11

Employment and Wages

in Elementary and Secondary

Schools

Chakinna Brewington

The number of people working directly in the education industries demonstrates the importance of investment in education in the United States. With 11.5

million workers, or about 9 percent of total employment, educational services (Standard Industrial Classification 82) is

one of the largest employing industries in the Nation. The

Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) divides SIC 82 into

five three-digit industries: Elementary and secondary schools

(SIC 821); colleges, universities, professional schools and

junior colleges (SIC 822); libraries (SIC 823); vocational

schools (SIC 824); and schools, and educational services,

not elsewhere classified (SIC 829).

Drawing on 2001 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’

Occupational Employment Statistics survey (OES), this article focuses on the staffing and wages of teachers, teacher

Text table 1. Employment and annual mean wage for three categories of occupations in elementary and secondary schools

(SIC 821), 2001

Total employment in elementary and secondary schools ................................................... 7,985,850 $36,020

Teachers ............................................................................................................................... 3,662,320 44,120

Kindergarten teachers, except special education .......................................................... 150,760 42,400

Elementary school teachers, except special education ................................................ 1,435,620 43,370

Middle school teachers, except special and vocational education ................................ 569,140 43,550

Vocational education teachers, middle school ................................................................ 18,240 43,420

Secondary school teachers, except special and vocational education ........................ 975,100 45,390

Vocational education teachers, secondary school. ....................................................... 103,870 44,970

Special education teachers, preschool, kindergarten, and elementary school ............ 203,180 45,230

Special education teachers, middle school .................................................................... 85,490 43,160

Special education teachers, secondary school. ............................................................ 120,920 45,860

Teacher support .................................................................................................................... 1,073,650 22,180

Librarians ......................................................................................................................... 61,790 46,110

Library technicians .......................................................................................................... 25,600 23,290

Audio-visual collections specialists ................................................................................. 5,600 36,540

Instructional coordinators ................................................................................................ 32,100 53,220

Teacher assistants .......................................................................................................... 948,560 19,450

Administrative ........................................................................................................................ 318,120 66,690

Managerial........................................................................................................................ 287,560 59,460

Business .......................................................................................................................... 19,580 46,040

Financial ........................................................................................................................... 10,980 48,690

Other occupations ................................................................................................................ 2,931,760 32,930

support workers, and administrative workers in elementary

and secondary schools (SIC 821) and highlights the variation in the staffing and wages among States. Table 1 shows

the distribution of employment and annual mean wages for

the detailed occupations in the three occupational groups.

These occupations, combined, account for 5.1 million workers, or about two-thirds of employment in the Nation’s elementary and secondary schools (SIC 821). Teachers are 46

percent of employment in elementary and secondary schools,

while teacher support occupations make up 14 percent and

administrative workers account for 4 percent. Elementary

school teachers, with 1.4 million workers, is the largest detailed occupation within the three occupation groups discussed here, and is also one of the largest occupations in the

United States. Other dominant occupations in this industry

are secondary school teachers and teacher assistants, with

around 1 million employees each, followed by middle school

teachers with about 570,000 employees.

Occupation Employment Annual mean wage

Chakinna Brewington is an economist in the Division of Occupational and Administrative Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
12

As one might expect, about half of those employed by

elementary and secondary schools are teachers. However,

the teachers’ proportion of school employment and their

salary levels are not consistent across all States. For example, teachers’ share of industry employment varies from

33 percent in Kentucky to 56 percent in Missouri. In the

case of earnings, annual mean wages for teaching occupations vary from $59,615 in New York to $31,847 in Montana.

The next section of this article discusses employment of

the teacher, teacher support worker, and administrative

worker groups with regard to various characteristics. The

following section focuses on wages for these occupations.

Employment

There are about 3.6 million teachers in elementary and secondary schools nationwide. Text table 2 shows the share of

employment in teaching occupations that is found in elementary and secondary schools for each of the 50 States and the

District of Columbia. In Delaware, Pennsylvania, Nevada,

Oklahoma, and Wisconsin, teachers represent more than 50

percent of industry employment, while they account for only

33 percent in Kentucky and 36 percent in Michigan.

While some States have higher shares of teachers overall, they may have different concentrations of specific types

of teachers. Elementary school teachers account for the

highest share of elementary and secondary school employment in Nevada (27 percent) and North Dakota (26 percent).

This contrasts with Maine and Rhode Island, which have

the smallest shares, or 13 percent each. States with the highest shares of such teachers include New Mexico (26 percent)

and Louisiana (25 percent) and those with the lowest share

of special education teachers include Indiana (12 percent)

and Texas (11 percent).

