How Texas Teachers Rank Among States For Pay And Work Conditions

Education in Texas is "not so much," and the way we treat teachers might be a pretty good place to start looking for the problem.

Let's get right to it.

WalletHub's latest ranking of the Best and Worst States for Teachers puts Texas at #23 in the country. That's not terrible, but it's certainly nothing for a state as large, wealthy and proud as Texas to brag about.

WalletHub didn't just pull that number out of a hat. The study compared all 50 states and Washington, D.C., using 24 different measurements divided into two major categories: Opportunity & Competition and Academic & Work Environment.

Those broad categories include things like teacher income growth, projected teacher turnover, pupil-teacher ratios, school-system quality and how much states actually spend educating each student.

Texas ranked #32 in Opportunity & Competition and #22 in Academic & Work Environment.

Here's The Number Texas Should Be Embarrassed About

When it comes to public-school spending per student, Texas ranks #48.

Forty-eighth.

Only Utah, Oklahoma and Idaho ranked lower in WalletHub's comparison.

Let me remind you that we're talking about Texas. We aren't exactly some tiny state trying to hold things together with bake sales and couch-cushion money. Texas has one of the largest economies in the world.

Yet when it comes time to spend money per student, we're hanging out near the bottom of the list.

Maybe it's time to stop acting surprised when teachers feel overworked, underappreciated or decide they'd rather do something else for a living.

It also shouldn't be shocking that Texas isn't exactly knocking it out of the park in overall education rankings. In WalletHub's separate 2026 ranking of public-school systems, Texas came in #32 overall, including #34 for quality.

There are certainly good schools, great districts and absolutely incredible teachers all over Texas. This isn't an indictment of them.

If anything, it's the opposite.

Teachers are being asked to produce great results while the state ranks near the very bottom when it comes to spending per student.

Texas likes to brag about doing things bigger.

Maybe education should be one of them.

Lubbock Crime Rates vs. Surrounding Areas: Which Cities Are Safest?

Think of moving slightly out of Lubbock? This is how our surrounding areas compare to Lubbock crime rates, according to crimegrade.org, which looks at both property and violent crime in its rankings. Spoiler alert: they are all at least marginally safer (or significantly safer), as Lubbock carries a D- rating.

Gallery Credit: Renee Raven