TRENTON -- The median teacher salary in New Jersey school districts ranges from a high of more than $95,000 to a low of about $41,000 this school year, according to new state data.

The pay data, released as part of the state's annual Taxpayer's Guide to Education Spending, shows the median salary in each school district and each charter school.

Use the lookup tool at the bottom of this page to find the median teacher salary in your district.

The median salary is the salary in the middle of the payroll, meaning that half of the teachers in a district make more than that figure and the other half make less. Unlike superintendent pay, New Jersey has no restrictions on teachers' salaries.

Northern Valley Regional, a regional high school district in Bergen County, has the highest median teacher salary, $95,418. East Newark Borough, a small district that doesn't have a high school, has the lowest, $40,922.

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Geoff Gordon, superintendent of Northern Valley Regional, said the district's high median salary is a reflection of its effort to hire the best teachers. Teachers with advanced degrees are needed to teach high-level courses at a school where 95 percent of students attend college, Gordon said.

Teacher pay in school districts is affected by a variety of factors, including regional cost-of-living, the grade levels districts offer and the experience and post-graduate degrees of the teaching staff, said Frank Belluscio, spokesman for the New Jersey School Boards Association.

Salaries are often higher in districts in northern New Jersey, districts with high schools and districts with more teachers who have completed advanced degrees, Belluscio said.

A rash of retirements or layoffs or an influx of new teachers at the bottom of the pay scale can lead to a district seeing a large swing up or down in median teacher salary in any given year.

Some districts have bargained for longer instructional time or reductions in paid leave time in exchange for higher salaries, Belluscio said.

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Adam Clark may be reached at adam_clark@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on twitter at @realAdamClark. Find NJ.com on Facebook.