Where’s South Dakota In Best and Worst States for Teachers Study?

There's an old saying that in certain professions you need to be doing the job for love because it can't be for the money. In many areas of the country that is the case for teachers.

Thankfully, teachers are a dedicated group of humans even when they are overworked and underpaid- - because these are the people helping to guide our children toward the future.

According to the researchers at Wallet Hub "Education jobs are among the lowest-paying occupations requiring a bachelor’s degree" in the country. But some states offer better opportunities and less "revolving door" situations than others.

Where do South Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa stand in this Best & Worst States for Teachers study?

Here are the rankings for our tri-state area:

• Minnesota - -22nd
• South Dakota - - 30th
• Iowa - - 33rd 

Wallet Hub came up with these rankings by crunching a lot of numbers. They examined each state in two basic categories - 1) Opportunity & Competition and 2) Academic & Work Environment.

Those two categories encompassed factors like - - teachers' average salaries, average teacher pensions, public school enrollment growth, teacher tenure protections, the existence of digital learning plans, commute times, teacher preparation program completion, quality of school system, and teacher-to-pupil ratio -- -among others.

The Top 5 Best States for Teachers are:

1. Virginia
2. New York
3. Utah
4. Washington
5. Florida

The 5 Worst States for Teachers are:

1. New Hampshire
2. District of Columbia
3. Hawaii
4. Maine
5. Nevada

To see this complete report just go to Wallet Hub's Best & Worst States for Teachers study.