Highest Paying Cities for Engineering Teacher (2026)
This page looks at highest paying cities for Engineering Teacher through Careerclev's current salary model, built from the latest official BLS wage baseline. It shows which cities lead on pay, how big the gap is after the top spot, and where job opportunities are most concentrated.
In practice, San Francisco, CA currently leads at $158,870/year, while Lawrence, KS gives you a useful second benchmark at $146,241. That makes it easier to judge whether the leader is far ahead or part of a tighter upper tier.
📅 Updated April 2026📊 Modeled salary benchmarks🇺🇸 Engineering Teacher · 12 markets ranked⏱ 12 min read
1
San Francisco, CA
$159K est.
2
Lawrence, KS
$146K est.
3
Knoxville, TN
$142K est.
4
South Bend, IN
$142K est.
5
Lafayette, IN
$142K est.
#1 City
San Francisco, CA
$159K
Markets Ranked
12
top markets
Data Layer
Metro
Careerclev salary model
Top Employment
440
employment estimate
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Highest Paying Cities for Engineering Teacher: Full Ranking
If you're comparing the best cities for engineering teacher, San Francisco, CA sits at the top of this 12-market ranking at $158,870 per year in Careerclev's current salary model. From there, the second spot belongs to Lawrence, KS at $146,241, which helps show whether the pay curve drops quickly or stays fairly tight after the leader. On entry-level pages, Careerclev uses lower wage percentiles as a transparent proxy for starting pay, because the public source data does not offer a clean entry-level field for every role.
1
San Francisco, CA
440 employed · metro market
High payData year 2024Varies
100% benchmark
$158,870
official baseline $159K
2
Lawrence, KS
90 employed · metro market
High payData year 2024Varies
vs #1
$146,241
official baseline $146K
3
Knoxville, TN
250 employed · metro market
High payData year 2024Varies
vs #1
$142,160
official baseline $142K
4
South Bend, IN
N/A employed · metro market
High payData year 2024Varies
vs #1
$141,931
official baseline $142K
5
Lafayette, IN
610 employed · metro market
High payData year 2024Varies
vs #1
$141,733
official baseline $142K
6
Fort Collins, CO
150 employed · metro market
High payData year 2024Varies
vs #1
$141,608
official baseline $142K
7
Palm Bay, FL
N/A employed · metro market
High payData year 2024Varies
vs #1
$141,442
official baseline $141K
8
Ann Arbor, MI
710 employed · metro market
High payData year 2024Varies
vs #1
$140,318
official baseline $140K
9
Athens, GA
60 employed · metro market
High payData year 2024Varies
vs #1
$139,901
official baseline $140K
10
Raleigh, NC
490 employed · metro market
High payData year 2024Varies
vs #1
$137,902
official baseline $138K
11
Los Angeles, CA
540 employed · metro market
High payData year 2024Varies
vs #1
$137,788
official baseline $138K
12
Madison, WI
330 employed · metro market
High payData year 2024Varies
vs #1
$137,704
official baseline $138K
What Engineering Teacher Do
Before the pay ranking means much, it helps to understand the work itself. Engineering Teacher salary markets are easier to compare when the underlying role is clear.
This role combines strong pay potential with a specific preparation path and day-to-day work profile.
Engineering Teacher Salary Trend
This market ranking is local, but the longer pay direction behind engineering teacher is easier to read from the national salary trend. That helps show whether the role is sitting on a stable long-run wage climb or just posting a short-term local spike.
Careerclev's current 2026 estimate applies an annual modeled growth rate of 1.2% from the last confirmed BLS benchmark year, using wage history and employment outlook where available.
2026·$109KEstimated
$104K
2020
$105K
2021
$104K
2022
$107K
2023
$106K
2024
$107K
2025*
$109K
2026*
Official Data
May 2024 BLS
2020–2026 trend (est.)
↑ 4.8%
Forecast method
Trend + outlook model
* 2024–2026 values are modeled estimates extending from the last confirmed BLS benchmark. The last confirmed BLS figure ($106K, 2024) is extended with recent wage trend history, employment outlook, and tech-market signals where available, then replaced when official data is published.
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Entry-Level Pay Signals
A high median salary only tells half the story. What matters for career planning is where starting pay actually lands. Because BLS does not publish a clean entry-level label for every role, Careerclev uses lower wage percentiles as a transparent proxy. Lawrence, KS shows an estimated early-career pay signal of $146,241, compared with a long-run median of $146,241. In turn, that gap gives a better feel for both long-run upside and how quickly a role starts rewarding experience.
Job
Entry Proxy
Median Salary
Prep Path
Typical Education
San Francisco, CA
$120,006
$158,870
Varies
Education path varies by employer
Lawrence, KS
$146,241
$146,241
Varies
Education path varies by employer
Knoxville, TN
$113,853
$142,160
Varies
Education path varies by employer
South Bend, IN
$106,107
$141,931
Varies
Education path varies by employer
Lafayette, IN
$84,869.0
$141,733
Varies
Education path varies by employer
Fort Collins, CO
$109,283
$141,608
Varies
Education path varies by employer
Palm Bay, FL
$107,690
$141,442
Varies
Education path varies by employer
Ann Arbor, MI
$137,933
$140,318
Varies
Education path varies by employer
Jobs With Strong Demand
Pay ceilings matter more when the local labor market is deep enough to generate real openings. In Engineering Teacher, Ann Arbor, MI combines a salary of $140,318 with roughly 710 employed workers, which makes it one of the more accessible high-pay options on this list. By contrast, some specialties rank higher on salary but operate as narrower niches where openings are harder to find and entry paths are longer.
