Teacher wages and projected growth: What to know
Texas 2036 recently looked at employment and wage projections with the Texas Workforce Commission’s recently released Occupational Projections for the next decade. These projections draw on data from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program administered by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Here, we explore how this relates to teachers.
Teachers with bachelor’s degrees
TWC released the top 10 occupations requiring a bachelor’s degree in terms of employment totals by 2030. TWC lists the largest occupations by employment in 2030, with General and Operations Managers being the largest projected occupation requiring a Bachelor Degree by 2030, and an average wage recorded in 2021 right below the $110,000 mark.
Four of these top 10 occupations are in the field of teaching. Of TWC’s list, the following four occupations relate to teaching and are ranked by Employment as follows:
- Elementary school teachers
- Secondary school teachers
- Substitute teachers
- Middle school teachers
The average wage among top bachelor’s degree occupations ranges from $30,000 to $110,000. Of the top 10 occupations in this category, the four teaching occupations recorded the lowest average wages in 2021. Among the four teaching occupations, secondary school teachers reported the highest average wage in 2021.
At $60,000, a secondary school teacher’s wages are about $20,000 dollars less than registered nurses, the sixth highest wage among large bachelor’s degree occupations.
Teachers with associate’s degrees
Preschool teaching is projected to be the occupation with the largest employment in 2030 among associate’s degree occupations. However, they recorded less than $40,000 in average wages in 2021, the second lowest average wage of the top 10 list below.
Teaching occupations are projected to remain amongst the largest in Texas. However, current wage estimates suggest an earning profile significantly lower than that of other large occupations with similar educational-level requirements.