Teachers earn 19.2% less in wages than comparable workers: Teacher wage gap—public school teacher wages relative to comparable workers, 1996–2019
| Year | Wage gap |
|---|---|
| 1996 | -6.1% |
| 1997 | -6.2% |
| 1998 | -9.0% |
| 1999 | -10.4% |
| 2000 | -11.8% |
| 2001 | -12.1% |
| 2002 | -12.1% |
| 2003 | -11.3% |
| 2004 | -12.8% |
| 2005 | -13.3% |
| 2006 | -15.0% |
| 2007 | -11.7% |
| 2008 | -14.5% |
| 2009 | -12.5% |
| 2010 | -12.0% |
| 2011 | -12.8% |
| 2012 | -16.0% |
| 2013 | -16.4% |
| 2014 | -16.5% |
| 2015 | -18.4% |
| 2016 | -19.4% |
| 2017 | -20.9% |
| 2018 | -22.0% |
| 2019 | -19.2% |
Notes: The figure shows regression-adjusted weekly wage penalties for public school teachers (elementary, middle, and secondary) relative to other college graduates.
Figure shows regression-adjusted weekly wage penalties: how much less, in percentage terms, elementary, middle, and secondary public school teachers make in weekly wages than their college-educated, nonteaching peers. College-educated workers refers to workers who have a bachelor’s degree or more education. The dependent variable is (log) weekly wages with indicator controls on public school teacher, private school teacher, gender, and married, along with indicator sets on education (M.A., professional degree, Ph.D.) and race/ethnicity (Black, Hispanic, other); also included are age (as a quartic) and state fixed effects. See Appendix A in Allegretto and Mishel 2019 for more details.
Source: Adapted from Figure A in Sylvia Allegretto and Lawrence Mishel, Teacher Pay Penalty Dips but Persists in 2019 (EPI and CWED, 2020).