Very Deep Market
Ann Arbor, MI
$140,318
710 employed
Training path varies in a varies pathway.
Very Deep Market
Lafayette, IN
$141,733
610 employed
Training path varies in a varies pathway.
Strong Market
Los Angeles, CA
$137,788
540 employed
Training path varies in a varies pathway.
Strong Market
Raleigh, NC
$137,902
490 employed
Training path varies in a varies pathway.
Strong Market
San Francisco, CA
$158,870
440 employed
Training path varies in a varies pathway.
Strong Market
Madison, WI
$137,704
330 employed
Training path varies in a varies pathway.
Salary vs Employment
The highest-paying job is not always the largest market, and that distinction changes the practical calculus. San Francisco, CA leads on salary at $158,870, while Ann Arbor, MI supports roughly 710 workers locally, a useful sanity check before committing to a long training path for a role with limited local openings.
San Francisco, CASOC 25-1032
$159K
440
Lawrence, KSSOC 25-1032
$146K
90
Knoxville, TNSOC 25-1032
$142K
250
South Bend, INSOC 25-1032
$142K
N/A
Lafayette, INSOC 25-1032
$142K
610
Fort Collins, COSOC 25-1032
$142K
150
Palm Bay, FLSOC 25-1032
$141K
N/A
Ann Arbor, MISOC 25-1032
$140K
710
How to Choose a High-Paying Job Strategically
Salary rankings are a starting point, not a decision. In Engineering Teacher, the gap between San Francisco, CA at $158,870 and the early-pay signal from Lawrence, KS at $146,241 shows why access, market size, and training timelines belong in the same conversation as the headline number. That is where this page becomes more useful than a simple ranking list.
1
Match salary to access realistically
A high median means little if there are only a handful of openings per year. Check the employment estimate alongside the salary. A role with 710 workers in Engineering Teacher is fundamentally easier to enter than one with a few hundred.
2
Factor in education and licensure timelines
Some of the highest-paying roles on this list sit in prep bands such as Varies and often pair that with expectations like education path varies by employer. Build that timeline into your planning before targeting the salary ceiling.
3
Separate entry pay from long-run upside
The entry proxy column in this guide gives you an early-career anchor. A role that starts at $146,241 and scales to $146,241 offers a very different career arc than one that starts and peaks near the same figure.
4
Check the work before chasing the pay
Compare the day-to-day work with the training path before you commit. A role can rank highly on pay and still be a poor fit if the work itself does not match the kind of problems, environment, or responsibilities you want.
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Related High-Pay Pages
These related pages are the most useful next steps from this ranking. They keep the same high-pay context for Engineering Teacher, then branch into nearby market views and role-specific pages such as Lawrence, KS and Lafayette, IN. If this page answers the pay question but not the career question, start here.
High-pay rankings are most useful when you read them alongside the core salary guide, the career entry path, and a few nearby role comparisons. That turns this page from a ranking into a better decision route for engineering teacher.
These questions cover the practical parts of the ranking: how entry pay is estimated, why wage fields sometimes differ by source, and how to compare the top salary with the real size of the job market.
Which city pays the most for Engineering Teacher?▼
San Francisco, CA currently leads this engineering teacher ranking at $158,870 per year in Careerclev's current salary model, built from the latest available BLS OEWS wage baseline.
Is the entry-level pay data directly from BLS?▼
Not exactly. BLS publishes wage percentiles rather than experience-level labels, so Careerclev uses the 25th percentile (or the low-end wage where available) as an entry-pay proxy. It is a transparent approximation, not a direct label.
Which city pays the most for Engineering Teacher?▼
San Francisco, CA currently leads this engineering teacher pay ranking at $158,870 per year, with an employment estimate of 440. Use the salary gap and employment depth together when comparing the strongest markets.
What kind of preparation does Engineering Teacher usually require?▼
Engineering Teacher is currently tagged as varies in the O*NET prep model. The most common education signal is education path varies by employer, while the training path is described as training path varies.
Does the top-paying market also have the deepest employment base?▼
Not always. Ann Arbor, MI may support a deeper employment base than the #1 salary market, which can make them more practical despite a lower pay ceiling.
How should I compare salary with accessibility?▼
Use the ranking salary, entry-pay proxy, employment estimate, and preparation path together. The best target is usually the role that balances strong pay with a realistic path in.
Can a lower-ranked job be a better target than San Francisco, CA?▼
Yes. A lower-ranked role can be the better choice if it has a shorter prep path, stronger entry pay, more openings, or a work profile that fits you better than San Francisco, CA.
Why do some high-paying roles look hard to enter?▼
Many top-paying roles sit behind longer training, licensing, or related-experience requirements. That is why Careerclev shows preparation signals next to salary instead of treating all high-paying jobs as equally accessible.
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Data Sources & MethodologyRankings use Careerclev salary facts built from BLS OEWS wage data and extended through Careerclev's current salary projection model where applicable. National pages use U.S. aggregate data, state pages use state-level data, and city pages use the BLS metro dataset behind the largest-city public label. Category labels are derived from BLS Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) major group codes, while prep-path notes come from imported O*NET job-zone and career requirement data where available.