Research Report

ELIZABETH D. STEINER, ASHLEY WOO, SY DOAN

Larger Pay Increases

and Adequate Benefits
Could Improve Teacher
Retention
Findings from the 2024 State of the
American Teacher Survey

F
ew K–12 public school teachers—only one out of every three—think that their pay is adequate
(Doan, Steiner, and Pandey, 2024; Steiner, Woo, and Doan; 2023). Low pay is a top reason teach-
ers consider leaving their job and is a top source of job-related stress for one in three teachers
(Diliberti, Schwartz, and Grant, 2021; Doan et al., 2023; Doan, Steiner, and Pandey, 2024).
Reports of teacher dissatisfaction and higher-than-average teacher attrition following the coro-
navirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, particularly among teachers in schools with histori-
cally underserved student populations (Bastian and Fuller, 2024; Goldhaber and Theobald, 2022;
Redding and Nguyen, 2024; Zamarro et al., 2024), prompted state and district education leaders to
quickly adopt policies designed to recruit and retain teachers and increase job satisfaction. Many of
these policies included increasing pay (Aranda-Comer, 2023; Thymianos and DiMarco, 2024).
As of spring 2023, at least nine states and numerous school districts had recently enacted,
or negotiated through collective bargaining, changes to teacher pay (Heubeck, 2023; “LAUSD
Approves 21% Teacher Salary Raises in New Union Contract,” 2023; Peroza, 2023; Thymianos
and DiMarco, 2024). The content of these changes varied. Some involved small percentage-point
increases in salary, and others specified bonuses, new minimum salaries, or statewide targets for
average or starting salaries (Aranda-Comer, 2023; Duncombe and Francies, 2022). Few of these
new policies addressed working conditions, despite evidence that raising pay and improving work-
ing conditions are both necessary to improve teacher retention (Edwards et al., 2024; Jamieson and
Perez, 2023; Steiner, Woo, and Doan, 2023).
Although research on these new policies is ongoing, early results add to the existing literature
that suggests that increasing teacher pay can reduce teacher attrition or, in some cases, help dis-
 KEY FINDINGS
■ At least two-thirds of teachers reported receiving a pay increase between the 2022–2023 and 2023–2024
school years, but the amounts were small—$2,000 on average—compared with desired salary increase of
$16,000.

■ Teachers who received larger pay increases were more likely to say that their base pay in the 2023–2024
school year was adequate and were less likely to intend to leave the profession even after accounting for
base pay. Black teachers earned lower salaries than other teachers and also reported the smallest pay
increases.

■ One in four teachers nationally were not paid for the extra work that they performed for their school or
school system. Black teachers were more likely than White teachers to report that they performed extra
work for no pay.

■ Teachers in single-earner households spent larger shares of their household incomes on housing, child
care, and student debt payments than similar working adults in single-earner households.

■ Employer-provided benefits that could help teachers pay for these household expenses were uncommon,
and teachers held less favorable views of their benefits than similar working adults.

■ Larger pay increases, providing benefits that mitigate major household expenses, and improving the qual-
ity of benefits could improve teacher retention.

tricts attract higher-quality teachers (Biasi, 2021; Black teachers were especially likely to say their
Pham, Nguyen, and Springer, 2021; Sun et al., 2024; base pay is inadequate and that it is a key reason that
Zamarro et al., 2024). they are considering leaving their job (Doan, Steiner,
But it is telling that according to national sur- and Pandey, 2024; Steiner, Woo, and Doan, 2023).
veys, teachers’ perceptions of pay adequacy have not Black teachers also reported lower base pay, on aver-
changed—or have worsened—from January 2023 to age, than White teachers (National Center for Educa-
January 2024 (Doan, Steiner, and Pandey, 2024). In tion Statistics [NCES], 2023). In 2024, nearly half of
2024, the gap between teachers’ current base salaries Black teachers said that low pay was a top source of
and the base salaries that they would consider com- job-related stress—higher than in 2023.
pletely adequate—what we call their desired salaries These patterns are worrying because Black and
throughout this report—was on average $16,000 other racially minoritized students and students
(Doan, Steiner, and Pandey, 2024). This gap was con- living in poverty are especially likely to be negatively
sistent with teachers’ reports in 2023 (Steiner, Woo, affected by Black teacher turnover. The presence
and Doan, 2023). of Black teachers benefits all students, especially
Black and other minoritized students (Blazar, 2021;
Egalite and Kisida, 2018; Gershenson et al., 2022),
and Black teachers are more likely to teach in schools
Abbreviations that serve large shares of these students (Schaeffer,
2021). Already, Black teacher turnover is substantially
ALP American Life Panel
COVID-19 coronavirus disease 2019
higher than other teacher turnover (Carver-Thomas
NCES National Center for Education and Darling-Hammond, 2017). This means that
Statistics elevated Black teacher turnover stemming from low
NEA National Education Association pay could disproportionately harm these vulnerable
NTPS National Teacher and Principal student groups.
Survey In this report, we use the 2024 State of the
SoT State of the American Teacher
American Teacher (SoT) survey to explore a set of

2
factors that could relate to teachers’ unchanged nega-
tive perceptions of their pay between the 2022–2023 What Makes a Survey Nationally
Representative
and 2023–2024 school years. RAND has conducted
the SoT survey since 2021. We document teachers’ Respondents are a probability-based sample,
reports of how much their pay increased between meaning that they were randomly selected (not
these two school years, which teachers received volunteer or opt-in) to participate from among
pay increases, the sources and amounts of those the known population of U.S. K–12 public school
increases, and how reported increases compare with teachers. Probability-based samples are less likely
than opt-in surveys to include automated or fake
desired pay, and we explore differences by state col-
responses, which tend to be biased (Mercer and
lective bargaining requirements. We discuss extra
Lau, 2023). Thus, SoT survey respondents reflect
pay for additional school-related activities; describe
teachers nationally. SoT survey responses are
teachers’ reported spending on housing, child care, carefully weighted to represent teachers on mul-
and student loan payments; and report teachers’ per- tiple dimensions across the country.
ceptions of employer-provided benefits.
We examine the relationships of teachers’ pay
increases, benefits, and expenses with their inten- pare teachers’ responses with those of similar work-
tions to leave and compare teachers’ reports with ing adults. We use a subset of the full ALP sample
those of similar working adults. We focus on Black to define similar working adults as employed adults
teachers because of the worrying changes in their who are between the ages of 18 and 64, have at least
perceptions of their pay and the high impact of their a bachelor’s degree, and report working at least 35
attrition on students. hours per week (Allegretto, 2022).
Our findings provide critical information to fed- We explored whether teachers’ survey responses
eral, state, and district policymakers who are design- differed according to their demographic character-
ing teacher pay initiatives and other programs to istics, school context, and the bargaining status of
improve teacher retention. The sections that describe teachers’ states.1 Unless otherwise noted, we discuss
our data, methods, and limitations contain recycled only differences among teacher subgroups that are
text from prior SoT reports that address related topics statistically significant at p < 0.05. In select cases, we
(Doan, Steiner, and Pandey, 2024; Steiner, Woo, and tested the robustness of significant differences across
Doan, 2023). teacher subgroups to adjust for teacher- or school-level
characteristics or other contextual factors that were
highly likely to be associated with teacher pay, such
We Surveyed Teachers and as years of experience, highest degree earned, state
Similar Working Adults bargaining status, or cost of living. These tests are not
evidence of any causal effect of any teacher or school
We use data from two sources: the 2024 SoT survey, characteristic and are intended only to highlight dif-
which is a nationally representative survey of 1,479 ferences in reported experiences across subgroups of
K–12 teachers (see the box on what makes a survey teachers. Because the intent of this report is to provide
nationally representative), and the 2024 American exploratory, descriptive information, we did not make
Life Panel (ALP) companion survey. Black teachers statistical adjustments for multiple comparisons.
and Hispanic teachers were oversampled in the SoT It is possible that numerous factors unmea-
survey to allow for representative estimates of teach- sured by this survey, such as spousal employment
ers who identify as belonging to these groups. The or local economic conditions, could have played a
ALP companion survey is a nationally representative role in teachers’ responses or the differences across
survey of 501 working adults in which we asked par- educator subgroups that we observe. In addition,
allel questions about expenses and household income we acknowledge that aspects of state context corre-
to provide context for teachers’ responses (Doan, lated with bargaining status that we do not measure
Steiner, and Pandey, 2024). In this report, we com- could contribute to the patterns that we observe. For

