Compared to National Salaries

• Throughout the United States, chemistry teachers and other educators who taught across subjects at the elementary, middle and secondary school levels earned an annual median wage that ranged between $47,100 and $51,180 as of May 2008, according to the United States Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. The top 10 percent of teachers earned as much as $80,970 as of May 2008. If chemistry teachers also coach athletic teams or lead extracurricular programs, they can increase their annual wages. Furthermore, chemistry teachers who taught at the collegiate level earned an annual median salary of $77,350 as of May 2009, according to the United States Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. The top 10 percent of college and university chemistry teachers earned up to $127,770 a year as of May 2008.
  
  

Job Opportunities

• Jobs for chemistry teachers and teachers who instruct students in other subjects at the elementary, middle and secondary school levels are expected to increase by 13 percent according to the United States Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. This job growth for school teachers is expected to occur throughout the United States between 2008 and 2018, with the Southern and Western parts of the country experiencing the largest amounts of growth. At the postsecondary level, jobs for teachers are expected to grow by as much as 15 percent from 2008 through 2018. Chemistry teachers who have graduate degrees, particularly PhDs, can secure higher-paying jobs than their counterparts who do not have advanced degrees.