Utah County Teacher Pay 2026-27: Alpine, Provo & Nebo Salaries

Business November 13, 2026 13 min read ✓ Updated November 13, 2026

Provo.com News Desk Newsroom, Provo.com How we make Provo.com

Utah County's school districts are among the biggest employers in the valley, and the question every applicant asks first is the one most job boards answer badly: what does it pay? The answer sits in public documents, the salary schedules and negotiated agreements each district adopts every year. We read the 2026-27 versions for Alpine, Provo and Nebo so you don't have to open a 23-page PDF to find one number.

The short version is that starting pay for a new teacher with a bachelor's degree lands between about $55,000 and $64,000 depending on district and assignment, and experienced teachers with advanced degrees can pass $100,000 in Alpine, the only one of the three whose full schedule we could read. The details below explain why the same teacher can be offered noticeably different figures across a county line.

For the hiring side (licensing routes, the calendar and what an application needs), see our teaching jobs in Utah Valley guide. This page is only about the money.

Starting pay at a glance

District	2026-27 starting figure	Where it comes from
Alpine	$55,244 (base lane, 7 hours); $60,050 (secondary, 6 periods); $62,301 (elementary, 8 hours)	Alpine's 2026-27 teacher salary schedule, Lane 1, step 1
Provo City	$63,232	2026-27 negotiated agreement with the Provo Education Association, entry level B
Nebo	$64,352	Business administrator's budget report to the Nebo board, June 10, 2026

Two cautions before comparing those numbers. First, they are not built the same way. Alpine publishes several columns for the same degree and experience level, and the column depends on how many hours and periods the job carries. Provo and Nebo figures are single entry numbers. Second, each includes a state-funded piece, the Educator Salary Adjustment, which the districts list separately and which is not the same dollar amount on every schedule. More on that below.

Alpine School District: how to read the schedule

Alpine remains one district until it divides on July 1, 2027, and its 2026-27 schedule is the most detailed public pay document in the county. It sorts every teacher by three things.

Lane (education). There are nine lanes:

Lane 1: bachelor's degree
Lane 2: bachelor's plus 20 semester hours
Lane 3: bachelor's plus 37 semester hours
Lane 4: bachelor's plus 50 semester hours
Lane 5: bachelor's plus 70 semester hours
Lane 6: master's degree
Lane 7: master's plus 20 semester hours
Lane 8: master's plus 37 semester hours
Lane 9: doctorate

Step (experience). Steps run 1 through 12 in every lane. Lanes 1 and 2 stop there. From lane 3 up, the schedule adds steps in three-year jumps (15, 18, 21 and so on): lane 3 reaches step 18, lane 4 reaches step 24, and lanes 5 through 9 reach step 30.

Assignment (the A, B, C and D columns). This is the part that confuses applicants. The base column assumes a seven-hour day. Each lane then has four more columns:

A, elementary (K-6) teachers, including media: base plus 14.2857%, on an eight-hour day.
B, secondary teachers with six periods: base plus 9.7297%, eight hours.
C, secondary with an extra period for half the year: base plus 17.5676%.
D, secondary with an extra period for the full year: base plus 25.4054%.

All of these are 185-day contracts. In practice a new elementary teacher with a bachelor's degree should look at the 1A column, not the base column.

What that produces in dollars

Alpine, 2026-27	Base (7 hr)	Elementary (8 hr)	Secondary, 6 periods
Bachelor's, step 1	$55,244	$62,301	$60,050
Bachelor's, step 12 (top of lane)	$77,249	$87,450	$84,196
Master's, step 1	$57,406	$64,772	$62,423
Master's, step 30	$107,750	$122,308	$117,665
Doctorate, step 30	$113,091	$128,412	$123,526

Every figure in that table includes the $5,845 Educator Salary Adjustment. The highest number anywhere on the teacher pages is $140,338, for a doctorate at step 30 teaching secondary with an extra class period all year (column 9D).

The schedule's own note says the base was increased 0.5% over 2025-26 and the Educator Salary Adjustment rose 3%. In other words, most of this year's raise for an Alpine teacher who did not move a step or lane came from the state portion, not the district base.

A few smaller lines on the same document are useful to know:

Covering a class during your prep period in secondary pays $50 per period (the schedule labels it secondary substitute pay).
Summer school pays $47.60 an hour in 2026-27, up from $47.36. The district prints the rate history back to $43.97 in 2022-23.
Counselors are on a separate schedule with 195 contract days.