3
instance, states that prohibit collective bargaining they were not compensated for such activities, or to
also have among the lowest levels of per-pupil spend- report that they did not perform any such activities.
ing on education (NCES, undated-d). In addition, we We sometimes refer to these extracurricular or addi-
were unable to explore how specific state policies for tional activities as extra work in this report. We did
increasing pay affected teachers’ perceptions because not ask teachers what their extra work entailed.
we did not obtain state-representative samples. Teachers reported the number of hours that they
More details about our data and analysis can be spent each week performing extra work. We esti-
found in the “How This Analysis Was Conducted” mated hourly rates for reported pay for extra work by
box at the end of this report. We provide the SoT dividing reported annual pay for extra work by the
and ALP survey responses in our technical report estimated number of hours spent annually on such
(Doan et al., 2024). work. More information on what goes into teacher
pay can be found in the box.
We measured expenses for three large, common
How We Measured Pay, household expenses that are often cited as barriers to
Expenses, and Intention to teacher retention—housing, child care, and student
Leave loan payments (Fiddiman, Campbell, and Partelow,
2019; Saenz-Armstrong, 2023; Sparks, 2018)—as one
We measured pay by asking teachers to report their
way to understand the extent to which the teaching
base teaching salary for the entire current school year
profession provides adequate pay. We asked teach-
(2023–2024) and the prior school year (2022–2023),
ers to report their monthly expenses in each of these
rounded to the nearest $1,000. Consistent with the
categories, rounded to the nearest $100, and used
National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS) (U.S.
these reports to estimate yearly costs. We report
Department of Education, undated), we defined
teachers’ expenses in these three categories relative
base salary as salary before adding any extra pay
to their reported household income and compare
for additional school-related activities.2 We asked
teachers with similar working adults in single- and
teachers how adequate they considered their current
dual-earner households. We focused our analysis on
base teaching salary to be given their role and work
the set of teachers and working adults who paid for
responsibilities, using the same question asked in the
each expense.
2023 SoT survey (Steiner, Woo, and Doan, 2023). We
We measured teachers’ intentions to leave their
did not ask teachers to report the amount or value of
current teaching job and intentions to leave the teach-
their benefits or pay from work outside their school.
ing profession before the end of the 2023–2024 school
We measured pay increases by subtracting teach-
year. Although intentions to leave are not a perfect
ers’ reported base salaries in the 2022–2023 school
predictor of whether teachers will resign, teachers
year from their reported base salaries in this school
who state an intention to leave are more likely to
year (2023–2024). We report pay increases in aver-
resign than those who do not state such an intention
ages, as dollar amounts, and as percentage increases
(Grant and Brantlinger, 2023; Nguyen et al., 2024).3
from teachers’ reported 2022–2023 base salaries. We
We relied on information provided by the
sometimes report pay increases in categories of dollar
National Education Association (NEA) to group
amounts to illustrate the variation in amount of
states into three categories of state-level collective
increase experienced by different groups of teachers.
bargaining: states where bargaining is required if
We also asked teachers to report the reasons for their
teachers choose to vote for union representation;
pay increase (e.g., an additional year of experience).
states where bargaining is allowed but not required;
We asked teachers to report the additional annual
and states where bargaining is prohibited. More
pay they had earned, or will earn, from the school or
details about the measures we used can be found in
school system where they worked for extracurricular
the “How This Analysis Was Conducted” box at the
or additional activities (e.g., athletic coaching or spon-
end of this report.
soring student activities) in 2023–2024, to report that

4
 What Goes into Teacher Pay
Teacher pay consists primarily of teachers’ annual base salaries. In addition, teachers can earn extra pay from
taking on additional responsibilities at school, receiving bonuses, taking on summer jobs, or working outside their
school system. However, the amounts that teachers earn from these sources tend to be small relative to their base
salaries—from about $3,000 for extra work within their school system to $6,000 for working outside their school
system (NCES, undated-a). Benefits are another important component of teachers’ compensation because teach-
ers receive a larger share of their total compensation through benefits than other workers (Allegretto, 2022).

Teacher pay is often set through salary schedules that typically pay teachers more for gaining more experience
and/or education. In the 44 states in which teachers’ unions are required or allowed to engage in collective bar-
gaining, unions and districts negotiate numerous aspects of teachers’ contracts, including pay.

In some districts, unions have recently negotiated significant increases to teachers’ salaries. For instance, in
2023, the Los Angeles Unified School District agreed to increase teachers’ wages by 21 percent (Evans and
Blume, 2023). In New York, the United Federation of Teachers’ 2023 contract increased pay through percentage
increases, bonuses, higher starting salaries, and a modified salary schedule that enables teachers to reach the
higher end of pay rates in less time (United Federation of Teachers, undated-a).

Teachers can earn additional pay for extracurricular duties. According to a 2019 analysis of states’ collec-
tive bargaining laws, extracurricular duties were a mandatory subject of bargaining in six states but were not
addressed in nearly half of states (National Council on Teacher Quality, 2019). Many districts have a salary
schedule that specifies annual stipends for such extracurricular activities as coaching a sport, sponsoring a
club, or acting as department chair. Level of additional pay can vary by job, and, in some districts, the amount is
set as a percentage of base teacher pay.

Teachers’ unions can also negotiate teachers’ benefits. In 2018, the United Federation of Teachers in New York
negotiated six weeks of paid parental leave, which was further expanded in the 2023 contract to 12 weeks of
leave (United Federation of Teachers, undated-b).

States can enact policies that influence teacher pay. In 2023, at least nine states enacted policies to raise
teacher pay through different avenues. For instance, the Arkansas LEARNS Act increased minimum salaries for
new teachers from $36,000 to $50,000 and provided teachers with a raise of at least $2,000. At the same time,
districts are no longer required to set salary schedules that require additional pay for teachers with more experi-
ence or education (Aranda-Comer, 2023; Zamarro et al., 2024).

In Utah, policymakers enacted a law in 2023 that makes teachers eligible for a $6,000 compensation increase
annually and, in 2024, established a pay-for-performance program that provides bonuses to high-performing
teachers (Aranda-Comer, 2023; Thymianos and Di Marco, 2024). Thus, state policies can take many different
forms, influencing minimum salaries, salary schedules, and access to bonuses.

Pay Increases recent analysis of teacher salary schedules (Walker,

2024). On average, teachers reported a 3-percent
Teachers’ Average Reported Pay increase, which varied by only one or two percentage
Increase Was Small Compared with points across an array of teacher and school charac-
Desired Salaries teristics and state bargaining requirements.4
Teachers reported an average one-year pay increase The average amount of the reported pay increases
of $2,055, a number well below the average desired varied by some teacher characteristics. Black teach-
salary increase of $16,000 (Figure 1) (Doan, Steiner, ers reported an average pay increase of $1,684 com-
and Pandey, 2024). Teachers’ average reported pay pared with $2,030 reported by White teachers, $2,385
increases were roughly consistent with NEA’s most reported by Hispanic teachers, and $2,664 reported
by teachers of other races or ethnicities, although only

5
FIGURE 1
Average Reported Pay Increases by Teacher Race/Ethnicity and State Bargaining
Status

$79,278 $79,761

$2,516
$2,664
$77,280
$76,583
2023–2024
$70,464 $70,695 $70,337 average salary

$2,055 $2,030 2022–2023

$2,385 average salary
$68,409 $68,671 $65,013 $67,892
$1,684
$63,395 $59,971
$1,352
$58,650
$54,606
$1,491
$53,126

All teachers White Black Hispanic Other Bargaining Bargaining Bargaining

required allowed prohibited

Teacher race/ethnicity State bargaining status

NOTE: This figure displays teachers’ reported base salaries for the 2023–2024 and 2022–2023 school years and their reported salary
increases by teachers’ race/ethnicity and state bargaining status. When examining teachers’ responses by teachers’ race or ethnicity, we
compared the responses of teachers in four categories—White, Black, Hispanic, and other (teachers who did not identify as exclusively
White, Black, or Hispanic). Salary increases were calculated by subtracting teachers’ reported 2022–2023 base salaries from their reported
2023–2024 base salaries for teachers who reported both their 2022–2023 and 2023–2024 base salaries. Differences in the size of teachers’
reported pay increase were significant at the p < 0.05 level between the following subgroups, without controlling for any teacher- or
school-level characteristics: Black teachers versus teachers of other races or ethnicities, teachers in states that require bargaining versus
teachers in states that allow bargaining, and teachers in states that require bargaining versus teachers in states that prohibit bargaining. All
teachers who reported their 2023–2024 base salaries: n = 1,462; all teachers who reported their 2022–2023 base salaries: n = 1,449; all
teachers who reported both: n = 1,444.

the difference between Black teachers and teachers of national average teacher salary. White teachers who
other races or ethnicities (i.e., teachers who did not received a pay increase were as likely as Black teachers
identify as White, Black, or Hispanic) was statistically to receive a pay increase of more than $7,000, but His-
significant. Thus, Black teachers reported the smallest panic teachers were significantly more likely to report
average salary increases. One possible reason for this receiving such an increase, even after controlling for
is that Black teachers reported the lowest average sala- education level, years of experience, and cost of living.
ries among teachers of different races and ethnicities State bargaining status might underlie many of
(Doan, Steiner, and Pandey, 2024), even though they the differences in pay increase amounts we observe
reported similar percent increases (3 to 4 percent). by teacher race and ethnicity because of variation
Among teachers who reported a pay increase, in where teachers of different races and ethnicities
about half received an increase of $2,000 or less and reside. Teachers in states where bargaining was pro-
about one-quarter received an increase of $2,001 hibited received the smallest pay increases—roughly
to $4,000. Larger increases were relatively less half the size of increases received by teachers in states
common (Figure 2). Eight percent of Black teachers where bargaining was required (Figure 1). Among
who received a pay increase reported an increase of teachers who received a pay increase, teachers in
more than $7,000—which is about 10 percent of the states where bargaining was prohibited were also

