The teacher pay penalty — the relative gap between the weekly wages of teachers and other college graduates — grew to a record 26.9 percent in 2024, according to new research from CEPR and the Economic Policy Institute. This pay penalty, which is adjusted for education, experience, and demographic characteristics, has accelerated over the past three decades: Teachers’ weekly wages have declined by 6.1 percent since 1996, while wages of other college graduates have increased by 26.9 percent. 

Or to put it another way: On average, teachers earned 73.1 cents on the dollar compared with what similar college graduates earned working in other professions. And this is part of an unfortunate trend; in 1996, teachers earned 93.9 cents on the dollar.

Teachers were paid less than other college graduates in every state, with relative teacher pay gaps spanning from -10.0 percent in Rhode Island to -38.5 percent in Colorado. The relative teacher pay penalty was at least 25 percent in 20 states.

Closing the pay gap between public teachers and similarly educated professionals is essential to attracting and retaining qualified educators, boosting student achievement, and securing the future of public education. Targeted and sustained investments in public education are needed to mitigate – and reverse – the growing teacher pay penalty,

Read the full report here.