The 15 worst US states to be a teacher

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Arizona ranks as the worst state to be a teacher.

• Arizona, New Hampshire, and Hawaii topped WalletHub's annual ranking of the worst states for teachers.
• Many states on the list have held protests and strikes calling for better education funding and higher pay.
• Here are the 15 worst states to be a teacher.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Being a teacher can look vastly different depending on which state you work in.

Personal finance site WalletHub detailed the list of the worst states to teach in. WalletHub ranked the areas depending on how they scored in two categories:

1. "Opportunity and competition," which includes how competitive salaries were, teacher pensions, and income growth.
2. "Academic and work environment," which includes the quality of the school system, how many students per teacher, and the rate of turnover.

Read more: The 15 best US states to be a public school teacher

Many of the states on the list - including Arizona, Colorado, and West Virginia - held teacher strikes a year ago to call for higher salaries.

While WalletHub included the District of Columbia on their ranking, Business Insider omitted the territory from the report below because DC is not a state. WalletHub ranked DC as the ninth worst area to teach in.

Here are the 15 worst states to be a teacher: