Database shows teacher salaries in WNY

BUFFALO, NY (WIVB) - Business First analyzed salaries at five key points in a typical teacher's career, and used that information to rate the pay scales at all 98 Western New York districts. Comparisons were made at the fifth, 25th, 50th, 75th and 95th percentiles, based on data compiled by the New York State Education Department.

>> click here to see the median and peak salaries for all 98 districts

>> click here to search the database of WNY area teachers' and administrators' salaries

>> click here for NYS graduation rates

Percentiles indicate where a given paycheck ranks within a single district. A salary in the 25th percentile, for example, is bigger than 25 percent -- and smaller than the other 75 percent -- of all teachers' salaries in that specific district.

Sweet Home ranks No. 1 in the teacher pay index. It was among the eight top-paying districts at all five percentiles, highlighted by a No. 1 rating at the 95th percentile. Sweet Home paid $92,756 to teachers at that level in 2008-2009. Only three other districts were above $90,000.

Rounding out the top five in the teacher pay ratings are Williamsville, Niagara Falls, Lackawanna and Grand Island.

Canaseraga ranks at the bottom of the regional list in terms of teacher pay. Its salary at the 95th percentile, for example, was $67,174 a year ago, falling nearly 28 percent below the comparable figure for Sweet Home.