Teachers Earn 27% Less Than Other College Grads. The Shortage Is Not a Mystery.

Teachers Earn 27% Less Than Other Grads

The Economic Policy Institute found that teachers earned 26.9% less than other college-educated workers in 2024. That gap has tripled since 1996, when it stood at 6.1%. Teachers took home 73 cents for every dollar earned by other professionals with the same education and experience. For men in teaching, the penalty reached 36.4%.

In the last decade, inflation-adjusted weekly wages for teachers fell by $46, while wages for other college graduates rose by $220.

Inflation Ate Teacher Raises

The NEA’s 2024-25 salary benchmark report shows the national average teacher salary rose to $74,495, a 3.5% increase over the prior year. After adjusting for inflation, teachers earn less today than they did in 2017.

NPR reported that real teacher pay dropped 4.6% over the past decade. Starting teachers saw a 3.4% nominal raise in 2024-25, but real salary growth came in under 1%.

The $43,000 Gap Between Best and Worst

Mississippi pays teachers $54,975. California pays $103,552. That is a $48,577 gap for the same job.

Rank	State	Average Salary (2024-25)
51	Mississippi	$54,975
50	Florida	$56,663
49	Louisiana	$56,785
48	Missouri	$57,366
47	West Virginia	$58,099
46	South Dakota	$58,486
45	Arkansas	$59,193
43	North Carolina	$60,323
42	Idaho	$62,786
Nat’l Avg		$74,495
3	Washington	$96,589
2	New York	$98,655
1	California	$103,552

Source: NEA Rankings & Estimates, 2024-25

New teachers face even steeper gaps. Montana starts teachers at $36,682. Nebraska starts at $39,561. Five states start teachers below $42,000.

411,000 Teaching Positions Are Unfilled

Over 411,000 teaching positions are vacant or filled by under-certified staff, according to NEA and Edustaff. That is roughly one in eight teaching jobs.

The Center for American Progress found that 70% of teachers with five years of experience or less have either left or seriously considered leaving. Special education, math, and science positions are the hardest to fill. When districts cannot hire, they increase class sizes, rely on long-term substitutes, or cancel courses.

Collective Bargaining Pays Teachers 24% More

States with collective bargaining pay teachers 24% more on average than states without it. Most of the bottom-ranked states in the salary table restrict or ban teacher unions from negotiating wages.

The pay penalty ranges from 10% in Rhode Island to 38.5% in Colorado compared to other college graduates. Rhode Island allows bargaining. Colorado restricts it. The gap follows the law.

What You Can Do

Contact your state legislators. Demand they raise teacher base pay to match the cost of living in your state. If you live in Mississippi, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri, West Virginia, or South Dakota, your state ranks in the bottom six. Use Resist Bot to send a letter in under two minutes.
Tell your members of Congress to fund Title II. Federal investment in teacher recruitment and retention directly reduces the 411,000-position shortage. Use our letter below.
Support collective bargaining rights. States with collective bargaining pay teachers 24% more. If your state restricts teachers from negotiating wages, that restriction is part of the problem.
Oppose voucher schemes that drain public school funding. Every dollar diverted to private vouchers is a dollar that could fund teacher salaries. See our education policy tracker.
Vote in state and local elections. School board races and state legislature seats decide teacher pay. Montana starts teachers at $36,682. That is a policy choice, not a budget constraint.

Voucher expansion, book bans, and Department of Education closures are weakening the same system that employs 3.7 million teachers. Teacher pay is one front in a larger fight over public education.