6
 FIGURE 2
Reported Pay Increases, by Teacher Race/Ethnicity and State Bargaining Status, Among Teachers Who Reported
Receiving a Pay Increase
Increase of Increase of Increase of
Pay increase of $2,000 or less
$2,001 to $4,000 $4,001 to $7,000 more than $7,000

9%
All teachers who
received a pay 51% 27% 14%
increase

8%
Black (ref.) 53% 20% 19%
Teacher race/ethnicity

11%*
Hispanic 52% 20% 17%*

Other 39%* 27% 16% 18%*

7

White 51% 28% 14%

8%

11%*
State bargaining status

Bargaining
42% 32% 15%
required (ref.)
14% 5%
Bargaining
60%* 21%
allowed
10% 5%
Bargaining
69%* 16%*
prohibited

NOTE: This figure displays the percentage of teachers who received each amount of pay increase, among teachers who reported receiving a pay increase. Pay increases were calculated by subtracting
teachers’ reported base salaries in the 2023–2024 school year from their base salaries in the 2022–2023 school year. This method for estimating pay increases might underreport the number of
teachers who received increases of less than $2,000 because of the construction of the survey question, which asked teachers to round their pay to the nearest $1,000. See “How This Analysis Was
Conducted” for more details. Results are shown for all teachers who reported a pay increase and disaggregated by teacher race/ethnicity and state bargaining status. An asterisk (*) indicates that
percentages for that subgroup significantly differ at the p < 0.05 level from the reference group (ref.) before controlling for any teacher- or school-level characteristics. All teachers who received a pay
increase: n = 854. Totals might not sum to 100 because of rounding. Black bars represent 95-percent confidence intervals.
 context (e.g., variation in state spending on public
education) or different treatment of Black teachers is
Black teachers a factor in these results.
A recent study using NTPS data found that female
disproportionately teachers earned less than male teachers in base pay
and extra pay, regardless of state bargaining context,
reside in states that and that the gap in extra pay increased when the prin-

prohibit collective cipal was male (Quintero, Hansen, and Zerbino, 2023).
Earlier work found that Black teachers earned less in
bargaining. extra pay when working for a White principal (Gris-
som and Keiser, 2011). Although not conclusive, these
results suggest that, if different treatment occurs, it
more likely than teachers in states where bargain- can affect pay regardless of bargaining context.
ing was required to report receiving the smallest pay
increases of $2,000 or less. Conversely, more teach-
The Amount of the Pay Increases That
ers in states where bargaining was required received
larger pay increases (Figure 2).
Teachers Received Depended on the
Black teachers disproportionately reside in states Number and Type of Pay Increases
that prohibit collective bargaining. Black teachers Teachers reported multiple types of pay increases.
make up only 6 percent of the national K–12 public The most commonly reported type was an increase
school teacher workforce but are 15 to 20 percent of given for an additional year of experience, which was
that workforce in many of the states that prohibit col- reported by 59 percent of teachers nationally. Pay
lective bargaining, such as Georgia, Mississippi, North increases from a new union-negotiated contract, a
Carolina, and South Carolina (NCES, undated-b). new state policy increasing teacher pay, or an addi-
When we controlled only for state bargaining tional degree or credential were much less common,
status in a regression, the differences in the amount reported by 25 percent, 11 percent, and 6 percent of
of pay increase received by teachers of different races teachers, respectively.
and ethnicities were no longer significant, suggesting The amount of the pay increase that teach-
that residence in a state that requires or prohibits col- ers reported depended on the number and type
lective bargaining might be related to differences in of increases that teachers received. Teachers who
reported pay increases by teacher race or ethnicity.5 reported receiving an increase because they obtained
These results were supported when we examined an additional degree or credential received the largest
pay increases within states that require and prohibit pay increases ($4,103 on average), and teachers who
bargaining. Within states that require bargaining, reported receiving an increase for an additional year
teachers of different races or ethnicities received simi- of experience received the smallest increases ($2,472
lar pay increases. There were also no differences in the on average) (Figure 3).
amount of pay increases among teachers of different One reason for this difference is that nearly all
races and ethnicities in states that prohibit bargaining. teachers who received increases for additional educa-
However, on average, the pay increases for each racial tion also received other types of increases. Eighty-four
or ethnic group in states that prohibit bargaining were percent of teachers who received an increase for addi-
smaller than in states that require bargaining. tional education also received an increase for an addi-
Although our data suggest that variation in tional year of experience, and 30 percent also received
where Black teachers live, in combination with state an increase because their union negotiated a new con-
bargaining status, appears to largely explain the tract. However, most teachers who received an increase
lower base pay and smaller salary increases reported for an additional year of experience—65 percent—said
by Black teachers relative to other teachers, we cannot it was their only type of increase.
rule out the possibility that other aspects of state

8
FIGURE 3
Teachers’ Average Reported Pay Increase, by Type of Increase
Teachers’ reported pay increase, by type of
Teachers’ reported pay increase, pay increase, accounting for other self-reported
by type of pay increase sources of increases
$6,000

$5,000

$4,000

$3,000

$2,000

$1,000

$4,103 $3,488 $2,948 $2,472 $1,799 $2,265 $1,271 $1,240

$0
Obtained an Union or New state Gained an Obtained an Union or New state Gained an
additional professional policy additional additional professional policy additional
degree or association increasing year of degree or association increasing year of
credits (e.g., negotiated a teacher experience credits (e.g., negotiated a teacher experience
continuing pay increase pay continuing pay increase pay
education) as part of a education) as part of a
new contract new contract

NOTE: The left side of this figure displays the amount of pay increases reported by teachers who reported receiving each type of pay
increase. Some teachers received multiple types of increases, and the left side of this figure does not account for all types of increases that
teachers received. The right side of this figure displays the amount of pay increase by type of increase, after accounting for teachers’ other
self-reported sources of increases. Teachers reporting each type of pay increase: n = 109–799. Black bars represent 95-percent confidence
intervals.

Of the four types of pay increases that we discuss experience ($1,240), and a new state policy increasing
in this report, 56 percent of teachers reported receiv- teacher pay ($1,271).
ing just one type of increase, 19 percent reported Although pay increases because of new state poli-
receiving two types of increases, and just 2 percent of cies and negotiated contracts might take different
teachers reported receiving three types of increases. forms, these data suggest that teachers who received
Teachers in states that required or allowed collective pay increases because of newly negotiated contracts,
bargaining were more likely than teachers in states on average, saw larger increases than those who
that prohibited collective bargaining to report that reported other types of increases.
they received two types of increases. Black teachers were more likely than teachers of
Because the pay increases that teachers received other races and ethnicities to report that they received
sometimes overlapped, we used a regression model a pay increase because of a new state policy. However,
to estimate the amount of pay increase associated they were less likely to report that they received an
with each type of increase, accounting for other increase because of a new union-negotiated contract.
self-reported sources of pay increases. We estimate This finding is important because our analyses sug-
that teachers who reported that they received a pay gest that union-negotiated increases were slightly
increase because of a new union contract received larger than other types of increases after accounting
increases that were $2,265 higher than those who did for other reported sources of pay increases. Ulti-
not. This was larger than the estimated size of the pay mately, the relatively smaller amounts of the pay
increases associated with teacher reports of receiv- increases reported by Black teachers appear to be
ing a pay increase because of earning an additional related to the type of increase they received.
degree or credential ($1,799), an additional year of

9
Pay for Extra Work $3,275 for this work during the school year, on par
with data reported by NCES (undated-a). Teach-
Pay for Extra Work Was Only 4 Percent ers with more years of experience reported earning
of Teachers’ Total Pay significantly more for their extra work than novice
Sixty-five percent of teachers reported performing teachers did, a difference that held after controlling
extra work for their school or school system, such as for the cost of living and state bargaining status.
athletic coaching, sponsoring student activities, men- Teachers with 21 or more years of experience earned
toring teachers, or teaching evening classes. Nearly all $3,883 for extra work, on average; novice teachers
teachers who performed extra work received some pay earned about half that amount—$2,003. We did not
for this work. Fifty-seven percent of teachers nationally observe any significant differences in the additional
earned additional pay for their extra work (Figure 4). amounts earned by teachers of different races or eth-
This extra pay was only about 4 percent of teach- nicities. Like pay increases, the amount of this extra
ers’ total salaries for the school year. On average, pay is small compared with the gap between teachers’
teachers who were paid for their extra work earned actual and desired salaries.

