How Many Teachers In The US 2024 (Latest Data)

How many teachers are in the United States is a topic of interest for many people, including policymakers, educators, and parents.

 As of 2024, there are an estimated 4,007,908 teachers in the US, including both public and private school teachers. This number has been steadily increasing in recent years due to factors such as population growth and rising demand for education.

However, despite this increase, there is still a teacher shortage in many parts of the country, with some states experiencing more severe shortages than others. 

In this article, we will take a closer look at the number of teachers in the US, as well as the demographics of the teaching workforce. We will also discuss the trends in teacher supply and demand and the impact of teacher shortages on the education system.

Let’s quickly go into the details.

How Many Teachers In The US (2024 Top Picks)

Here is the real data of how many teachers in the USA.

1. There are around 4,007,908 teachers in the United States.
2. Teachers account for over 2.5% of the working population.
3. Among the total population of teachers in the US, there are 2,006,810 elementary teachers, 992,386 senior high school teachers, and 641,485 middle and junior high school teachers.
4. Public schools account for more than 3,525,39, which contains 88% of the total teachers in the US.
5. Private schools have around 362,186 teachers in the US.
6. The Bureau of Indian Education schools accounts for a total of 2,857 teachers.
7. Private and Catholic schools account for around 9% of the teachers. 
8. Catholic schools contain over 127,504 teachers in the US.
9. Over 89,598 teachers are part of magnet schools, and over 23,160 teachers work in STEM schools.
10. According to the data from the latest statistics, the average student-to-teacher ratio is 15:4.  Among these, 16:0 is the student to a teacher for public schools, and 11:9 is for private schools.
11. There are 3.17 female teachers for every male teacher.
12. 3,909,000 is the predicted number of teachers in high school by the end of the year 2029. 
13. Of the teachers in preschool and kindergartens, 97.3% were reported to be female. 
14. 71% of the teachers in the US were reported to be Asian women. 
15. 3.19 million teachers will be teaching in elementary and secondary schools in the United States by the end of the year 2030. 
16.  520,000 teachers are expected to be employed in elementary and secondary private schools in the US by the end of the year 2029. 

The Number Of Teachers In the US: General Statistics

There are various details about the number of teachers in the US. Let us take a detailed look at the general stats related to the number of teachers in the US. You will also be able to take a closer look at the predicted number of teachers in the upcoming years. 

17. 3,808,920 instructional staff were there in public schools in the United stated between the year 2019 to 2020.

18. The student-teacher ratio allowed in the US is 15.4. 16.0 is the average student-to-teacher ratio in public schools, while it is 11.9 in private schools. 

19. There are expected to be 3,390,000 teachers in public schools and 520,000 teachers in private schools by the end of the year 2029. 

20. 49.5 million students were enrolled in public schools from pre-kindergarten to high school in the fall of 2021. 

Source: Statista, Think impact, NCES.

The number of Teachers by Grade Level

There are more than 11,355 total private and public schools in the US, along with K-12. These schools cover teachers from all the grade levels like elementary, K-12, senior high school, middle high school, and others.

21. According to the research, the majority of teachers in the US are Elementary school teachers.

Let’s have a look at the number of teachers by grade level.

Grade Level	Number of teachers	Percentage
Elementary	2,006,810	50%
K-12 combined	291,724	7%
Senior high school	992,386	24.7%
Middle and Junior high	641,485	16%
Other	75,593	3%

22. According to the research, there are over 102,598 teachers in the US that work in state-run schools.

23. Moreover, the county schools account for over 14,870 teachers.

24. Another type of teacher includes teachers who are part of Adult Education, Special Education, and Career/technical education.

Let’s have a look at the number of other types of teachers in the US.

Type of Teachers	Number of Teachers
Special Education	39,311
Career or Technical Education	31,821
Adult Education	4,461

The number of teachers in the US: Demographics

In this section, you will come across statistics related to age, gender, race, etc. These stats indicate the role of distinct people taking part in the teaching occupation in the US. It will give you an insight into which gender and race mostly take part in the teaching occupation in the United States. 

25. 97.3% of teachers in preschool and kindergarten were reported to be female. 

26. 74.3% of the teachers in the US are women, while 25.7% of the teachers are male. 

27. 71% of the teachers are Asian women in public schools in the US. 

28. 66% of the teachers in public schools are black women

29. The income earned by male teachers in the US is approximately $55,902. 

30. $53,011 is the approximate income earned by female teachers in the US. 

Here are the details about male and female teachers over the past years:

Year	Female	Male
2010	68.69%	31.31%
2011	68.39%	31.61%
2012	68.03%	31.97%
2013	67.86%	32.14%
2014	68.32%	31.68%
2015	67.82%	32.18%
2016	67.79%	32.21%
2017	67.94%	32.06%
2018	67.37%	32.63%
2019	71.22%	28.78%

31. 72.3 % of the teachers are white, while 12.0% of them are Hispanic, and 10.1% are African American ethnicity. 

Here is a details breakdown of the races of the teachers in the United States:

Race	Percentage of Teachers
White	79.3%
Hispanic or Latino	9.3%
African American	6.7%
Asian	2.1%
Unknown	1.8%
American Indian and Alaska Native	0.7%

Here is a detailed breakdown of the races of teachers over the years. 

Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic or Latino
2010	75.62%	10.41%	2.49%	9.82%
2011	75.22%	10.35%	2.67%	10.01%
2012	75.05%	10.21%	2.72%	10.14%
2013	74.51%	10.25%	2.91%	10.35%
2014	74.60%	10.18%	2.90%	10.41%
2015	74.34%	9.85%	3.05%	10.77%
2016	73.49%	10.26%	3.06%	11.17%
2017	73.44%	9.91%	3.20%	11.31%
2018	73.22%	9.82%	3.21%	11.55%
2019	72.33%	10.13%	3.39%	12.04%

32. The average age of a teacher in the US is 42.4 years old.

33. According to the statistics from zippa.com, the largest share of teachers are between the ages of 30 to 49 years old.

Following is the breakdown of US teachers’ ages:

Age Range	Percentage of Teachers
Under 30	15%
30-49	54%
50-54	12%
55+	19%

The Number Of Teachers In Public Schools

There are various public schools in the US. Most parents in the US prefer to send their children to public schools over private schools. Hence there is more requirement for teachers in public schools than the private schools. Let us take a look at the number of teachers in public schools. 

34. According to the latest data, the US has around 3.152 million public school teachers.

35. By the year 2030, it is predicted that there will be 3.19 million teachers working in elementary and secondary public schools in the US.

Here is the number of teachers in Public elementary and secondary schools over the last few years.

Year	Number of Teachers
2000	2,941,000
2001	3,000,000
2002	3,034,000
2003	3,049,000
2004	3,091,000
2005	3,143,000
2006	3,166,000
2007	3,200,000
2008	3,222,000
2009	3,210,000
2010	3,099,000
2011	3,103,000
2012	3,109,000
2013	3,114,000
2014	3,132,000
2015	3,151,000
2016	3,169,000
2017	3,170,000
2018	3,170,000
2019	3,198,000
2020	3,171,000
2021	3,186,000
2022	3,158,000
2023	3,152,000

36.  3,171,000  teachers were there in public schools in 2020 in the US.

37. 3,197,623 teachers were there in elementary and secondary public schools in the academic year 2018-2019. 

38. By the end of the year 2029, the predicted number of teachers in the United States in public secondary and elementary schools is 3,390,000.

39. 89% of the elementary teachers in public schools are females, 72% of the middle school teachers are female, and 70% of the high school teachers are female. 

Source: Statista, Thinkimpact. 

The Number Of Teachers In Private Schools.

The number of teachers in private schools is less compared to that of teachers in public schools. Students mostly prefer public schools for their education to private schools. Let us look at the number of teachers working in private schools in the US. 

40. In the year 2020,  476,000 teachers were in secondary and private schools in the US. 

41. By the end of the year 2030, it is expected that there will be 454,000 teachers in elementary and secondary private schools. 

Here is the number of teachers in Private elementary and secondary schools over the last few years. (In the 1000s)

Year	Number of teachers in private schools
2000	424,000
2001	441,000
2002	442,000
2003	441,000
2004	445,000
2005	450,000
2006	456,000
2007	452,000
2008	448,000
2009	437,000
2010	413,000
2011	405,000
2012	408,000
2013	441,000
2014	461,000
2015	482,000
2016	483,000
2017	482,000
2018	482,000
2019	481,000
2020	476,000
2021	478,000
2022	473,000
2023	472 ,000

42. The student-to-teacher ratio in the year 2018 for private schools was 11.9 students per teacher. 

43. By the end of the year 2029, 456,000 teachers are predicted to work in elementary and secondary private schools in the United States. 

44. 11.0 is the expected student-teacher ratio in the year 2029. 

Now let’s have a look at the student-teacher ratio in public and private elementary and secondary schools in the US.

Year	Public school student teacher ratio	Private school student teacher ratio
2020	15.6	12.6
2021	15.7	12.3
2022	15.8	12.2
2023	15.8	12
2024	15.7	11.7
2025	15.6	11.5
2026	15.5	11.1
2027	15.5	11
2028	15.5	10.9
2029	15.5	10.7
2030	15.5	10.6

Source: Statista, NCES.

The Number Of Preschool And Elementary Teachers In The US

Various institutes mostly employ Preschool and elementary school teachers to help the academic growth of their students. Let us take a look at the number of preschool and elementary teachers working in the US. 

45. In the year 2019, preschool and kindergarten teachers were recorded to be 845,000 in the United States. 

46. 66% of the preschool and kindergarten teachers were employed by childcare centers. 

47. 30.8% of elementary and secondary schools employed preschool and kindergarten teachers.

48. 1.03% of preschool and kindergarten teachers were employed by a religious organization. 

49. By the end of the year 2030, the expected number of teachers in elementary and secondary private schools in the US is expected to be 454,000. 

50. The expected number of teachers in elementary and secondary public schools is expected to be 3,044,000. 

Source: Thinkimpact, US facts.

 Teachers in the US by Education Level

51. Overall in the US, around 57% of all public school teachers have a postgraduate degree, such as a master’s degree or higher.

