West Virginia worst state for teachers

West Virginia is the worst state for teachers, according to a WalletHub survey that compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 13 key metrics.

The Mountain State placed 39th in Academic and Work Environment, last in Job Opportunity and Competition and near the bottom in salaries for teachers, even after adjustment for cost of living.

Kentucky, another mountainous state ranked 15^th.

Even sadder, according to the National Center for Education Statistics about a fifth of all new public-school teachers leave their positions before the end of their first year and nearly half never last more than five years.

Findings:

Overall Rank	State	‘Job Opportunity & Competition’ Rank	‘Academic & Work Environment’ Rank
1	Massachusetts	9	3
2	Virginia	2	14
3	Minnesota	3	10
4	Wyoming	4	13
5	New Jersey	20	2
6	Iowa	7	15
7	Wisconsin	13	8
8	Pennsylvania	1	22
9	Kansas	23	7
10	Maryland	12	17
11	Illinois	18	12
12	New York	5	26
13	Vermont	37	1
14	Utah	14	20
15	Kentucky	16	19
16	New Hampshire	34	6
17	North Dakota	35	5
18	Nebraska	31	11
19	Montana	29	16
20	Michigan	8	35
21	Delaware	15	30
22	Ohio	26	21
23	Indiana	11	33
24	Missouri	21	27
25	Texas	17	32
26	District of Columbia	10	46
27	Florida	25	31
28	Colorado	41	9
29	Arkansas	32	23
30	Alabama	18	40
31	Nevada	6	50
32	Idaho	24	36
33	Tennessee	33	28
34	Connecticut	48	4
35	Alaska	22	47
36	California	28	44
37	Georgia	29	45
38	Washington	39	29
39	Maine	49	18
40	Louisiana	27	49
41	Oklahoma	35	42
42	South Dakota	43	25
43	New Mexico	40	41
44	Rhode Island	46	24
45	South Carolina	38	48
46	Hawaii	44	38
47	Oregon	45	37
48	Mississippi	47	43
49	Arizona	42	51
50	North Carolina	50	34
51	West Virginia	51	39