Teachers' weekly wages are 23 percent lower than those of other college graduates: Average weekly wages of public school teachers, other college graduates, and all workers, 1979–2015 (2015 dollars)
| Year | College graduates | Public teachers | All workers | College graduates 1993-1996 | Public teachers 1993-1996 | All workers 1993-1996 | College graduates 1996-2015 | Public teachers 1996-2015 | All workers 1996-2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | $1,159.28 | $910.71 | $825.41 | ||||||
| 1980 | $1,127.66 | $878.95 | $804.27 | ||||||
| 1981 | $1,121.37 | $885.72 | $798.02 | ||||||
| 1982 | $1,127.64 | $897.94 | $804.04 | ||||||
| 1983 | $1,127.76 | $909.05 | $805.43 | ||||||
| 1984 | $1,133.64 | $942.59 | $809.26 | ||||||
| 1985 | $1,145.26 | $962.77 | $816.31 | ||||||
| 1986 | $1,219.36 | $1,004.44 | $845.37 | ||||||
| 1987 | $1,230.49 | $1,024.64 | $848.58 | ||||||
| 1988 | $1,230.00 | $1,040.33 | $849.52 | ||||||
| 1989 | $1,283.22 | $1,052.79 | $874.08 | ||||||
| 1990 | $1,279.18 | $1,056.51 | $870.21 | ||||||
| 1991 | $1,275.22 | $1,050.92 | $872.23 | ||||||
| 1992 | $1,285.44 | $1,061.32 | $874.97 | ||||||
| 1993 | $1,289.63 | $1,081.41 | $882.46 | $1,289.63 | $1,081.41 | $882.46 | |||
| 1994 | $1,292.00 | $1,142.80 | $886.88 | ||||||
| 1995 | $1,298.49 | $1,132.49 | $888.16 | ||||||
| 1996 | $1,291.66 | $1,122.15 | $891.45 | $1,291.66 | $1,122.15 | $891.45 | |||
| 1997 | $1,304.36 | $1,114.51 | $900.08 | ||||||
| 1998 | $1,393.47 | $1,127.98 | $940.64 | ||||||
| 1999 | $1,433.74 | $1,130.44 | $969.87 | ||||||
| 2000 | $1,446.58 | $1,130.42 | $973.99 | ||||||
| 2001 | $1,464.99 | $1,118.32 | $992.11 | ||||||
| 2002 | $1,474.18 | $1,128.45 | $1,004.25 | ||||||
| 2003 | $1,474.20 | $1,141.19 | $1,009.01 | ||||||
| 2004 | $1,464.86 | $1,147.04 | $1,008.86 | ||||||
| 2005 | $1,455.38 | $1,112.30 | $1,001.44 | ||||||
| 2006 | $1,448.64 | $1,099.21 | $998.23 | ||||||
| 2007 | $1,433.08 | $1,104.06 | $996.73 | ||||||
| 2008 | $1,420.76 | $1,096.40 | $999.33 | ||||||
| 2009 | $1,447.42 | $1,136.25 | $1,024.73 | ||||||
| 2010 | $1,438.30 | $1,152.53 | $1,019.01 | ||||||
| 2011 | $1,409.30 | $1,110.35 | $1,002.78 | ||||||
| 2012 | $1,395.91 | $1,094.73 | $1,002.84 | ||||||
| 2013 | $1,394.79 | $1,089.08 | $1,004.13 | ||||||
| 2014 | $1,392.11 | $1,074.60 | $1,005.98 | ||||||
| 2015 | $1,415.73 | $1,092.35 | $1,033.60 |
Note: "College graduates" excludes public school teachers, and "all workers" includes everyone (including public school teachers and college graduates). Wages are adjusted to 2015 dollars using the CPI-U-RS. Data are for workers age 18–64 with positive wages (excluding self-employed workers). Non-imputed data are not available for 1994 and 1995; data points for these years have been extrapolated and are represented by dotted lines (see Appendix A for more detail).
Source: Authors' analysis of Current Population Survey Outgoing Rotation Group data