U.S. Teachers' Pay Gap: Growing Disparities Despite Recent Efforts, Analysis Finds

By Moon Harper

Dec 23, 2023 12:06 AM EST

Teacher's Pay — (Photo : Unsplash/National Cancer Institute )

Teachers, with a median annual salary of $61,000, are widely known for being underpaid in America. As stated by the Economic Policy Institute, low wages and high stress have caused the nationwide shortage in the Great Recession.

While there has been some progress in the last two years in addressing the educator shortage and teacher pay, the gap in weekly wages between college graduates in other fields and teachers reached a record 26.4% in 2022, up from 23.5% in 2021. This pay disparity was only 6.1% in 1996. Compared to other professionals, teachers made an average of 73.6 cents for every dollar, a significant decrease from the 93.9 cents per dollar they made in 1996, hampered the recruitment and retention of teachers by this gap.

American Teachers' Act

Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and some congress members are trying to solve the issue by introducing the Pay Teachers Act in March, establishing a national minimum salary of $60,000 for public school teachers using federal funds. The American Teacher Act, another bill introduced last year by Representative Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., and Representative Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., encourages states to raise teacher salaries to $60,000 using Department of Education grant money. Currently, teachers in 37 states and the District of Columbia earn an average wage below $60,000, according to WalletHub research.

Variations in Metropolitan Area's Salaries

A recent analysis by personal finance firm MoneyGeek shows that teachers' salaries vary widely based on the metropolitan area where they work. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Council for Community and Economic Research, the study emphasizes the differences in purchasing power for educators in various regions.

Teachers in McAllen, Texas, experience the best purchasing power among cities. Despite an average annual salary of $73,153, considering taxes and the cost of living, their take-home pay is $68,271. This exceeds the national average, providing teachers with a higher standard of living.

For K-12 teachers looking to maximize their salaries, the Kennewick-Richland metro area in Washington is an excellent choice. K-12 teachers have the highest take-home pay, averaging $60,822. Meanwhile, postsecondary teachers in Las Cruces, New Mexico, enjoy the highest purchasing power, with an average take-home pay of $84,429.

Illinois presents a less favorable scenario for teachers. MoneyGeek examined seven metro areas in the state, with only two ranking in the top half of their list. The St. Louis area, which extends into Illinois, secured the highest position in the state, boasting an average annual salary exceeding $74,300 and a take-home pay of about $59,800. This ranked it as the eighth-best metro area for educators nationwide. Champaign-Urbana, housing the University of Illinois, also found itself in a decent position, ranking 44th overall. Regrettably, the other metro areas in Illinois have some of the lowest teacher salaries. Springfield, in particular, ranked the lowest, with teachers earning less than $43,000. These results underscore the difficulties that educators in Illinois face, aligning with recent U.S. Census Bureau data that indicates residents with education degrees in Illinois earn less compared to those with other bachelor's degrees.

The differences in teacher salaries among cities raise worries about the financial well-being of educators and how it may affect recruiting and keeping qualified teachers. NEA President Becky Pringle stressed that educators shouldn't face financial struggles while dedicating themselves to students. Policymakers must tackle these disparities and guarantee that a career in education provides fair and lasting economic opportunities for teachers nationwide.