Let’s have a look at the US teachers by education level.

Type of degree	Public	Charter	Private
Less than bachelor’s	3%	3%	10%
Bachelor’s	39%	50%	42%
Masters	50%	39%	40%
Education Specialist	8%	6%	5%
Doctorate	1%	2%	3%

High School Teachers In The US

The data regarding the teachers in high school was rarely available. However, according to research done, the number of high school teachers in private schools were less than that in public school. Let us take a look at a few stats related to the average number of teachers working in high schools in the US.

52. 1.8 million teachers were employed in the academic year 2017-2018, working as full-timers and part-timers for the high school. 

53. There were 23,529 teachers in secondary and high school in the year 2019-2020. 

Source: Think impact, NCES. 

The Number Of Teachers In The US By State. 

You might have wondered how many teachers are in different states of the US and which states have the highest number of teachers in the US. Here are the details about the highest and lowest teachers in various states and the state-wise student-teacher ratio. 

54. In the academic year 2021, Texas was the state with the most public teachers, which accounted for 364,478 teachers. 

55. There was a 1.3% increase in the number of teachers in public schools in Texas in the year 2020. 

56. The second-highest state in the US, with 271,805 teachers, was California in the year 2021. 

57. Utah has the highest student-to-teacher ratio of 22.7 students enrolled per teacher. 

58. California has 21.0 students enrolled per teacher, which is the second-highest student-to-teacher ratio. 

59. The lowest student-to-teacher ratio is in Vermont, which accounts for up to 10.4 students per teacher. 

60. In New Hampshire, the student-to-teacher ratio is 10.6, the second lowest in the US.

Following is the number of top 10 Public school teachers  by state (2021)

State	Number of Teachers	Student-to-teacher ratio
Texas	364,478	15.1
California	271,805	21
New York	217,398	12
Florida	166,002	20
Pennsylvania	124,294	14.4
Georgia	117,837	14.7
New Jersey	117,060	11.7
Ohio	105,998	15.8
North Carolina	100,777	15.0
Virginia	87,147	14.4

Source: NCES, Statista. 

Instructional Staff in the US

There is various instructional staff employed in various fields in the schools of the US. The instructional staff participates in research and other training work. Here are some stats related to the instructional staff in the schools of the US. 

61. In Texas, there were  416,892 instructional staff in the academic year 2019-2020. It was the state with the highest instructional staff. 

62. The second most instructional staff in the year 2019-2020 was in the state of California, with a total count of staff of 374,003. 

63. Wyoming had the least number of instructional staff, with a total count of only 7919 staff in the state.

64. Columbia has the second least instructional staff, with a total count of 8,204 in the academic year 2019-2020. 

65. There was a drop of 2.51% in the instructional staff members between the academic years 2018-2019 and 2019-2020.

66. There was an increase of 9.12% of the instructional staff members in the state of Nevada, resulting in an increase of 2,472 instructional staff in the academic year 2019-2020.

Source: Think impact, NCES, Statista. 

Average Salary for Teachers in the US.

The number of teachers in the US varies from state to state. Some states provide teachers will a good amount of salary, while teachers in some states are underpaid. Let us take a look at the statistics related to the average salary of teachers in the US. 

67. The high school teachers earn approximately an average of $64.30K per annum. 

68. $61.90K is the average earning of middle school teachers in the US. 

69. Elementary teachers in public schools earn an average of $58.70K per year. 

70. The annual payment of Combined middle school and high school teachers in the US is $54.30 K in public schools.  

71. Teachers with more than ten years of experience earn $24.86 per hour approximately. 

Source: Indeed, ThinkImpact. 

Let’s have a detailed overview of the average salary for teachers in the United States.

72. The national average salary in the US is noted to be around $63,685 per year.

Here is a detailed overview of the average salary of the teachers by years of experience.

Years of experience	Average Salary
1-5 years	$55,960
6-10 years	$62,646
11-15 years	$68,233
16-20 years	$72,672
21+ years	$77.362

These are just averages, and the actual salary for a teacher can vary depending on a number of factors, such as the location, the school district, the teacher’s experience and education, and the type of school they work at.

For example, teachers in urban areas typically earn more than teachers in rural areas. And teachers who work at private schools typically earn more than teachers who work at public schools.

Here is the average salary of teachers in the US by education. 

Level of degree	Average Salary
Bachelor’s degree	$59,782
Master’s degree	$67,608
Doctorate degree	$75,837

Related Read:

• Teacher Burnout Statistics
• Best Online Teaching Platforms For Teachers

Final Verdict: Around 4,007,908 teachers in the US

The teachers in the US have grown subsequently over the years. 

 In the 2020-21 school year, there were 3.8 million full- and part-time public school teachers, including 1.9 million elementary teachers and 1.9 million secondary teachers. This represents an 11% increase from 2011-12.

With an increasing demand for teachers, more students are aiming to become teachers and appear for the required exam.

I hope the above article has helped you know about the number of teachers in the US. 

If I have missed any important stats, you can mention them in the comment section below. I usually keep updating my articles and will make a point to add the stats mentioned in the comments section with the required credits.