In short
The best state to teach in depends on what you value. On pay alone the NT leads, with graduates on $96,180 and the top classroom step at $136,997. NSW pays graduates $92,882 and reaches its top step fastest, in about 6 years. Adelaide is the cheapest capital on our guide, and NSW and WA list the most rural incentives.
How to use the which state should i teach in? quiz
- 1
Answer the eight questions
Say how much starting pay, speed to the top of the scale, city size, climate, the coast, rural incentives, career goals and cost of living matter to you. Each answer changes the weighting.
- 2
Add where your family lives
Optional. Your family's state scores highest, and the states next door score half, because being a short flight or drive away matters to most people.
- 3
Read your ranking
Every state and territory gets a match score and the three reasons that counted most. The ranking updates as you go, and your final result appears once all eight are answered.
- 4
Check the numbers
The table shows graduate pay, the top step, take-home at the top, years to the top, super and the number of rural incentives for each state. Follow the links to compare two states in full.
How the quiz scores each state
Pay questions use each state's current data. Starting pay ranks states by graduate salary, speed to the top by the years it takes to reach the top classroom step, and career by the highest entry pay for senior classroom and leadership roles. Super is always counted, at a low weight. The rural incentives question counts how many rural and remote incentives each state lists.
Lifestyle questions use our own general guidance, not data: the climate of each capital, its size, whether it's on the coast, and a rough cost-of-living score driven mostly by housing. Answer A lot and a question counts double what Somewhat does. Answer Not much and it's ignored. That's why two people can get very different results from the same data.
Take-home from the site's 2026–27 tax engine: resident, tax-free threshold claimed, no HELP. Victoria's figures are the VGSA 2026 rates from 1 October 2026, approved by the Fair Work Commission on 16 October and back-paid. Queensland's are interim rates while the dispute is in arbitration. The top step excludes HALT and senior roles.
What the numbers don't tell you
Victoria's place on pay moved when its new agreement was approved in October 2026, with back pay to 10 August 2026, and Queensland's will move when arbitration finishes. The ACT's teachers rejected a 9% offer in September 2026 and pay there has been frozen since December 2025. Check the teacher pay rise tracker before you treat any ranking as settled.
A higher salary in an expensive city can leave you worse off than a lower one somewhere cheaper. The quiz's cost-of-living question is a rough guide only; for real numbers, compare rents where you'd actually live, or read teacher pay and cost of living by city and can teachers afford Sydney.
Rural and remote: the biggest swing factor
Say Yes to rural or remote postings and the ranking can change sharply. NSW lists 11 rural and remote incentives, WA 9, the NT 7, and Queensland and SA 6 each. They range from locality allowances and subsidised housing to HELP debt relief for very remote service. The rural teacher incentives calculator adds them up for a specific posting, and is rural teaching worth it weighs the trade-offs.
Next steps after the quiz
- Compare your top two side by side, for example NSW vs Queensland or Victoria vs WA.
- See every state ranked on pay in which state pays teachers the most, and the wider picture in the best state to teach in Australia.
- Already teaching and thinking of moving? The interstate move checker estimates your step and take-home in the new state.
- Coming from overseas? Start with the moving to Australia hub for skills assessment, visas and registration.