FIGURE 4
Teachers Performing Extra Work, With and Without Extra Pay
Percentage of teachers reporting that they Percentage of teachers reporting
performed extra work for extra pay that they performed extra work
for no pay

All teachers 57% 23%

Teacher race/ethnicity

Black (ref.) 53% 30%

Hispanic 56% 24%

White 57% 22%*

State bargaining status

Bargaining 62% 19%

required (ref.)
Bargaining 55% 28%
allowed
Bargaining
46%* 28%*
prohibited

NOTE: This figure displays teachers’ responses to the question, “During the current school year (2023–2024), how much additional
compensation do you, or will you, earn from the school system where you work for extracurricular or additional activities, such as coaching,
sponsoring student activities, mentoring teachers, or teaching evening classes?” The left side of the figure displays the percentage of
teachers who responded that they earned extra pay for their extra work. The right side of the figure displays the percentage of teachers who
responded, “This school year (2023–2024), I do extracurricular or additional activities for my school system, but I don’t earn any additional
compensation for these activities.” Teachers were allowed to report that they both earned extra pay for their extra work and also that they
performed extra work for no pay. Those who reported performing a combination of paid and unpaid extra work are represented on both sides
of the figure. An asterisk (*) indicates that percentages for that subgroup significantly differ at the p < 0.05 level from the reference group (ref.)
before controlling for any teacher- or school-level characteristics. All teachers: n = 1,462–1,463. Black bars represent 95-percent confidence
intervals.

10
One-Quarter of Teachers—and Nearly
One-Third of Black Teachers—Were
Not Paid for Their Extra Work Black teachers who
One-quarter of teachers nationally said that they were paid for their extra
were not paid for the extra work they performed
for their school or school system. When we look work earned roughly
only at teachers who reported performing extra
work, 35 percent of teachers said that they were half as much per hour
not paid for some or all of their extra work. Some
teachers—15 percent of teachers nationally and as White teachers.
22 percent of teachers who performed any extra
work—performed a combination of paid and unpaid where bargaining was required to report that they
work. Eight percent of teachers nationally reported were not paid for any of their extra work (17 percent
that they performed only unpaid extra work. versus 5 percent, respectively). A 2019 analysis of
Black teachers were particularly likely to report states’ collective bargaining laws found that extra
that they were not paid for their extra work. Thirty work activities are subject to collective bargaining in
percent of Black teachers reported they performed only a handful of states. More commonly, they are not
extra work for no pay, in comparison with 22 per- addressed or are a prohibited issue in the bargaining
cent of White teachers. This difference between process (National Council on Teacher Quality, 2019).
Black and White teachers did not remain statisti-
cally significant after controlling for state bargain-
ing status and school demographic composition, Black Teachers Earned Less, on
suggesting that the large shares of Black teachers Average, for Their Extra Work Than
who reside in states that prohibit bargaining is one White Teachers
reason that Black teachers were more likely to report
On average, we estimate that teachers who per-
performing extra work for no pay.
formed extra work for pay earned $31 per hour for
Another possible reason Black teachers were
that work.6 This average masks important differ-
more likely to perform extra work for no pay is
ences. Black teachers who were paid for their extra
because they receive different treatment at their
work earned roughly half as much per hour as White
schools. Although we did not explore this possibil-
teachers—$19 per hour versus $33 per hour. This dif-
ity in our survey, prior research has found that Black
ference stems from the fact that Black teachers who
teachers are more likely to be tasked with some
worked extra hours for pay worked more hours per
duties, such as managing student behavior (Bristol
week on such activities—13 hours per week compared
and Mentor, 2018). Black teachers could also be car-
with 9 hours worked by White teachers. There were
rying out additional activities to meet heightened
no differences in the amount of pay Black and White
student needs because they are more likely to work
teachers reportedly earned for their extra work.
in high-poverty schools (Bristol and Carver-Thomas,
The difference in hourly pay between Black and
2024; Carver-Thomas and Darling-Hammond, 2017).
White teachers held after controlling for teachers’ years
State bargaining status appeared to be associated
of experience, education level, cost of living, and state
with whether teachers received pay for their extra
bargaining status, but not after also controlling for
work. Teachers in states that require bargaining were
teachers’ school context (i.e., locale, school poverty, the
more likely than teachers in states that prohibit bar-
racial composition of the student body), suggesting that
gaining to report that they received pay for extra work
Black teachers might be spending more hours on extra
(62 percent versus 46 percent, respectively) (Figure 4).
work for which they are paid in part because they are
In contrast, teachers in states where bargaining was
more likely to work in high-needs schools.
prohibited were more likely than teachers in states

11
Expenses and Benefits $1,306 reported by similar working adults. Teachers
and similar working adults reported that they were
Teachers and Similar Working Adults responsible for child care at similar rates (27 percent
Spent Similar Shares of Household for both). Teachers’ reports of monthly student loan
Income on Major Expenses payment amounts were very similar to those of simi-
On average, teachers and similar working adults lar working adults ($342 per month for teachers and
spent comparable shares of their household income $382 for similar working adults). About 40 percent of
on housing, child care, and student loan payments teachers and similar working adults were currently
(Figure 5). Although both teachers and similar work- paying their student loans.
ing adults spent just under 20 percent of their house- Of course, many individuals do not ever incur
hold income on housing costs, teachers spent, on all three of these expenses, and those that do might
average, less than similar working adults on housing not incur them all at once. Relatively few teachers—
($1,742 per month for teachers versus $2,078 for simi- only 10 percent in our sample—were paying all three
lar working adults).7 expenses at once. Black teachers were about twice
Although teachers’ housing costs were lower as likely as White teachers and Hispanic teachers to
than those of similar working adults, their reported report paying for all three expenses simultaneously.
child care costs were slightly higher. On average, This is likely because Black teachers were far more
teachers who paid for child care reported spending likely than White teachers and Hispanic teachers to
$1,827 per month on child care, in comparison with report that they were currently paying student loans,

FIGURE 5
Teachers’ and Similar Working Adults’ Reported Expenses as a Percentage of
Household Income

All teachers 19% 15% 5% 38%

Similar working
adults 18% 12% 3% 33%
Single-earner
household

Teachers 23% 17% 6% 46%

Similar working
19% 8% 3% 30%
adults

Housing costs
Child care
costs
Dual-earner
household

Teachers 17% 14% 4% 35%

Student loan
Similar working costs
adults 18% 13% 3% 34%

NOTE: This figure displays the percentage of reported household income that teachers and similar working adults spent on housing costs,
child care costs, and student loan costs by household composition. Single-earner households are those where the survey respondent is the
only adult in their household who pays for household expenses. Dual-earner households are those where the survey respondent and another
adult in their household pays for household expenses. For more on how these percentages were calculated, see “How This Analysis Was
Conducted.” Teachers reporting housing costs: n = 1,380; teachers reporting child care costs: n = 282; teachers reporting student loan
costs: n = 591. Similar working adults reporting housing costs: n = 204, similar working adults reporting child care costs: n = 31; similar
working adults reporting student loan costs: n = 66.

12
a finding that aligns with a recent analysis of data
from the NTPS (García et al., 2023).
Sixty-six percent of Black teachers reported cur- Teachers in single-
rently paying their student loans, in comparison with
47 percent of Hispanic teachers and 34 percent of earner households
White teachers. Notably, the statistical significance of
this difference held even after controlling for teachers’ spent 16 percent more
years of experience. These results are consistent with
other research that student loan repayment might be of their household
more of a burden for Black teachers, potentially con-
tributing to their increasingly negative perceptions of
income on three major
their pay (Doan, Steiner and Pandey, 2024; Fiddiman,
Campbell, and Partelow, 2019; Herschcopf et al., 2021).
expenses than similar
Underlying these reports are differences in pay working adults in single-
and household income between teachers and simi-
lar working adults. Teachers earn roughly $18,000 earner households.
less than similar working adults (Doan, Steiner, and
Pandey, 2024) and reported lower annual household
tion beyond the number of adults who contributed
incomes. Teachers reported roughly $120,000 in
to household expenses. For example, our data do not
household income, on average, and similar working
allow us to distinguish between teachers who are the
adults reported about $150,000.
sole adults in single-earner households and teachers
who are the sole earners among multiple adults in
Teachers in Single-Earner Households their households.
Spent More of Their Household The differences in child care costs between
Incomes on Major Expenses Than teachers and similar working adults in single-earner
Similar Working Adults households stand out among these three expenses.
Our data suggest that this difference is related to
Teachers in single-earner households spent a larger teachers spending more on child care in addition to
portion of their household incomes on the three having lower household incomes. As we noted ear-
major household expenses that we examined than lier in this report, teachers reported higher monthly
similar working adults in single-earner households. child care costs, on average, than similar working
Across the three major expenses that we examined, adults regardless of the number of earners in the
teachers in single-earner households appeared to household—$1,827 per month for teachers compared
spend slightly more of their household income with $1,306 for similar working adults, a differ-
on each expense, particularly for child care (see ence of $521. Teachers in single-earner households
Figure 5). Teachers in single-earner households spent reported $2,117 in monthly child care costs, and
16 percent more of their household income on these similar working adults reported $692, a difference of
three expenses than similar working adults in single- $1,425. Although we did not gather detailed infor-
earner households. mation about household composition, one possible
This comparison is instructive because it allows explanation for this large difference is that more
us to compare teachers with similar working adults similar working adults might have another adult in
who rely on a single income to cover their expenses. their household (e.g., spouse, grandparent) who can
However, we have limited ability to explain the dif- provide low- or no-cost child care. Another possible
ferences between teachers and working adults in explanation is differences in the number or ages of
single-earner households because we were not able children who require child care.
to ask detailed questions about household composi-