As in the case of teachers, the representation of teacher

support occupations varies by State. These support occupations include librarians, library technicians, audio-visual

collections specialists, instructional coordinators, and teacher

assistants. Chart 1 shows the States in which support workers' shares of industry employment are greatest. The States

with the smallest shares of teacher support workers include

West Virginia (7 percent) and Nevada (8 percent). Missouri,

which has the largest share of industry employment for teachers, has the third lowest share of employment in teacher support occupations (9 percent).

There are 948,560 teacher assistants in elementary and

secondary schools, or 12 percent of the industry’s employment. This single occupation accounts for about 90 percent

of the employment in teacher support occupations. In most

States, teacher assistants dominate employment in teacher

support occupations. The occupation’s share of employment ranges from 19 percent in Vermont to 6 percent in West

Virginia.

 The final group of workers examined in this study is administrative employees. Administrative workers, a group that

accounts for 4 percent of employment in elementary and secondary schools, includes all managerial, business, and financial occupations. Clerical workers are not included in

this group. By State, the share of industry employment attributable to administrative occupations varies from under 3

percent in Utah to 5 percent in Arizona, the District of ColumText table 2. Share of employment in teaching occupations as a percent of SIC 821 employment, 2001

Missouri ............................................................ 56

Delaware .......................................................... 55

Pennsylvania .................................................... 53

Nevada. ............................................................ 52

Wisconsin ......................................................... 51

Oklahoma ......................................................... 51

Nebraska .......................................................... 50

West Virginia ..................................................... 49

South Dakota.................................................... 49

South Carolina .................................................. 49

Oregon ............................................................. 49

North Dakota .................................................... 49

New Jersey ...................................................... 49

New York ........................................................... 48

Massachusetts ................................................ 48

Iowa .................................................................. 48

Illinois ................................................................ 48

Connecticut. ..................................................... 48

Alaska ............................................................... 48

Texas ................................................................ 47

Maine ................................................................ 47

United States .................................................. 46

Tennessee ........................................................ 46

Ohio .................................................................. 46

Minnesota ......................................................... 46

State

Georgia ............................................................. 46

Arkansas .......................................................... 46

North Carolina .................................................. 45

New Hampshire ............................................... 45

Mississippi ........................................................ 45

Maryland ........................................................... 45

Louisiana .......................................................... 45

Idaho ................................................................. 45

Colorado ........................................................... 45

Virginia .............................................................. 44

Montana ............................................................ 44

Arizona ............................................................. 44

Vermont ............................................................ 43

Kansas ............................................................. 43

Florida ............................................................... 43

Alabama ............................................................ 43

Utah .................................................................. 42

Hawaii. .............................................................. 42

California ........................................................... 42

New Mexico ...................................................... 41

Wyoming ........................................................... 40

Indiana .............................................................. 40

Washington ....................................................... 39

District of Columbia .......................................... 37

Rhode Island .................................................... 36

Michigan ........................................................... 36

Kentucky .......................................................... 33

State

Percent of

industry

employment

Percent of

industry

employment
13

bia, West Virginia, Alaska, and Delaware. The largest detailed occupation in the administrative worker group is elementary and secondary school administrators, which includes school principals. While these administrators account

for just over 2 percent of industry employment in elementary

and secondary schools, they are reported in 85 percent of all

establishments in this industry.

The occupations outside of the three major categories

discussed here account for about one-third of total employment in elementary and secondary schools. The largest of

these are janitors, school bus drivers, food service workers,

and clerical workers. While these other occupations account

for smaller portions of total employment, they are found in

most schools in all States.

Wage rates

Wage rates for the three major occupational groups in the

education industry are quite different. Nationally, administrative workers earn $66,690 per year. On average, teachers

earn $44,120 per year, or about two-thirds of the administrative workers’ salary, and teacher support occupations earn

$22,180 or about one-third of the administrative wage. Just

as employment for these occupations differs from State to

State, so do wages among workers in these groups. Text

table 3 displays teachers’ annual salaries by State for 2001.

Mean annual salaries for teachers range from $31,847 in Montana to $59,615 in New York.

Relative wages for specific types of teachers also vary by

State. While special education teachers earn wages, that are

4 percent higher on average, than those of non-special education teachers, States premium for special education teachers range from 13 percent in Colorado and 9 percent in Maryland to -9 percent in Hawaii and -6 percent in Missouri and

New Hampshire. Although Colorado has the highest relative wages for special education teachers, the share of teachers accounted for by special education teachers is less than

13 percent. Nationally, 16 percent of all teachers are special

education teachers.

