Full-time teachers in public school earned an average of $59,050 from all income sources in the 2015–16 school year. This income includes teachers' base teaching salary, as well as additional sources of income from their schools or districts, jobs outside the school system, and summer activities. To capture the different ways that teachers can earn income, the 2015-16 National Teacher and Principal Survey asked teachers questions about how much they earned from various sources:
- Base teaching salary. Teachers' average base teaching salary was $55,120 for the 2015-16 school year.
- School supplement. About 44 percent of teachers received additional compensation for extracurricular or additional activities in their school system, such as coaching, sponsoring student activities, mentoring teachers, or teaching evening classes. These teachers earned an average of $2,630 for these activities.
- Merit pay. Some teachers earned merit pay or pay-for-performance income based on their students' performance. About 6 percent of teachers received this type of additional compensation, with an average amount awarded of $1,470.
- Other school system support. About 8 percent of teachers received income during the school year from some other source in their school system, such as a state supplement, for an average of $2,670.
- Outside jobs. During the 2015-16 school year, 18 percent of teachers held a job outside the school system, earning an average of $5,140. Teachers categorized these jobs as teaching or tutoring (5 percent), non-teaching but related to the teaching field (4 percent), or in another field (9 percent).
- Summer jobs. In the summer of 2015, before the start of the 2015-16 school year, 20 percent of teachers earned income from either a school-based teaching position, such as teaching summer school, or a non-teaching position, and 16 percent earned income from a non-school job. Teachers earned an average of $2,700 from school-based summer positions, and an average of $4,060 in a non-school job.
To learn about teachers' satisfaction with their teaching salary, more information is available in the short report Teacher Satisfaction with Salary and Current Job.
The National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS) includes data on a wide variety of other topics as well. Visit the website to learn more.
By Maura Spiegelman