13
 Housing Assistance, Paid Parental
Leave, Child Care Subsidies, and
Among teachers who Tuition Reimbursement Were
had access to paid Reportedly Rare Benefits
Employer-provided benefits associated with these
parental leave, child major expenses, such as housing assistance, paid
parental leave, child care subsidies, and tuition reim-
care assistance, and bursement, were reportedly rare. Two percent and

housing assistance, 5 percent of teachers reported access to employer-

provided housing assistance and child care subsidies,
fewer than half respectively (Figure 6). Tuition reimbursement and
paid parental leave were relatively more prevalent but
perceived such benefits were reported by only about one-quarter to one-third
of teachers. Similar working adults reported access to
to be adequate. these benefits at similar or slightly higher rates than
teachers. The largest difference between teachers and
similar working adults—14 percentage points—was
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban for paid parental leave.
Development considers a household to be housing More teachers in states that require collective
cost–burdened if its housing costs exceed 30 percent bargaining reported having an array of benefits than
of household income (Office of Policy Development teachers in states that prohibit collective bargaining.
and Research, undated). Twenty percent of teach- More teachers in states requiring collective bargain-
ers in single-earner households spent more than ing reported having employer contributions to retire-
30 percent of their base salary on housing costs. ment plans, paid parental leave, employer contribu-
Black teachers who were the only earners in their tions to health insurance premiums, paid sick leave,
household were more likely than White teachers in and tuition reimbursement. The differences ranged
single-earner households to report that they spent from 7 percentage points (for paid sick leave) to 27
more than 30 percent of their base salary on hous- percentage points (for tuition reimbursement). For
ing (36 percent versus 17 percent, respectively). This example, 32 percent of teachers in states that require
difference appears to be driven by the lower base collective bargaining reported having tuition reim-
pay of Black teachers in single-earner households, bursement, compared with 5 percent of teachers in
because Black and White teachers in single-earner states that prohibit collective bargaining.
households spent similar amounts on monthly hous- Many teachers who had access to the benefits
ing costs (roughly $1,400). associated with the major expenses that we examined
Among all types of households, 11 percent of did not hold favorable views of those benefits. Among
teachers reported that they spent more than 30 percent teachers who had access to paid parental leave, child
of their household incomes on housing costs. Black care assistance, and housing assistance, fewer than
and Hispanic teachers were more likely than White half perceived such benefits to be adequate (Figure 6).
teachers to report spending more than 30 percent of In contrast, half or more of teachers who had retire-
their household income on housing. This finding is ment benefits, paid personal time off, paid sick leave,
driven by Black teachers’ lower household incomes health insurance, and tuition reimbursement per-
because Black teachers spent less on housing than ceived them to be adequate. For nearly all the benefits
White and Hispanic teachers, even after accounting that we asked about, similar working adults who
for cost of living. Black teachers reported monthly had each benefit reported more favorable views than
housing costs of $1,556, while Hispanic teachers spent teachers.
$1,783 and White teachers spent $1,742.

14
FIGURE 6
Teachers’ and Similar Working Adults’ Access to and Perceptions of Employer-
Provided Benefits
Percentage with access to Percentage who perceived benefit as
employer-provided benefits adequate, among those with access

95% 74%
Paid sick leave
83% 84%

85% Employer pays some 57%

or all health
84% insurance premiums 74%

83% Employer contributes 68%

to retirement or
81% pension plans 81%

79% Paid vacation or 63%

86% personal time 84%

32% 46%
Paid parental leave
46% 78%

22% Tuition 53%

28% reimbursement 72%
Teachers 5% 41%
Child care assistance
Similar working
8% 68%
adults
2% 20%
Housing assistance
2% 11%

NOTE: This figure displays teachers’ responses to the question, “During this current school year (2023–2024), which benefits do you receive
from the school or school system in which you work, and how inadequate or adequate do you consider each benefit?” and similar working
adults’ responses to the question, “This year (2024), which benefits do you receive from working in your job or business, and how inadequate
or adequate do you consider each benefit?” The left side of the figure displays the percentage of teachers and similar working adults who
responded that they have the benefit listed. The right side of the figure displays the percentage of teachers and similar working adults who
responded that they consider the benefit somewhat or completely adequate, as a percentage of the teachers or similar working adults who
responded that they have the benefit. Teachers: n = 1,479; similar working adults: n = 229.

Relationships with Perceptions still more likely to say that their base pay was ade-
of Base Pay and Intentions to quate even after controlling for teachers’ current base
pay and state bargaining status, which suggests that
Leave
pay increases have the potential to shift teachers’
Teachers Who Reported Larger Pay perceptions about their pay, even after accounting for
Increases and Adequate Benefits Were their current pay.
More Likely to Say Their Base Pay Was Teachers’ perceptions of employer-provided
Adequate benefits were also related to whether they thought
their base pay was adequate. For example, 45 percent
Only 29 percent of teachers who received no pay of teachers who said that employer contributions to
increases considered their base pay to be adequate. their retirement or pension plans were adequate also
In contrast, 43 percent of teachers who received an said that their base pay was adequate. Only 18 per-
increase of 5 to 10 percent and 49 percent of teach- cent of teachers who perceived that benefit as inad-
ers who received an increase of more than 10 percent equate said that their base pay was adequate.
said that their base pay was adequate (Figure 7).8 We observed a similar pattern for other benefits,
Teachers who received larger salary increases were such as paid parental leave, paid sick leave, paid

15
FIGURE 7
Percentage of Teachers Who Said Their Base Salary Was Adequate, by the Amount of
Pay Increase Received, Amount Spent on Housing Costs, and Perceptions of Benefits
60
Teachers who consider benefit adequate
Pay increase
51%
50 49%* of more than
Percentage of teachers

10% Not housing

45%* 46%*
43% 5–10% cost– 43%*
burdened 42%* 41%*
40 40% 3% or less
37% 38%
36%
34% 3–5%

30 29%
No pay
29%
30%
28%
increase (ref.) 28%

Housing
cost– 21%
20 burdened 18%
(ref.)

Teachers who consider benefit inadequate (ref.)

10

0
All teachers Amount of Housing Retirement Paid sick Health Paid Paid Tuition
pay increase costs leave insurance vacation parental reimbursement
leave

Employer-provided benefits

NOTE: We present the percentage of teachers who responded “somewhat adequate” or “completely adequate” to the question, “This school
year (2023–2024), how adequate do you consider your base teaching salary to be given your role and work responsibilities?” Results are
shown for all teachers and disaggregated by the size of teachers’ reported pay increase, whether teachers were cost-burdened by housing,
and teachers’ perceptions of their benefits. We calculated the size of teachers’ pay increases by subtracting their reported 2022–2023 base
salary from their reported 2023–2024 base salary. Teachers are defined as housing cost–burdened if they spent more than 30 percent of their
household income on housing costs. For benefits, we focus on the perceptions of teachers who had access to the listed benefit and
considered the benefit either adequate or inadequate. We exclude child care assistance and housing assistance from this figure because very
few teachers reported access to those benefits. An asterisk (*) indicates that percentages for that subgroup significantly differ at the p < 0.05
level from the reference group (ref.). All teachers: n = 1,468.

health insurance premiums, and housing assistance associated with decreases in teacher turnover (Can-
(although very few teachers had housing assistance). delaria et al., 2024).
These differences held even after controlling for In our data, 20 percent of teachers who did not
teachers’ current base salaries and state bargaining receive an increase and 24 percent of teachers who
status. These findings suggest that improving teach- received less than a 3-percent increase said that they
ers’ access to employer-provided benefits and the intended to leave the teaching profession, in com-
quality of those benefits could improve how teachers parison with 11 percent of teachers who received an
feel about their salary. increase of 5 to 10 percent (Figure 8). These results
held after controlling for teachers’ current base salaries
and state bargaining status. Notably, teachers in differ-
Teachers Who Received a Pay Increase
ent base salary quartiles were equally likely to say that
Were Less Likely to Intend to Leave the they intended to leave their schools or the profession,
Teaching Profession suggesting that pay increases might provide a unique
Teachers who did not receive a salary increase or signal to teachers about their future earning potential.
received only a very small increase were more likely Teachers who reported greater expenses were
than their counterparts who received larger increases also more likely to report an intention to leave their
to say that they intended to leave the teaching profes- schools and the teaching profession. Thirty-seven
sion. This finding is consistent with recent evidence percent of teachers who were housing cost–burdened
from Oregon, which finds that increases in salary are said that they were likely to leave their schools, and

16
FIGURE 8
Percentage of Teachers Who Intend to Leave the Teaching Profession, by the Amount
of Pay Increase Received, Amount Spent on Housing Costs, and Perceptions of
Benefits
60

50
Percentage of teachers

Housing
cost–
40 burdened
(ref.) Teachers who consider benefit inadequate (ref.)
Pay increase 30%*
30 of 3% or less 28%*
24% 25%*
No pay 22%* 23%
21%*
20 20% increase (ref.) 20%*
17%
3–5% 16%
13% 14% 13% 14%
13% More than 12% 13%
10 11%* 10% Not housing 10%
cost–
5–10% burdened Teachers who consider benefit adequate

0
All teachers Amount of Housing Retirement Paid sick Health Paid Paid Tuition
pay increase costs leave insurance vacation parental reimbursement
leave

Employer-provided benefits

NOTE: We present the percentage of teachers who responded “somewhat likely” or “very likely” to the question, “What is the likelihood that
you will leave the teaching profession by the end of the current school year (2023–2024)?” Results are shown for all teachers and disaggre-
gated by the size of teachers’ reported pay increases, whether teachers were housing cost–burdened, and teachers’ perceptions of their
benefits. We calculated the size of teachers’ pay increases by subtracting their reported 2022–2023 base salary from their reported
2023–2024 base salary. Teachers are defined as housing cost–burdened if they spent more than 30 percent of their household income on
housing costs. For benefits, we focus on the perceptions of teachers who had access to the listed benefit and considered the benefit either
adequate or inadequate. We exclude child care assistance and housing assistance from this figure because very few teachers reported
access to those benefits. An asterisk (*) indicates that percentages for that subgroup significantly differ at the p < 0.05 level from the
reference group (ref.). All teachers: n = 1,425.

