When you're starting out at least, the answer is 'not at all bad', at least if you look at gross salaries.
Starting salaries for secondary school teachers in Norway are at the upper end of the range in Europe, behind the generous rates in Luxembourg and Switzerland, and even behind Germany and Denmark, but ahead of neighbouring Sweden and Finland.
(Bear in mind that these statistics are from 2020-2021, since then the Norwegian krone has fallen a long way against the euro).
The picture looks less rosy, however, over an entire teaching career. Norway slips down the ranks in Europe when it comes for the salaries of 'top-earning teachers' at secondary-school level,.
Luxembourg and Switzerland are, again, far ahead, but teachers in countries like The Netherlands and even Sweden appear to have a better prospect of improving their salaries over their career than those in Norway.
The situation also looks a little worse when you compensate for the cost of living.
Eurostat also ranks teachers' salaries according to "purchasing power standard", an artificial currency used to help adjust for the cost of living in various countries. When this is done, the salaries of teachers in countries like Finland, Cyprus and Austria overtake Norway, making it look distinctly middle-of-the-range.
Of course, teaching isn't a highly paid profession anywhere (even in generous Switzerland and Luxembourg).
READ ALSO: How easy is it to work as an English teacher in Norway?
Norway is absolutely no exception. The average salary in the education sector in Norway is just below the average for sectors in the country, slightly above that of construction workers, but below the average in the manufacturing sector.
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