The teacher pay penalty—the relative gap between the weekly wages of teachers and other college graduates—grew to a record 26.9% in 2024, according to a new report from the Economic Policy Institute and the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR). 

This relative pay penalty—which is adjusted for education, experience, and demographic characteristics—has accelerated over the past three decades as teachers’ real weekly wages have declined by 5.3% since 1996, while wages of other college graduates have increased by just over 30%. When broken down by gender, the pay penalty was 36.4% for men and 21.5% for women in the teaching profession. 

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

Although teachers typically receive better benefits packages than other professionals, this does not offset the growing wage penalty that teachers face. In 2024, the teacher total compensation gap was -17.1%.

As the report explains, providing teachers with compensation commensurate with that of similarly educated and experienced professionals is necessary to retain and attract qualified workers. While there are many important factors impacting teacher retention and recruitment, pay consistently lands near the top of any list.

“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,” said report author Sylvia Allegretto, who is a senior economist at CEPR and research associate at EPI.