30 percent said that they were likely to leave the stress—particularly among Black teachers—is con-
profession, in comparison with about half as many cerning because low pay, combined with difficult
teachers who spent less than 30 percent of their working conditions, is one reason teachers consider
household income on housing. These results held leaving their job (Doan, Steiner, and Pandey, 2024).
even after controlling for teachers’ current base sala- Prior research has found that only about one-third of
ries, suggesting that teachers’ salaries in the context teachers report feeling that their base pay is adequate,
of their household expenses might lead some teachers compared with half of similar working adults (Doan,
to consider leaving their jobs. Steiner, and Pandey, 2024).
Finally, for most of the benefits we asked about, Our findings show that pay increases and pay
teachers who considered that benefit inadequate were for extra work (e.g., athletic coaching) were small
more likely to intend to leave the profession than relative to teachers’ desired salary increases. The
teachers who considered the benefit adequate. average reported pay increase was $2,055, and the
average yearly amount earned for additional work
was $3,275; both amounts are relatively small com-
Implications pared with teachers’ average desired salary increase
The large share of teachers who consider their base of $16,000. Moreover, not all teachers received pay
pay to be inadequate, combined with the sharp increases or were paid for their extra work. In fact,
increase in low pay as a top source of job-related one in four teachers said that they performed extra

17
 adults reported having paid sick leave, retirement or
pension benefits, paid health care, and paid vacation
Our data suggest that or personal time, fewer teachers reported paid paren-
tal leave or tuition reimbursement. Only one-third of
offering a broader set of teachers reported paid parental leave, compared with
nearly half of similar working adults.
benefits and improving Moreover, teachers had less favorable views of

the quality of those their benefits than similar working adults. Although
we are not able to compare the amount or value
benefits could improve of teachers’ benefits with those of similar working
adults, fewer teachers who had each of the benefits
teachers’ perceptions of that we asked about said that they were adequate
than similar working adults. The differences were
their pay and improve large, ranging from 9 to 32 percentage points. The
largest difference was for paid parental leave—78 per-
retention. cent of similar working adults who had this benefit
said that it was adequate, compared with 46 percent
of teachers. Teachers’ perceptions of their pay were
work for which they were not paid. Consistent with
related to perceptions of their benefits, and benefits
other research, our findings show that teachers who
that could help with some of the major expenses that
received smaller or no pay increases were more likely
teachers face—housing, child care, and student loan
to say they intended to leave the profession (Cande-
payments—were rare.
laria et al., 2024).
Black teachers experienced multiple conditions
Comparisons with similar working adults—who
that could drive their unfavorable perceptions of
have at least a bachelor’s degree, work 35 hours per
their pay. The lower base pay, smaller pay increases,
week, and are between 18 and 65 years of age—
and lower likelihood of being paid for extra work that
illustrate other factors that could relate to teachers’
Black teachers reported appear to be related to the
dissatisfaction with their pay. First, teachers reported
fact that Black teachers disproportionately teach in
working nine hours per week more than similar
states that prohibit collective bargaining. We found
working adults and earning roughly $18,000 less per
that teachers in states where bargaining is prohibited
year, a finding that is consistent with other analyses
reported lower base pay and smaller pay increases
of teacher pay compared with similar workers (Alle-
and were less likely to be paid for extra work, regard-
gretto, 2023; Doan, Steiner, and Pandey, 2024).
less of their race and ethnicity. Our results are consis-
Pay increases and pay for additional work were
tent with data reported by the NEA (Walker, 2024).
small relative to teachers’ household expenses. Teach-
The expenses that Black teachers faced could also
ers reported pay increases of about 3 percent, on aver-
contribute to their negative perceptions of their pay.
age, and pay for additional work was about 4 percent
Black teachers were about twice as likely as teachers of
of teachers’ total pay. In contrast, housing, child care,
other races and ethnicities to report paying for hous-
and student loan payments were about 38 percent of
ing, child care, and student loans simultaneously. This
teachers’ household income, on average, and 46 per-
is likely because Black teachers were far more likely
cent for teachers in single-earner households.
than teachers of other races and ethnicities to say that
A larger share of teachers’ total compensation,
they were currently paying student loans. Regardless of
on average, goes toward benefits when compared
the number of earners in the household, Black teachers
with similar working adults, which might lead some
were more likely than White teachers to report being
to conclude that teachers have better benefits (Alle-
housing cost–burdened.
gretto, 2023). Our data suggest otherwise. Although
The good news is that our data suggest that offer-
comparable shares of teachers and similar working
ing a broader set of benefits and improving the qual-

18
ity of those benefits could improve teachers’ percep- First, leaders could examine the slate of addi-
tions of their pay and improve retention. Providing tional or extracurricular activities that teachers in
larger pay increases could also shift teachers’ percep- their school system are asked to perform, and which
tions about their pay for teachers across the pay scale. of those activities are compensated, to ensure that all
At the same time, an increasing body of research types of additional work receive some pay. Leaders
suggests that pay increases alone are not sufficient could create policies for how paid extra work is allo-
to improve teachers’ perceptions of their conditions cated, such as posting the opportunities and award-
in ways likely to improve retention—working condi- ing them according to clear, predetermined criteria.
tions must also be improved (Edwards et al., 2024; Second, leaders should review how much teach-
Steiner, Woo, and Doan, 2023). Improving pay and ers are paid for extra work alongside the amount of
improving working conditions are not mutually time teachers actually spend doing such work and
exclusive. American workers, including teachers, the support that is provided for them. Some teachers
value improvements in their working conditions in might be spending more time carrying out extracur-
lieu of a salary increase (Lovison and Mo, 2022; Mae- ricular activities because they are given additional
stas et al., 2017). responsibilities. Clear job descriptions that include
Of course, these things might be easier said than expected time commitments or paying hourly for
done. However, we urge state policymakers, district additional work could mitigate these inequities.
leaders, and leaders of teachers’ professional associa-
tions to consider the variety of factors that we iden-
Increase Teachers’ Access to and
tify in this report when making changes to teacher
compensation. Quality of Benefits, Particularly Paid
Parental Leave
We find that teachers with greater household
Recommendations expenses were more likely to intend to leave their
Support Equitable Distribution of Extra job and that teachers’ benefits are not commensu-
Pay for Additional Work rate with those of similar working adults. Increasing

Our data reveal two key inequities in extra pay.

