Teachers salary, lower than the Colorado average in Mesa County schools in 2024-25 school year

Mesa County’s teachers earned an average salary of $69,685 during the 2024-25 school year, which fell below the state’s average salary for the same position, according to the Colorado Department of Education.

The average salary for teachers at Mesa County schools increased compared to the previous school year.

Among all school positions in the county, superintendents earned the most at $182,838, while teachers earned the least.

Overall, Mesa County schools paid their employees an average of $73,202 in salaries in the 2024-25 school year.

Colorado’s teacher workforce faces persistent shortages and pay challenges. In the 2023–24 school year, nearly 7,000 teaching positions were vacant statewide at some point. Districts managed to fill only about 75% of those openings with fully qualified hires, leaving many to be filled by short-term substitutes, retirees, or emergency credentials for the rest, while 9% remained unfilled for the entire school year.

Colorado’s K–12 enrollment has gradually declined each year since the pandemic, with about 3–4% fewer students in 2024 than the state’s peak enrollment in 2019.

The declines are concentrated in the early grades and certain rural areas, while some metro districts are holding steady or growing. Lower birth rates and pandemic disruptions are driving the trend. Colorado’s public schools are now serving the smallest number of students in a decade, a shift that has implications for funding and planning even as per-pupil resources increase to compensate.