The schedule is linked from Alpine's Human Resources page alongside a classified schedule, an administrative schedule and the lane-change form. Moving up a lane is the fastest raise available, so if you are close to a credit threshold, the lane-change rules are worth reading before you sign.

Provo City School District: the negotiated agreement

We read Provo's 2026-27 agreement with the Provo Education Association, which spells out the numbers that matter. The Provo board approved the PEA agreement at its June 9, 2026 business meeting.

Entry pay is $63,232: $52,572 from the district plus $10,660 from the state Educator Salary Adjustment. Entry remains level B on Provo's schedule.
The raise at entry was $2,250 on the district's enhanced schedule.
Each level is worth $925. Certified staff receive one level increase for 2026-27.
Teachers with a bachelor's degree and no additional salary advancement credit stop at level S. For those teachers the agreement adds one-time longevity steps at years 5, 10, 15 and 20.
The Educator Salary Adjustment rose from $10,350 to $10,660.
"Grandfathered" employees, a separate group in the agreement, receive a one-time 12% increase paid monthly plus a level increase where levels remain.
Contract length is 186 days for both groups, including five added professional development days and a 181st day before school starts for classroom preparation. Employees whose days are reduced get a one-time $120 per lost day.
National Board Certification adds $1,200 a year.
Hourly teaching and curriculum work starts at 70% of the enhanced entry salary, and the agreement notes the Educator Salary Adjustment is not part of that base.

The agreement also changes benefits that affect take-home pay. Provo moved to Select Health, premiums rose 8% and the cost is split 80% district, 20% employee. Tier 2 hybrid retirement members contribute 1.3% of salary in 2026-27. Teachers get seven paid time off days a year, and parent-teacher conferences require 16 hours beyond contract time in exchange for two compensatory days, an arrangement the agreement says will be reevaluated in spring 2027.

Money for raises is tied to property taxes. In June 2026 the board approved a proposed tax rate that put $824,327 of new revenue toward teacher and staff salary increases, ahead of an Aug. 5 Truth in Taxation hearing, the Daily Herald reported. An earlier version discussed in the spring had proposed $2.5 million for the same purpose.

On Aug. 25 the board tabled a revised Policy 5325, which governs how much credit a new hire gets for prior teaching experience when placed on the schedule, and an updated version went back for a first reading on Sept. 8. Until a revision is adopted, ask HR directly how your experience will be counted.

Nebo School District: the beginning salary

Nebo, which runs schools from Springville to Santaquin, gave its headline number in public rather than in a published grid we could open. At the June 10, 2026 budget hearing, Business Administrator Michael Harrison told the board the beginning teacher salary is $64,352 for 2026-27, the highest starting figure of the three districts in this guide.

Nebo's Human Resources pages link employee benefits, its job board on HireNimble and a separate application to become a substitute teacher. At its Aug. 12, 2026 meeting the board recognized EduStaff's Substitute of the Year. If you are comparing offers, ask Nebo HR for the full licensed schedule so you can see the lane and step you would be placed on, not just the entry figure.

Every district number above includes a state payment that a lot of applicants don't know exists. Utah Code 53F-2-405 directs the Legislature to fund educator salary adjustments each year and the State Board of Education to distribute the money to districts and charter schools based on how many eligible educator positions each has.

Who qualifies is set in the statute: licensed classroom teachers, speech pathologists, librarians and media specialists, preschool teachers, mentor teachers, teacher specialists and leaders, guidance counselors, audiologists, psychologists and social workers. A part-time educator gets a partial adjustment based on hours. An educator whose three most recent evaluations were all unsatisfactory does not receive it.

The statute also sets how the amount grows. Each year's adjustment equals the prior year's plus the smaller of two percentages: the increase in the value of the weighted pupil unit, or the change in the Consumer Price Index. That formula is why Alpine's schedule shows the ESA rising 3%, the same percentage as Provo's increase from $10,350 to $10,660.

What the statute does not explain is why the dollar figure printed on Alpine's schedule ($5,845) is so different from the one in Provo's agreement ($10,660). For fiscal 2026 the law sets the full adjustment at $10,350 per full-time educator if the Utah Fits All Scholarship Program is funded and in effect, or $5,175 if it is not. The two districts' documents don't say how they arrived at their 2026-27 figures. If you are weighing offers, compare the total on each schedule and ask HR how the ESA line is calculated for your position. Both Alpine and Provo state that the adjustment depends on continued state funding.

