ATTLEBORO – Those who teach would do well to seek jobs in Massachusetts, where working conditions and pay are among the highest in the nation.

As a result, Massachusetts earned the No. 1 ranking as the place to be for educators, according to a study done by WalletHub.com, an online research company that provides financial data to consumers and small businesses.

Massachusetts also ranked first in the “best school systems” category, first in math scores, first in reading scores and second in school safety, according to WalletHub.

All of that fits with what Adeline Bee, president of the Attleboro Education Association says about the status of education in the commonwealth.

“I would definitely agree with that, as far as Massachusetts is concerned,” she said. “I would say that’s because Massachusetts has a strong union, if not the strongest union in the country. That’s a huge reason why Massachusetts is the leader.”

Bee who’s taught in several states, including Georgia, Kentucky, Alabama and Virginia, says the union pushes hard for what makes for good teaching conditions and good schools.

That’s not to say there aren’t problems, though.

Bee said elementary school class sizes are creeping up and teachers are being faced with more challenges, such as students who speak different languages and an increasing number of special needs.

The No. 1 ranking for Massachusetts this year is an improvement over its No. 4 ranking last year.

In the “overall” standings for teacher employment computed by WalletHub, Virginia was second, Minnesota was third, Wyoming was fourth and New Jersey was fifth.

In the “best school systems” category, Massachusetts was first, followed by Colorado, New Jersey, Wisconsin and Kentucky
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WalletHub ranked all 50 states and the District of Columbia on 13 sets of data, ranging from a district’s median starting salary to its projected number of teachers per student by year 2022, to arrive at its findings about the best places for teachers to work.

The study was done “in order to help ease the process of finding the best teaching opportunities in the U.S and (to) draw attention to the states needing improvement,” WalletHub said.

To gain the top spot, Massachusetts was ranked third in the “academic and work environment” category and ninth in the “job opportunity” category.

It was the only state to rank in the first nine positions in both categories.

Massachusetts ranked fifth in pay.

Statewide, the average pay for teachers was $71,620 in 2013, the most recent year figures were available, according to the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Pay in seven school districts in Attleboro area exceed the state average, including Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical High School in Franklin, $78,823; Foxboro, $75,920; Attleboro, $75,047; Norfolk, $74,636; Mansfield, $74,313; Seekonk, $73,399; and North Attleboro, $71,698.

The remaining 10 schools range in average salary from $45,438 at Foxboro Regional Charter School to $70,917 at Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical High School in Easton.

Only one of the five states spending the most money per pupil made it into the top five states in which to teach. That was New Jersey, which spends the third most of any state.

Massachusetts ranked seventh in that category.

Conversely, Alaska spent the fourth greatest amount per pupil and was 35th in rankings for teacher employment and dead last, 51st, in the “best school systems” category.