 On average, teacher support workers earn half as much as

teachers. Yet, the differences in wages between the two groups

also depend on where the jobs are located. While teachers in

New York earn the highest wages nationwide, teacher support

workers in the State earn less than half of the teachers’ pay.

Other States, such as Connecticut and New Jersey, that pay

teachers high wages also pay teacher support workers less

than half of what teachers earn. On the other hand, 33 States,

including Maine and Iowa, pay teacher support workers more

than half the wage of teachers, as shown in chart 2. In Nevada and the District of Columbia, teacher support workers

earn three-quarters of the teachers’ wage.

While they represent a small share of industry employment, administrative workers have earnings that far exceed

those earnings of teachers and teacher support workers. In

all States, administrative workers earn more than do teachers. Education administrator is the most commonly reported

occupation in elementary and secondary schools. With an

annual salary of over $71,000 per year, this is among the top

wage-earning occupations in elementary and secondary

schools. Other high-paying occupations in this group include chief executives ($95,510) and computer and information systems managers ($69,420).

ALMOST 8 MILLION PEOPLE are directly or indirectly involved

with educating students in elementary and secondary

schools. Besides elementary school teachers, teacher assistants, and school principals, other occupations that are found

in nearly all schools include counselors, school bus drivers,

food service workers, and janitors. The staffing and wages

for these occupations may vary greatly by State. An understanding of the typical staffing in elementary and secondary

schools may be useful to those interested in employment in

this industry.

Chart 1. States with the highest share of 

employment in teacher support occupations

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

VT

UT

AL

NH

WA

State

Employment share

Chart 1. States with the highest shares of employment in teacher support occupations, 2001

Employment share (in percent)

State

Washington

New Hampshire

Alabama

Utah

Vermont

0 5 10 15 20 25
14

Text table 3. Wage rates for teachers, by State, 2001

Pennsylvania .................................................... $48,552

Alaska ............................................................... 49,647

Maine ................................................................ 38,189

West Virginia ..................................................... 36,671

Rhode Island .................................................... 48,986

Alabama ............................................................ 39,323

Massachusetts ................................................ 46,496

Florida. .............................................................. 41,718

Wyoming ........................................................... 36,450

Ohio .................................................................. 43,237

Virginia .............................................................. 42,481

North Dakota .................................................... 32,300

Delaware .......................................................... 52,672

South Carolina .................................................. 38,676

Vermont ............................................................ 40,380

New Hampshire ............................................... 38,418

Georgia ............................................................. 44,141

California ........................................................... 49,881

Michigan ........................................................... 47,976

Texas ................................................................ 40,142

Indiana .............................................................. 43,279

United States .................................................. 44,122

Minnesota ......................................................... 42,389

Idaho ................................................................. 38,622

North Carolina .................................................. 37,577

State State Mean

wage

Mean

wage

New Mexico ...................................................... $36,835

Illinois ................................................................ 46,484

Hawaii ............................................................... 39,709

Tennessee ........................................................ 35,662

Maryland ........................................................... 44,345

Kentucky .......................................................... 39,067

Louisiana .......................................................... 34,144

Connecticut ...................................................... 52,624

Colorado ........................................................... 40,053

Oregon ............................................................. 42,757

Arizona ............................................................. 37,564

New York ........................................................... 59,615

Oklahoma ......................................................... 33,188

Montana ............................................................ 31,847

Arkansas .......................................................... 34,683

Wisconsin ......................................................... 42,247

Nebraska .......................................................... 37,885

Utah .................................................................. 39,857

Mississippi ........................................................ 32,043

Kansas ............................................................. 35,460

Washington ....................................................... 42,864

District of Columbia .......................................... 46,987

South Dakota .................................................... 32,155

Iowa .................................................................. 34,791

Nevada ............................................................. 40,937

New Jersey ...................................................... 51,201

Missouri ............................................................ 35,441

Chart.2 State annual wages by occupational group

$0

$20,000

$40,000

$60,000

$80,000

$100,000

West VirginiaMaine

Alabama

Iowa

Nebraska

Missouri

Pennsylvania

Georgia

U.S

Alaska

Nevada

District of Columb NewJersey

New York

Annual mean wage

Chart 2. State annual wages by occupational group Annual mean wage

$100,000

$80,000

$60,000

$40,000

Teacher support

$0

West

Virginia

Maine Alabama

Iowa Ne

braska

Missouri

Pennsylvania

GeorgiaU.S Alaska Nevada

District

of

Columbia

New

York

New

Jersey

$20,000

Teachers Administrative