Teacher pay penalty remains high at 25.2 percent in 2025

A new report from the Economic Policy Institute and the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) reveals that teachers earned 25.2 percent less than comparable college graduates in other professions in 2025. While this represents a slight improvement from the record high of 26.9 percent in 2024, the penalty remains more than four times the 6.1 percent recorded in 1996.

Over the last three decades, inflation-adjusted weekly wages for public school teachers fell by 6.2 percent, whereas wages for other college graduates rose by 28.8 percent. When accounting for benefits, the total compensation penalty for teachers was 14.5 percent in 2025. The report notes that teachers were paid less than other college graduates in every state, with the gap ranging from 10.4 percent in Rhode Island to 40.7 percent in Colorado.

Gender-based data shows a relative pay penalty of 34.5 percent for men and 20.0 percent for women. The report suggests that reversing these trends will require sustained investment in public education and stronger support for public-sector collective bargaining to improve teacher recruitment and retention.