A large share of teachers—roughly one in four—
reported that they are not paid for their additional
work. Black teachers reported earning less per hour
for their additional work because they spent more
hours on these activities. Although the inequities in
We find that teachers
extra pay that we observed appear to be related to with greater household
state bargaining status, extra pay is not always a sub-
ject of bargaining, even in states where bargaining is expenses were more
required. In cases where opportunities and amounts
for extra pay are left to principals’ discretion, there is likely to intend to leave
suggestive evidence that different treatment based on
teachers’ race, ethnicity, or gender can lead to differ- their job and that
ences in extra pay, even across bargaining contexts
(Grissom and Keiser, 2011; Quintero, Hansen, and
teachers’ benefits are
Zerbino, 2023). This suggests two actions that educa-
tion leaders in all states—and especially nonbargain-
not commensurate with
ing states—should consider taking in collaboration
with collective bargaining units where applicable.
those of similar working
adults.
19
access to benefits that could reduce large household policies that provided school employees with six to
expenses could, therefore, improve retention. eight weeks of paid parental leave (A Better Balance,
For example, providing paid parental leave is 2023; Cease, 2023; Oklahoma State School Board
a clear action that could improve teachers’ percep- Association, 2023; Schlemmer 2023).
tions of their salary and improve retention (Brum- Our data do not allow us to explore why fewer
met et al., 2024; Moyer, 2022). Media reports suggest teachers reported that their benefits were adequate
that more teachers are demanding paid parental than did similar working adults. Comparing teach-
leave and that some districts are working to provide ers’ benefits with those of similar workers in the
it (Modan, 2024; Swisher, 2022). One recent study public and private sectors could shed light on why
found that teachers who have children under 12 years teachers hold these perceptions and suggest oppor-
of age value child care as much as a 10-percent salary tunities for improvement. Of course, any changes
increase (Lovison and Mo, 2022). to teachers’ benefits will require contractual adjust-
Benefits that target housing and tuition could be ments and the involvement of teachers’ associations
especially beneficial for Black teachers, but tuition or unions in states where collective bargaining is
reimbursement and housing assistance were both required or allowed.
relatively rare. Providing teachers with financial sup-
port to earn degrees or credentials that are in high
Make Detailed, Disaggregated
demand, such as those related to special education,
science, or math, could help teachers earn more and Information About Pay and Benefits
alleviate financial stress (García et al., 2023). Easily Available to Teacher Jobseekers
To increase teachers’ access to high-quality ben- Residing in a non-bargaining state appears to be a
efits, state leaders could set minimum expectations key driver for low pay, low pay increases, and lower
for teachers’ benefits, just as they set minimum salary access to employer-provided benefits, which are
requirements. Already, some states have moved in related to teachers’ dissatisfaction with their pay.
this direction. For instance, in 2023, Oklahoma, Ten- These conditions might be particularly salient for
nessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina enacted Black teachers, who make up a larger share of the
teacher workforce in states where bargaining is pro-
hibited. Fair allocation of extra pay and pay increases
and improving access to and quality of benefits
We urge education across and within states with different bargaining
policies—particularly in states where teachers do not
leaders, teachers’ have access to collective bargaining—is critical for
attracting and retaining teachers.
professional We urge education leaders, teachers’ professional
associations, and researchers to document inequities
associations, and and increase transparency of information about all

researchers to forms of compensation. Although public employee

salaries are required to be publicly accessible in most
document inequities states, this information might not include impor-
tant aspects of compensation, be easily accessible to
and increase teacher jobseekers, or be disaggregated by teacher
characteristics.
transparency of Ideally, districts and states would report a vari-
ety of information about different aspects of pay by
information about all teacher and school characteristics for teachers at
different points in their career who are at different
forms of compensation.
20
points in the salary schedule. For example, reporting
might include the mean, median, and range of base
pay; pay increases; and extra pay by teacher race or Although publishing
ethnicity or gender for early-, mid-, and late-career
teachers. Such reporting should also include the more-detailed
amount or value of employer-provided benefits and
benefit eligibility. information about pay
Although publishing more-detailed information
about pay alone is unlikely to lead to pay equity, it is alone is unlikely to lead
an important first step. Research examining a variety
of international policies to reduce the gender pay gap
to pay equity, it is an
suggests that increasing worker access to a variety of
information about pay can increase wages for women
important first step.
(Cullen, 2024; Kim, 2015). For example, in one
United Kingdom study of public university faculty, Third, because of limited space on the survey, we
female faculty both negotiated for higher salaries and were not able to ask about all the factors that could
also moved to institutions where pay was more equi- be related to teachers’ perceptions of their pay or gain
table; less equitable institutions adjusted to compete a complete picture of aspects of household composi-
(Gamage et al., 2020). tion that could influence expenses. For example, our
prior research found that teachers’ working condi-
tions were associated with their perceptions of their
Limitations pay (Steiner, Woo, and Doan, 2023), but this survey
largely did not ask about teachers’ working condi-
Our findings are subject to several limitations. First,
tions. We did not ask teachers about the number of
survey responses consist of self-reported information.
dependents (including children who do not require
Although this is a limitation present in all survey
child care) that they supported, the employment
research, it is particularly salient for this research
status of any other adults in the household, or how
because we have no way to verify the accuracy of
they made decisions about how much of their house-
teachers’ reports of their base salary, pay increases, or
hold income to spend on household expenses.
household expenses. We drew on widely used source
Fourth, survey space constraints prohibited us
material for questions about pay and household
from asking teachers detailed questions about the
expenses and, where possible, compared our results
new state policies or union-negotiated contracts
with other data sources. For example, our questions
under which they received a pay increase. As we
for base salary and pay for extra work were based on
noted earlier in this report, at least nine states have
those used on the NTPS, and our results were consis-
recently enacted a variety of changes to teacher pay.
tent with the most recent (2020–2021) NTPS results.
According to analyses of state legislative actions,
Second, rounding in the reports of pay and
some changes involved small percentage-point
expenses might affect the precision of our estimates.
increases in salary, and others specified bonuses, new
Teachers were asked to round to the nearest $1,000
minimum salaries, or statewide targets for average or
when reporting their base pay, total pay, and house-
starting salaries (Aranda-Comer, 2023; Duncombe
hold income and were asked to round to the near-
and Francies, 2022). Depending on their content,
est $100 when reporting their pay for extra work,
these policies could increase the state minimum
monthly housing costs, child care costs, and student
salary, thus triggering pay increases for teachers at
loan payments. Thus, it is possible that we did not
the bottom of the salary distribution, as was the case
detect pay increases or differences in the percentage
in Arkansas (Zamarro et al., 2024). Or they could
of household income spent on expenses that were
combine a higher state minimum salary with reforms
relatively small.
to improve equity of pay for extra work and to offset

21
rising housing costs, as was the case in Washington Sixth, intentions to leave a teaching job or the
(Sun et al., 2024). Pay increases that were the result of teaching profession is an imperfect predictor of
a new union-negotiated contract could be similarly teacher behavior. Although some estimates suggest
varied. that roughly 30 percent of teachers who express an
Fifth, our survey questions about teachers’ per- intention to leave do so within one year, teachers’
ceptions of the adequacy of their pay and employer- reports of intentions to leave should not be inter-
provided benefits were broad, and it is likely that preted as actual turnover (Grant and Brantlinger,
teachers’ reasons for considering them adequate vary. 2023; Nguyen et al., 2024).
We present these broad data on teachers’ perceptions Finally, it is possible that numerous other factors
of adequacy of pay and benefits to understand how unmeasured by this survey, such as holding another
teachers’ perceptions vary across teacher subgroups, job in addition to teaching, marital status, or family
how they compare with similar working adults, and size, could have contributed to the differences across
how they relate to intentions to leave. There are also educator subgroups that we observe. Although we
specific aspects of pay and benefits that we were not explore patterns in teachers’ responses by their states’
able to ask about. For example, we did not ask teach- bargaining status, it is possible that other aspects of
ers what activities or duties they performed for extra the state context (e.g., low spending on education)
pay, or which they performed for no pay. Although could be correlated with state bargaining status.
we asked teachers whether they had an array of These unobserved factors could also influence the
employer-provided benefits, we did not ask them to results we observe. Thus, our findings should be
report the value of those benefits, whether they used strictly interpreted as descriptive characterizations of
them, or their specific provisions. These are potential educators’ responses. They are not intended to sug-
areas for future research. gest causality.

How This Analysis Was Conducted

Each SoT survey respondent was assigned a weight to ensure that estimates reflect the national population of
teachers. Characteristics that factor into this process include descriptors at the individual level (e.g., gender,
professional experience) and school level (e.g., school size, grade level, locale). The 2024 SoT survey purpose-
fully oversampled African-American or Black and Hispanic or Latino teachers, allowing for representative esti-
mates of survey responses from these groups. Each ALP respondent was assigned a weight to ensure that
estimates reflect the national population of working adults. More information about SoT survey sampling and
weighting is available in our technical report (Doan, Steiner, and Pandey, 2024).

This report examines teachers’ reported base pay, pay increases, pay for extra work for their school or school
system, reported household expenses in relation to household income, perceptions of their pay and benefits,
and intentions to leave their job and the profession. Where appropriate, we provide comparisons with the
reports of similar working adults. The survey questions we used for each of these measures asked teachers or
working adults to round to the nearest $1,000 for yearly amounts and to the nearest $100 for monthly amounts.
Exact question wording, along with the source, if applicable, are available in our technical report (Doan, Steiner,
and Pandey, 2024).

We applied a standard set of criteria to correct obvious errors in reported dollar amounts. For teachers’
reported salaries, we set to missing any reports that were below $20,000 and above $250,000. We selected
these lower and upper bounds based on 2023 data from the NEA describing state minimum and maximum
teacher salaries (Walker, 2024). We did not systematically correct working adults’ reports of their base salaries
because we had no detailed information about their occupation that would allow us to identify reasonable upper
or lower bounds. We compared teachers’ and working adults’ reports of their base salaries and total salaries
and set a respondent’s total salary equal to their base salary if the reported base salary exceeded the reported

22
total salary. We also compared teachers’ and working adults’ reports of household income and total salaries
and set a respondent’s household income equal to their total salary if the reported total salary exceeded the
reported household income.

For monthly household expenses (i.e., housing costs, child care costs, student loan payments) for both teach-
ers and working adults, we set to missing any reported monthly expenses that appeared to be clear outliers (i.e.,
exceeded $15,000). We also set responses to missing if respondents reported “0” as their answer so we could
focus our analysis on individuals who paid for any of the expenses of interest.

