Elementary & middle school teachers

Detailed Occupation

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    2024 Workforce
    3.1M
    Average Age
    43
    Average Salary
    $60,694
    Average Male Salary
    $66,485
    Average Female Salary
    $59,267

    About

    Elementary & middle school teachers are most often employed by the Elementary & secondary schools industry. The average yearly wage for Elementary & middle school teachers was $60,694 in 2024.

    The locations that employ the most Elementary & middle school teachers are NYC-Staten Island Community District 3--South Shore PUMA, NY, Johnson County PUMA, TX, and Hendricks County PUMA, IN. The locations with a relatively high concentration of Elementary & middle school teachers are Ocean County (Lakewood) PUMA, NJ, Nassau County (Central)--Hempstead Town (East Central) PUMA, NY, and Cameron County (South)--Brownsville City (Central) PUMA, TX.

    Employment

    Employment and salary information for the Elementary & middle school teachers workforce. Elementary & middle school teachers workforce in 2024 was 3,104,982 people, of which 80.2% were women and 19.8% were men.

    Elementary & middle school teachers are paid most in Detroit City (Southwest) PUMA, MI but are relatively concentrated in Ocean County (Lakewood) PUMA, NJ.

    Employment Over Time

    Metric
    Grouping
    613,619
    Male Workforce
    ± 19.2k
    2,491,363
    Female Workforce
    ± 38.4k

    The Elementary & middle school teachers workforce in 2024 was 3,104,982 people (80.2% women and 19.8% men). This implies an average annual growth of −10.9% between 2014 (3,485,800) and 2024 (3,104,982).

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    Employment by Location

    Level
    Metric

    This map shows the states in the United States shaded by average wage for Elementary & middle school teachers.

    During 2024, the states that concentrated the best average annual wage were New York ($81,383), Washington ($75,670), and Massachusetts ($74,565).

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    Yearly Wage Ranking

    $60,694
    AVERAGE WAGE
    #206 in the ranking (2014)
    $69,878
    NATIONAL AVERAGE WAGE
    For all occupations across the US

    In 2024, Elementary & middle school teachers earned an average of $60,694, $9,184 less than the average national salary of $69,878

    The graph shows the ranking of Elementary & middle school teachers in relation to all Detailed Occupation in 2014.

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    Wage Distribution

    Gender
    0.29
    WAGE GINI

    In 2024, Elementary & middle school teachers had a wage GINI coefficient of 0.29, which is lower than the national average of 0.474. In other words, wages are distributed more evenly for Elementary & middle school teachers (shown in red) than for the overall labor force (shown in gray).

    The graphic shows the distribution of average salaries by buckets for Elementary & middle school teachers compared to the entire workforce in the country.

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    Industry

    Information on the industries that employ Elementary & middle school teachers and on wages for those in the field. Elementary & secondary schools is the industry that employs the most Elementary & middle school teachers, both by share and by number, though the highest paid industry for Elementary & middle school teachers, by average wage, is Administration of human resource programs ($93,836).

    Occupations by Industries

    Metric
    Value
    3.1M
    2024 Workforce
    ± 42,826
    1.83%
    1 YEAR GROWTH
    ± 1.92%

    This graphic shows the share of Elementary & middle school teachers employed by various industries. Elementary & secondary schools employs the largest share of Elementary & middle school teachers at 99.8%, followed by Religious organizations with 0.109% and Child day care services with 0.0688%.

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    Diversity

    Demographic information on Elementary & middle school teachers in the US. The workforce of Elementary & middle school teachers in 2024 was 3,104,982 people, with 80.2% woman, and 19.8% men. The average age of male Elementary & middle school teachers in the workforce is 43.1 and of female Elementary & middle school teachers is 43, and the most common race/ethnicity for Elementary & middle school teachers is White.

    Gender and Age

    Metric

    The workforce of Elementary & middle school teachers in 2024 was 3,104,982 people, with 80.2% woman, and 19.8% men.

    The age ranges that concentrated the largest workforce were 40 to 44 years (437,828 people), 45 to 49 years (412,460  people), and 35 to 39 years (400,172 people). Among them they concentrated 40.3% of the total workforce.

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    Ethnicity

    Gender

    In 2024, 12.7% of Elementary & middle school teachers workers were Hispanic and 87.3% non-Hispanic.

    The treemap shows the distribution of Hispanic workers according to their origin, highlighting Mexican (53.4%), Puerto Rican (15.5)%, and Cuban (5.21)%

    You can review this information by gender using the selectors above.

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    Races

    In 2024, 73.3% of the Elementary & middle school teachers workforce were White, of which 80.8% were women and 19.2% men. Other races that concentrated a significant number of workers were Black (9.76%) and Two or More Races (9.39%).

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    Education & Skills

    Data on higher education choices for Elementary & middle school teachers from The Department of Education and Census Bureau. The most common major for Elementary & middle school teachers is Education but the most specialized major according to RCA in 2024 were Education.

    Among the necessary skills for Elementary & middle school teachers, Learning Strategies stands, but the revealed comparative advantage (RCA) shows that Elementary & middle school teachers need more than the average amount of Learning Strategies.

    Majors

    ACS PUMS data only shows the major for bachelor's degrees. However, we can filter the data based on highest degree obtained.
    Type of Majors
    Degree

    The most common majors achieved by Elementary & middle school teachers in 2024 (counting all academic degrees) were Education (1,583,450 people), Business (188,954 people), and Psychology (126,107 people).

    You can review this information for different academic grades by modifying the option selected in the selector above.

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    Education Levels

    Metric

    The main educational levels achieved by the Elementary & middle school teachers workers were Graduate Degree (1,528,644 people), Bachelors Degree (1,400,574 people), and Some college (103,077 people).

    The graphic shows the Elementary & middle school teachers workforce by gender and educational level.

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    Skills

    Chart
    Value

    Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for Elementary & middle school teachers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Elementary & middle school teachers need many skills, but most especially Learning Strategies, Instructing, Speaking.

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