Support staff pay: aides, custodians and bus drivers

Teachers are only part of a district's payroll. Alpine's 2026-27 education support professional hourly schedule shows what the hourly jobs pay:

Lane 1 (student workers): a fixed $11.44 an hour.
Lanes 2 through 13: from $12.87 (lane 2, step 1) to $30.39 (lane 13, step 3), with three steps per lane.
Lane 13, hourly bus driver: $24.71, $27.47 and $30.39 at steps 1 through 3.

The schedule notes the base rose 0.5% for 2026-27. Alpine places dozens of job titles into those lanes, from lunchroom and playground supervision aides to special education paraprofessionals, library assistants, help desk staff and custodians, and a separate contract schedule covers salaried non-exempt staff such as secretaries, lead cooks and head custodians. The placement rules are in Alpine Policy 4444.

Provo's job board shows the same range of work. Postings on its ERPLinq site have included instructional assistants at several levels, extended-day aides, custodial staff, food preparation and campus monitors, alongside teaching jobs and hourly driver education instructors.

Many of these are school-hours positions, which is why they draw parents and BYU and UVU students looking for work that fits around a family or a class schedule.

Alpine's 2027 split and what it means for pay

On July 1, 2027, Alpine School District divides into three: Aspen Peaks in the north, Lake Mountain in the west and Timpanogos in the center. Each new district will eventually set its own salary schedule, which is the biggest unknown for anyone signing an Alpine contract now.

State law limits the risk in year one. Under Utah Code 53G-3-205, an employee transferred because of a district's creation or restructuring may not be paid less during the first year after the transfer than they would have been had the transfer not happened. The receiving district must credit all accumulated leave and tenure. And under the same section, each new district must give written offers of employment to contracted employees of the divided district at least six months before the allocation date, in numbers proportional to where students end up. With a July 1, 2027 allocation date, that deadline falls around the start of 2027.

The protection covers pay, leave and tenure. It does not cover the job itself: the statute says titles and responsibilities can change. Employees on the administrative salary schedule, provisional employees and at-will employees are outside the offer requirement. Our guides to Aspen Peaks, Lake Mountain and Timpanogos follow each board's decisions as they come.

How to compare two offers

Salary schedules are built to be compared, if you compare the right lines.

Find your column, not just your lane. In Alpine, an elementary teacher and a secondary teacher with the same degree and experience land in different columns. Comparing Alpine's base column to Nebo's starting figure understates Alpine.
Ask where you'll be placed. Step placement for prior experience is a district decision, and Provo's placement policy is under revision. A two-step difference is worth more than most negotiated raises.
Count the days and hours. Alpine's 185-day, eight-hour assignments and Provo's 186-day calendar are close, but extra periods, extended contracts and counselor schedules change the math.
Separate the state money. Know how much of the total is the Educator Salary Adjustment, since it is the part that depends on the Legislature.
Price the benefits. Insurance premiums, the employee's share and retirement contributions move take-home pay by thousands. Provo's 2026-27 changes are a good example.
Check the extras. National Board stipends, summer school rates, extra-period pay and coaching or advising stipends are all on the schedules or agreements and add up over a career.

Where to find the documents

Alpine: the Human Resources page links the 2026-27 certified, classified and administrative salary schedules, lane-change information and job openings on AppliTrack.
Provo City: the Human Resources page links salary schedules and the district's vacancy board. The negotiated agreements are posted with board materials.
Nebo: the Human Resources pages link employee benefits, the job board on HireNimble and substitute applications. Ask HR for the full licensed schedule.

Schedules change every summer, usually after boards adopt the next year's budget in June. We'll update this page when 2027-28 figures are adopted.

Teaching jobs in Utah Valley: licensing routes, hiring calendar and what an application needs
Alpine School District
Provo City School District
Nebo School District
Aspen Peaks School District
Timpanogos School District
Lake Mountain School District

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the starting teacher salary in Utah County for 2026-27?

It depends on the district and, in Alpine, on the assignment. Alpine School District's schedule starts a new bachelor's-degree teacher at $55,244 on its seven-hour base lane, $62,301 as an elementary teacher on an eight-hour day, and $60,050 as a secondary teacher with six periods. Provo City School District's negotiated agreement sets entry pay at $63,232. Nebo School District's business administrator told the board in June 2026 that the beginning teacher salary for 2026-27 is $64,352.

