The teacher compensation penalty was 13.1% in 2018 : Trends in the teacher compensation penalty and its components, 1979–2018
| W-2 wage share of compensation | Public school teachers* | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year(s) | Professionals | Public school teachers* | Wage penalty | Benefits advantage** | Compensation penalty |
| 1979 | n.a. | n.a. | -7.1% | n.a. | n.a. |
| 1993 | n.a. | n.a. | -5.1% | 2.4% | -2.7% |
| 2004 | 81.3% | 79.3% | -12.8% | 2.2% | -10.7% |
| 2007 | 80.7% | 77.2% | -11.7% | 4.0% | -7.7% |
| 2010 | 79.8% | 75.6% | -11.9% | 4.9% | -7.1% |
| 2017 | 78.1% | 71.4% | -20.9% | 7.4% | -13.5% |
| 2018 | 78.5% | 70.9% | -22.0% | 8.3% | -13.7% |
| 2019 | 78.6% | 70.7% | -19.2% | 9.0% | -10.2% |
| Percentage point change | |||||
| 1979–1993 | n.a. | n.a. | 2.0 | n.a. | n.a. |
| 1993–2007 | n.a. | n.a. | -6.6 | 1.6 | -5.0 |
| 1994–2007 | -0.6 | -2.1 | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. |
| 2007–2018 | -2.1 | -6.3 | -7.5 | 5.0 | -2.5 |
| 2010–2018 | -1.3 | -4.6 | -7.2 | 4.1 | -3.2 |
| 2017–2018 | 0.4 | -0.4 | 2.8 | 0.7 | 3.4 |
| 1993–2018 | n.a. | n.a. | -14.1 | 6.6 | -7.5 |
* Teachers are elementary, middle, and secondary public school teachers (compensation data do not include kindergarten teachers).
** The benefits advantage is the degree to which higher benefits offset the teacher wage penalty. See Appendix A for more detail.
Note: Numbers may not sum to totals due to rounding.
Source: Authors’ analysis of Current Population Survey Outgoing Rotation Group data and Bureau of Labor Statistics Employer Costs for Employee Compensation data