DATA

POINT

Instructional Staff

Salary and Benefits 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

JUNE 2016 NCES 2016-156

Spending: 1991–2011

This report uses expenditure data from the Common Core of Data (CCD) “National Public Education Financial Survey (NPEFS)” 

for fiscal years 1991 to 2011 and instructional staff data from the CCD “State Nonfiscal Survey of Public Elementary/Secondary 

Education” for school years 1990–91 to 2010–11. The CCD annually collects fiscal and non-fiscal data from state education 

agency officials about all public schools, public school districts, and state education agencies in the United States. This 

study includes information about expenditures on elementary and secondary education, expenditures on instructional staff 

salaries, and instructional staff benefits. In this report, instructional staff members include full- and part-time teachers and 

instructional aides.

How has instructional staff salary and benefits spending changed from 1991 to 2011?

 Between 1991 and 2011, spending on instructional staff compensation, including salary and benefits, comprised more

than half of current expenditures for public elementary and secondary education. During this period, spending on 

instructional staff compensation increased nationally by $101 billion (54 percent) (figure 1).

 In 2011, $213 billion was spent on instructional staff salaries, up 42 percent from $150 billion in 1991 (in constant

2011 dollars1 ); during the same period, spending on instructional staff benefits increased 104 percent, from $37 to 

$75 billion (figure 1).

 Between 1991 to 2011, current expenditures and spending on instructional staff salaries generally increased annually.

The only exception to this pattern of increased spending on instructional staff salaries was in 2010 and 2011, when 

spending decreased. Spending on instructional staff benefits increased every year from 1991 to 2011 (figure 1).

Figure 1. Total current, instructional staff benefits, and instructional staff salary expenditures for public 

elementary and secondary education: 1991–2011

1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

0

100

200

300

400

500

$600

2011 dollars (in billions)

Current expenditures Instructional staff benefis Instructional staff salaries

NOTE: All amounts are 2011 dollars. “Instructional staff” includes full- and part-time teachers and instructional aides.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), “National Public Education Financial Survey (NPEFS),” fiscal years 1991–2011.

Data in this report are from the Common Core of Data “National Public 

Education Financial Survey” (fiscal years 1991–2011) and “State Nonfiscal 

Survey of Public Elementary/Secondary Education” (school years 1990–

91 to 2010–11). To learn more, visit http://nces.ed.gov/ccd. For questions 

about content or to view this report online, go to http://

nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2016156.
Salary and Benefits

How has average total compensation for instructional staff changed from 1991 to 2011?

Figure 2. Average total compensation, salary, and benefits per instructional staff member in public schools: 

1991–2011

$80,000

2011 dollars

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

1991 1996 2001 2006 2011

Average salary

Average benefits

Average total

compensation $66,820 $68,383

$75,196

$53,616 $54,454 $55,563

NOTE: Instructional staff members include the full-time equivalent of full- and part-time teachers and teacher aides. Average total compensation is the sum of average benefits and average salary.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), “National Public Education Financial Survey (NPEFS),” fiscal years 1991 to 2011, 

and “State Nonfiscal Survey of Public Elementary/Secondary Education,” school years 1990–91 to 2010–11.

 From 1991 to 2011, average total compensation for

instructional staff increased from approximately

$66,800 to approximately $75,200 (in constant 2011

dollars) (figure 2). About 77 percent of the $8,400

increase went to benefits while 23 percent went to

salaries.2

 Spending on benefits per instructional staff member

increased from $13,200 in 1991 to $19,600 in 2011, an

increase of 49 percent (derived from figure 2). During

the same period, spending on salaries per instructional 

staff member increased from $53,600 to $55,600, an

increase of 4 percent (derived from figure 2).

 From 1991 to 2001, average instructional staff 

compensation increased by approximately $1,600 

(subtracting $66,820 from $68,383, from figure 2 

above), consisting of a $700 increase in average 

benefits and an $800 increase in average salaries. In 

contrast, from 2001 to 2011, average instructional staff 

compensation increased by approximately $6,800

(subtracting $68,383 from $75,196, from figure 2 

above), driven by a $5,700 increase in benefits (figure 2).

1 These dollar values are adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to allow for comparisons across the time period.

2 Percentages came from the following calculations: (difference in benefits from 1991 to 2011)/(difference in total compensation from 1991 to 2011) = percentage of the 

increase of total compensation that went to benefits; (difference in salaries from 1991 to 2011)/(difference in total compensation from 1991 to 2011) = percentage of the 

increase of total compensation that went to salaries. Calculations were made using unrounded numbers.

NCES Data Points present information on education topics of 

current interest. This Data Point was authored by Nat Malkus of the 

American Institutes for Research and Kathleen Mulvaney Hoyer of 

Activate Research, Inc. for the National Center for Education Statistics 

under Contract No. ED-IES-12-D-0002 with American Institutes for 

Research. Fiscal data from years 1991 to 2010 were adjusted to 2011 

dollars using the Consumer Price Index adjusted to a school-year 

basis (July through June), provided by the U.S. Department of Labor, 

Bureau of Labor Statistics’ CPI inflation calculator http://data.bls.gov/

cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl. More information about CCD surveys and products 

is available at http://nces.ed.gov/ccd. To review supplemental data 

tables associated with this Data Point, please visit http://

nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2016156).