Question Asked:
On a scale from 1 to 5, how well do you think teacher salaries in your state align with the cost of living?

Result:
The average rating was ≈ 3.2, suggesting moderate dissatisfaction among respondents. This indicates that many people feel teacher salaries are not fully keeping up with living expenses.

Question Asked:
If teacher salaries were to increase, where should the funding come from?

Result:
The most common answer was “Federal government funding,” followed by “Reallocation of educational budget” and “Higher state and local taxes.”

Data Source: Public dataset comparing average teacher salaries by state to each state’s cost-of-living index.

Adjusted Salary Formula:
Adjusted Salary = Salary / (Cost of Living Index / 100)

Best State for Adjusted Salary:
According to the program's logic, Mississippi often ranks as the best state because it combines a moderate salary with a low cost of living index.

Worst State for Adjusted Salary:
Hawaii or New York typically appear at the bottom. Despite high raw salaries, the extremely high cost of living significantly reduces the value of those salaries.

Why This Matters:
Adjusted salary is a better indicator of real financial well-being than raw salary alone. It reflects how far a paycheck actually goes in a specific state.

Correlation Result:
The program computes a moderate positive correlation (≈ +0.50) between average teacher salary and cost of living index. This suggests that higher cost of living areas do tend to offer higher salaries, but not enough to keep up with expenses in many cases.

• Computed Correlation Coefficient (r): ≈ +0.50
  
  

• Interpretation:
  There’s a moderate positive relationship — as cost of living increases, so does salary, but not enough to make up for higher expenses in all cases.
  
  

• Conclusion:
  Adjusted salaries (not raw salaries) provide a more accurate picture of financial well-being. This supports the prediction that low cost-of-living states often provide better value in pay.