How much do Alpine School District teachers make?

Alpine's 2026-27 teacher schedule runs from $55,244 (bachelor's degree, step 1, seven-hour lane) to $140,338 (doctorate, step 30, eight-hour secondary lane with an extra class period all year). Most of that range comes from three things: degree and credit lane, years of experience (step) and the assignment type, which adds 9.7% to 25.4% to the base.

What is the Educator Salary Adjustment on a Utah teacher's pay?

It is a state-funded salary adjustment under Utah Code 53F-2-405, paid to licensed teachers and certain other licensed staff such as counselors, librarians, psychologists and speech pathologists. Districts list it as a separate line on their schedules. Alpine's 2026-27 schedule shows $5,845 and says it rose 3% from the prior year; Provo's agreement raises it from $10,350 to $10,660. Both documents say it depends on continued state funding.

How many days is a teacher contract in Utah County?

Alpine's teacher schedule is built on 185 contract days, with counselors on 195. Provo's 2026-27 agreement keeps a 186-day contract calendar, which includes added professional development days and a classroom preparation day before school starts.

What do teacher aides and bus drivers make in Alpine School District?

Alpine's 2026-27 hourly schedule for education support professionals runs from $12.87 (lane 2, step 1) to $30.39 (lane 13, step 3). Lane 13 is hourly bus driver, which starts at $24.71 and reaches $30.39 at step 3. Hourly student workers are paid a fixed $11.44.

Where do I apply for school district jobs in Utah County?

Alpine posts openings through AppliTrack, linked from its Human Resources page. Provo City School District posts vacancies through an ERPLinq job board linked from its HR page. Nebo School District takes applications through HireNimble and runs separate sign-ups for substitute teachers.

Will Alpine teachers lose pay when the district splits in 2027?

State law protects salary for the first year. Under Utah Code 53G-3-205, an employee transferred because of a district split may not be paid less during the first year after the transfer than they would have been without it, and keeps accumulated leave and tenure. The new districts must send written offers to contracted employees at least six months before the July 1, 2027 allocation date. Job titles and duties can change.

Do charter school teachers in Utah County get the state salary adjustment?

The statute includes charter schools. Utah Code 53F-2-405 directs the State Board of Education to distribute educator salary adjustment money to each school district and each charter school based on its number of eligible educator positions. Charter base pay, however, is set school by school, so it varies more than district pay.

Sources

The facts in this guide were checked against these sources. Hours, fees and rules change, so confirm anything time-sensitive with the source before you go. How we make Provo.com.

Alpine School District Teacher Salary Schedule, Fiscal Year 2026-27, Alpine School District. Checked November 13, 2026.
Alpine School District Education Support Professional Salary Schedules, Fiscal Year 2026-27, Alpine School District. Checked November 13, 2026.
Human Resources, Alpine School District. Checked November 13, 2026.
2026-2027 Negotiated Agreement, Provo City School District and Provo Education Association, Provo City School District. Checked November 13, 2026.
Minutes, PCSD Study Session and Business Meeting, June 9, 2026, Provo City School District (Utah Public Notice Website). Checked November 13, 2026.
Minutes, PCSD Business Meeting, Aug. 25, 2026, Provo City School District (Utah Public Notice Website). Checked November 13, 2026.
Nebo School District Board Meeting Minutes, June 10, 2026, Nebo School District (Utah Public Notice Website). Checked November 13, 2026.
Nebo School District Board Meeting Minutes, Aug. 12, 2026, Nebo School District (Utah Public Notice Website). Checked November 13, 2026.
Provo City School District approves property tax increase ahead of Truth in Taxation hearing, Daily Herald. Checked November 13, 2026.
Utah Code 53F-2-405, Educator salary adjustments, Utah Legislature. Checked November 13, 2026.
Utah Code 53G-3-205, Rights of transferred employees, Utah Legislature. Checked November 13, 2026.

Provo.com News Desk

Newsroom

The Provo.com News Desk covers community news, business openings, civic announcements, and cultural events across Provo, Orem, and Utah Valley. Stories are curated from local outlets, city sources, and primary reporting, then written in our own words to give residents, students, and visitors a faster way to track what's actually happening in the area.