To calculate the percentage of household income that teachers spent on these three expenses, we multi-
plied teachers’ monthly reports of housing costs, child care costs, and student loan payments by 12, with
the assumption that teachers, on average, pay for these expenses across the calendar year. We then divided
this annual amount by teachers’ reported household incomes. We set to missing any reports in which annual
expenses exceeded annual household income, which affected the responses of only six teachers when analyz-
ing housing costs and only six teachers when analyzing child care costs.

We also conducted selected manual corrections to respondents’ reports of pay and expenses. For instance,
where it appeared that respondents systematically entered reports in thousands of dollars across all their
responses (e.g., they wrote $100 to mean $100,000), we corrected these amounts.

We estimated average hourly pay for teachers’ extra work by first estimating the number of hours per year that
teachers spend on paid extra work. We estimated yearly hours worked for extra pay by multiplying teachers’
reported weekly hours of work on extracurricular activities by 36, the average number of weeks worked during
a school year (NCES, undated-c). We then divided teachers’ reported yearly pay for extra work by yearly hours
worked.

We report on the pay increases that teachers received in two ways. We estimated the amount of pay increase
received by teachers by subtracting teachers’ reported base salaries in the 2022–2023 school year from teach-
ers’ reported base salaries in the 2023–2024 school year. We use these calculations when reporting the size of
teachers’ pay increases.

We also asked teachers to report on why their base salary changed. Teachers were able to report that their base
salary did not change between the 2022–2023 and 2023–2024 school years or that their base salary increased
because (1) they have an additional year of experience, (2) they obtained an additional degree or credits, (3) their
union or professional association negotiated a pay increase as part of a new contract, (4) a new state policy
increased teacher pay, or (5) they moved to a different school or school district. They were also able to respond
that their base salary decreased because they moved to a different school or school district, write in a reason
for a salary change not presented in the close-ended list, or say that they did not know. We focus on teach-
ers’ responses related to pay increases from additional experience, additional education, a union-negotiated
contract, and a new state policy because these are the increases that are most likely to be influenced by policy­
makers and education leaders.

In some cases, teachers reported that they received some type of increase (e.g., from gaining an additional year
of experience), but we did not detect an increase after subtracting their reported base salaries in the 2022–2023
school year from their current reported base salary in the 2023–2024 school year. This is likely because we
asked teachers to round their salaries to the nearest $1,000 for purposes of anonymity, because teachers are
public employees. It is possible that our method for estimating the amount of pay increase might not have cap-
tured some salary increases smaller than $2,000 and might overestimate the percentage of teachers who did
not receive a salary increase.

When we asked teachers to report why their base salaries in the 2023–2024 school year were different than
their base salaries in the 2022–2023 school year in the close-ended question, 15 percent of teachers reported
that their base salaries were the same, and 1 percent of teachers reported that their base salaries decreased

23
because they moved to a different school or district. When we estimated teachers’ pay increases by subtracting
their 2022–2023 salaries from their 2023–2024 salaries, 35 percent of teachers reported either the same salary
in 2023–2024 or a decrease. Altogether, these results suggest that there is a nontrivial percentage of teachers
who did not receive a pay increase over this one-year period.

To compare responses for teachers in schools with different demographic profiles, we matched teachers’
responses to school-level data from the 2022–2023 Common Core of Data. In this report, we compared teacher
responses across subgroups defined by various teacher and school characteristics, testing for whether average
responses for certain subgroups differed from a specified reference subgroup. The categories of teacher char-
acteristics we explored included race/ethnicity, gender, and years of experience, and the categories of school
characteristics we explored included the percentage of enrollment of students eligible for free or reduced-price
lunch, the percentage enrollment of White students, locale, and grade band. In addition, we explored teachers’
responses by the bargaining status of their state (i.e., bargaining required, allowed, or prohibited) and the cost
of living in the area where their school is located. We do not report exhaustively on all subgroup estimates on all
survey items.

All estimates presented in this report are sample-wide or subgroup-specific estimates that are unadjusted for
statistical controls unless noted otherwise. We used linear regression models to test whether estimates for a
particular subgroup differ at the p < 0.05 level from estimates for the reference subgroup in that category with-
out the use of any statistical controls. In select cases, we tested the robustness of significant differences across
teacher subgroups to adjust for teacher- or school-level characteristics that were highly likely to be associated
with teacher pay, such as years of experience, degree earned, bargaining status, or cost of living. Because the
intent of this report is to provide exploratory, descriptive information rather than to test specific hypotheses, we
did not make statistical adjustments for multiple comparisons.

We relied on information provided by NEA to construct our categories of state-level collective bargaining. NEA
provided information indicating the states where collective bargaining is required if teachers choose to vote for
union representation (Alaska; California; Connecticut; Delaware; Florida; Hawaii; Idaho; Illinois; Indiana; Iowa;
Kansas; Maine; Maryland; Massachusetts; Michigan; Minnesota; Missouri; Montana; Nebraska; Nevada; New
Hampshire; New Jersey; New Mexico; New York; North Dakota; Ohio; Oklahoma; Oregon; Pennsylvania; Rhode
Island; South Dakota; Vermont; Washington, D.C.; Washington; and Wisconsin), states where collective bargain-
ing is allowed but not required (Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Kentucky, Louisiana, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia,
and Wyoming), and states where bargaining is prohibited (Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South
Carolina, and Texas). We grouped Tennessee, where collaborative conferencing is permitted, with states where
bargaining is allowed but not required.

We used the Comparable Wage Index for Teachers (CWIFT), a measure of average wage levels for a given area
developed by the Education Demographic and Geographic Estimates program within NCES, to account for cost
of living in our analyses. CWIFT values are generated using American Community Survey data to estimate aver-
age wage levels for college-educated workers who are not educators that account for worker demographics (e.g.,
gender, race, educational attainment) and job characteristics (e.g., hours worked, industry) (Cornman et al., 2019).

24
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National Council on Teacher Quality, May 11, 2023.

27
About This Report
In this report, we draw on the State of the American Teacher survey fielded to
teachers on the American Teacher Panel (ATP), which is a nationally representa-
tive sample of more than 25,000 teachers across the United States. The ATP is
one of three survey panels that comprise the American Educator Panels (AEP),
which are nationally representative samples of teachers, school leaders, and dis-
trict leaders across the country. The panels are a proud member of the American
Association for Public Opinion Research’s Transparency Initiative.

For technical information about the surveys and analysis in this report, please
see State of the American Teacher Survey: 2024 Technical Documentation and RAND is a research organization that
Survey Results (RR-A1108-11, [Link]/t/RRA1108-11). If you are inter- develops solutions to public policy
challenges to help make communities
ested in using AEP data for your own surveys or analysis or in reading publica- throughout the world safer and more
tions using AEP data, please email aep@[Link] or visit [Link]/aep. secure, healthier and more prosperous.
RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and
committed to the public interest.
RAND Education and Labor
Research Integrity
This study was undertaken by RAND Education and Labor, a division of RAND Our mission to help improve policy and
that conducts research on early childhood through postsecondary education decisionmaking through research and
analysis is enabled through our core
programs, workforce development, and programs and policies affecting work- values of quality and objectivity and our
ers, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy and decisionmaking. This study was unwavering commitment to the highest
level of integrity and ethical behavior. To
funded by the National Education Association and the American Federation of
help ensure our research and analysis
Teachers. The findings and conclusions presented are those of the authors and are rigorous, objective, and nonpartisan,
do not necessarily reflect the positions or policies of the funders. we subject our research publications to
a robust and exacting quality-assurance
process; avoid both the appearance and
More information about RAND can be found at [Link]. Questions about
reality of financial and other conflicts of
this report should be directed to esteiner@[Link], and questions about RAND interest through staff training, project
Education and Labor should be directed to educationandlabor@[Link]. screening, and a policy of mandatory
disclosure; and pursue transparency
in our research engagements
through our commitment to the open
Acknowledgments publication of our research findings and
We are extremely grateful to the teachers and working adults who agreed to par- recommendations, disclosure of the
source of funding of published research,
ticipate in the panels. We thank Brian Kim for serving as the survey manager; and policies to ensure intellectual
Gerald Hunter for serving as the data manager; Tim Colvin, Roberto Guevara, independence. For more information, visit
[Link]/about/research-integrity.
and Julie Newell for programming the survey; Dorothy Seaman for produc-
ing the sampling and weighting; Tina Petrossian for providing administrative RAND’s publications do not necessarily
reflect the opinions of its research clients
support; and David Grant for providing AEP management. We thank Melanie
and sponsors. is a registered
Zaber for consulting with us on survey development, data cleaning, and analysis trademark.
of household expenses. We are grateful to Stacey Pelika and her colleagues at
For more information on this publication,
the NEA and to Marla Ucelli-Kashyap and her colleagues at the American Fed- visit [Link]/t/RRA1108-13.
eration of Teachers for their partnership. We thank Benjamin Master, Susan
© 2024 National Education Association
Kemper Patrick, and George Zuo for helpful feedback that greatly improved this
report. We thank Anna Bloom for her editorial expertise and Monette Velasco
for overseeing the publication process. [Link]

RR-A1108-13