Despite a small improvement in weekly wages, the pay penalty for teachers—the relative gap between the weekly wages of teachers and other college graduates—grew to a record 26.6% in 2023, according to a new report from CEPR Senior Economist Sylvia Allegretto jointly released with the Economic Policy Institute.

This relative pay penalty—which is adjusted for education, experience, and demographic characteristics—grew to a record 26.6% in 2023. The average weekly wage of teachers has been falling behind that of other college graduates since 1996, when the teacher pay penalty was just 6.1%.

The report also features state-level estimates, which show that teachers were paid less than other college graduates in every state. In seven states, the teacher pay penalty exceeded 30%, with the widest gap being in Colorado (38.4%), Arizona (32.9%) and Virginia (32.0%).

Read the full report here.