Mapping the Great American Teacher Pay Gap
For years, West Virginia public employees watched their wages stagnate and insurance premiums rise. So, in February, they staged a walkout to fight for—and win—a 5 percent pay increase. Those efforts inspired teachers in other states to follow suit: Kentucky teachers are threatening a walk-out this month if their pensions are cut; in Arizona, teachers are rallying for a 20 percent wage increase. And in Oklahoma, teachers are now entering their second week of closed schools. On Monday, some walked 15 miles to the state capitol building to demand $150 million more in funding and a 10 percent wage increase.
But it’s not just that these teachers are underpaid—it’s that they make much less than college-educated peers working in other professions across the country. And that gap persists nationwide. “There is no state where teacher wages are equal to or better than those of other college graduates,” a report by economist Sylvia Allegretto from the Center for Economic Policy reveals.
But teachers in some states are burdened with far wider gaps than those in others.
The average weekly pay for college-educated workers in the U.S. is $1,428; the average teacher makes only 77 percent of that, or 77 cents to every dollar. In West Virginia, salaries are slightly lower than average: Teachers are paid 75 cents to every dollar earned by other college graduates. Among the other states where unions are actively rallying, Arizona’s gap is widest, at 63 cents; Oklahoma’s trails close behind, at 67; and Kentucky’s is barely above the national average, at 79.
The places with the widest pay gaps also pay some of the lowest raw salaries. Teachers in those four states are making between $40,000 and $50,000 each year; compare that to teachers in New York, California, and Massachusetts, who make an average of above $70,000, according to EPI figures and a study released by the National Education Association.