69ý

Teaching Profession

Teacher Salaries Aren’t Keeping Up With Inflation. See How Your State Compares

By Madeline Will — April 26, 2022 | Updated: April 27, 2022 3 min read
Photography of stacked coins.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

Soaring inflation is chipping away at any progress made to teacher salaries in recent years, according to a new report by the nation’s largest teachers’ union.

In its , released Tuesday, the National Education Association estimates that the national average teacher salary for the 2021-22 school year is $66,397—a 1.7 percent increase from the previous year. But when adjusted for inflation, the average teacher salary actually decreased by an estimated 3.9 percent over the last decade.

In other words, teachers are making $2,179 less, on average, than they did 10 years ago, when the salaries are adjusted for inflation.

The NEA also found that starting teacher salaries—a key tool for attracting more people into the profession—have declined significantly in real dollars. The average starting teacher salary for this school year was $41,770, a 4 percent decrease, when adjusted for inflation, from two years ago.

"[This] decrease in inflation-adjusted pay could not have come at a worse time,” the NEA said in its report. “Though multiple factors are driving what has been a years-long teacher shortage, insufficient pay is certainly one of the primary reasons that fewer people are entering the profession, and more are leaving.”

Teacher job satisfaction appears to be at an all-time low, according to a recent nationally representative survey of teachers conducted by the EdWeek Research Center and commissioned by Merrimack College’s school of education. Seventy-four percent of teachers do not believe that their salary is fair for the work they do, according to the survey, up from 65 percent in 2012.

The survey also found that 44 percent of teachers said they’re likely to quit and find a different job within the next two years, although past research suggests that many of the people who indicate plans to quit won’t actually do so.

Teachers “remain dedicated and, of course, committed to their students, but they are also exhausted, they’re overwhelmed, and they’re feeling underappreciated,” said NEA President Becky Pringle on a press call. Paying teachers a “professional salary” would help keep them in the classroom, she added.

Last year, the NEA found that the Red for Ed movement, which began in 2018 as teachers across the country protested and went on strike for higher wages and more school funding, had a demonstrable impact on teacher salaries. Many state legislatures were fueled by teacher activism to pass pay raises.

At the time, the NEA was optimistic that salaries were finally catching up to inflation after the Great Recession. But the economic fallout from the pandemic and the high inflation due to the reopening of the economy have stalled that progress.

“It is a crisis that is a result of the chronic underfunding of public education and the shortchanging of our students,” Pringle said.

See average salaries by state

The NEA primarily collected data from state departments of education to rank teacher salaries across the nation. The 2021-22 numbers are all estimates, and are typically revised slightly the following year.

The states where teachers make the most—and the least—remained unchanged from the previous year: New York, Massachusetts, and California topped the list with the highest salaries, while West Virginia, South Dakota, and Mississippi remained at the bottom.

Hawaii saw the most significant decline—5.5 percent—in its average teacher salary year over year. Osa Tui, Jr., the president of the Hawaii State Teachers Association, said that was largely because many veteran teachers retired during the pandemic, lowering the average. Also, the state no longer funds job-embedded professional development for teachers due to budget cuts, which reduced teacher pay by almost 1.5 percent, he said.

These rankings do not account for regional cost-of-living differences. Many states in the South and Midwest, where the cost of living is often cheaper, rank near the bottom of the list.

Some states have passed significant teacher pay raises this year, which are not reflected in the data. For example, Mississippi teachers, who are the lowest-paid in the country, , an increase of more than 10 percent. raises that range from 4 percent to nearly 21 percent, depending on their years of experience. And New Mexico teachers will see by an average of 20 percent.

Events

School & District Management Webinar Crafting Outcomes-Based Contracts That Work for Everyone
Discover the power of outcomes-based contracts and how they can drive student achievement.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School & District Management Webinar
Harnessing AI to Address Chronic Absenteeism in 69ý
Learn how AI can help your district improve student attendance and boost academic outcomes.
Content provided by 
School & District Management Webinar EdMarketer Quick Hit: What’s Trending among K-12 Leaders?
What issues are keeping K-12 leaders up at night? Join us for EdMarketer Quick Hit: What’s Trending among K-12 Leaders?

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

Teaching Profession The State of Teaching Why Teachers Likely Take So Few Days Off
The perception coincides with teachers' low levels of job satisfaction.
3 min read
survey teachers static
via Canva
Teaching Profession What the Research Says The More 69ý Miss Class, the Worse Teachers Feel About Their Jobs
Missing kids take a toll on teachers' morale, new research says. Here's how educators can cope with absenteeism.
4 min read
An empty elementary school classroom is seen on Aug. 17, 2021 in the Bronx borough of New York. Nationwide, students have been absent at record rates since schools reopened after COVID-forced closures. More than a quarter of students missed at least 10% of the 2021-22 school year.
An empty elementary school classroom is seen on Aug. 17, 2021 in the Bronx borough of New York. Nationwide, students have been absent at record rates since schools reopened after COVID-forced closures. Now research suggests the phenomenon may be depressing teachers' job satisfaction.
Brittainy Newman/AP
Teaching Profession Will Your Classroom Get Enough 'Likes'? Teachers Feel the Social Media Pressure
Teachers active on social media feel the competition to showcase innovative lessons and beautiful decorations.
5 min read
Image of a cellphone on a desk.
iStock/Getty
Teaching Profession New Findings on Teacher Morale Highlight Ways to Make It Better
A new College Board survey on teacher morale echoes some previous findings. But it also highlights opportunities for schools to improve it.
4 min read
A student raises her hand to share her work with her teacher.
A student raises her hand to share her work with her teacher.
Allison Shelley for All4Ed