61 Teacher Burnout Statistics Of 2024 (Data & Facts)

Did you know there are 4,007,908 teachers in the United States? Unfortunately, the burnout rates of teachers have increased over the past years. It is recorded to be the highest in the teaching sector. Due to high workloads and less payout, most teachers chose to quit teaching. 

We have researched in detail from all the trusted sources and have compiled all the latest data about teacher burnout in the following article. 

What’s more? Keep reading to know the latest burnout rates. 

Teacher Burnout Statistics: Top Picks

1. 46% of teachers work more than 50 hours a week, while 38% work 40 to 45 hours a week. Hence, due to the workload, 51% of teachers don’t have a life and are not able to spend personal time. 

2. 65% of the teachers show signs of burnout and suffer from bad physical and mental health. 

3. 44% of the K-12 teachers reported that they are burned out as of 2024. However, the burnout percentage of teachers in the year 2022 was only 36%.

4. 55% of the female teachers reported that they are burned out, while 44% of the men are burned out. 

5. Around 55% of the teachers said that they want to leave the profession due to excessive workload. 

6. 36% of the teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic reported that they are often burned out and have high-stress levels. 

7. 81% of teachers reported that they have an increased workload as of 2024. 

8. Only 8% of the teachers said that they have a social life and have time to enjoy. On the contrary, 57% of the teachers reported that they do not have any social life or personal life. 
9. The most burnout profession in the United States is K-12 teachers.
10. It is seen that more than 55% of the teachers are ready to leave the job earlier than planned.
11. More than 35% of the teachers stated that they are more likely to leave the job within the next 1.5 years.
12. More than 78% of the teachers said that low pay is a major issue for them.
13. According to the Educationweek report, 45% of the teachers say they don’t feel respected by the public.
14. Over 92% of the teachers are likely to hire a support staff.
15. 60% of the teachers stated that they do not have control over their schedules.
16. It is seen that only 10% of the teachers recommend the teaching profession to the young adult.
17. More than 86% of the school districts stated difficulty in hiring new teachers.

How Many Hours Do Teachers Work Each Week?

18. 46% of teachers reported working more than 50 hours a week, while 38% of teachers reported working 40 to 45 hours a week.

The following table displays the number of hours teachers work in a week. 

Number Of Hours	Percentage Of Teachers
35 hours	12%
40 to 45 hours	38%
More than 50 hours	46%
Work every moment they are awake.	4%

How Many Hours Do Teachers Sleep On An Average Day? 

19. 32% of teachers reported sleeping less than 6 hours a day, while 31% said that they don’t sleep enough in a week and catch up with the sleep at the end of the week. 

The following table displays the amount of sleep teachers get weekly. 

Hours Of Sleep	Percentage Of Sleep
7 hours minimum each week.	26%
I don’t sleep enough in a week but catch up with the sleep at the weekend.	31%
Sleeps less than 6 hours	32%
I suffer from insomnia and have problems sleeping.	11%

What Kind Of Social Life Do Teachers Have? 

20. 57% of the teachers reported that they don’t have much time for their social life as the job takes up most of their time. 

The following table displays the social life of the teachers. 

Teachers And Their Social Life	Percentage Of Teachers
have a social life and get out regularly	8%
Have a balance between their work and home life.	35%
Don’t have much time for life	57%

According to the data from Wordsrated, teachers who spend time on enjoying social life were only 8%.

21. Among the overall teachers, 57% of the teachers reported that they do not have a personal or social life.

22. 32% of teachers sleep less than 6 hours a day.

Here is detailed data on teacher work-life balance statistics.

Teachers work-life balance	Percentage of Teachers
Go out regularly	8%
Balance between work and home life	35%
Little time for life	57%

How Do Teachers Feel Most Days?

23. 32% of teachers reported that they enjoy their time with the students, while the other 32% said that they are easily irritated by the students’ attitude in their class. 

The following table displays the teacher’s mood most days. 

Teachers’ Feelings	Percentage Of Teachers
Are happy and enjoy a few banter students	32%
Easily irritated by behaviors and attitude	32%
Get irritated at school and at home too	36%

How Tired Are Teachers Most Days?

24. 58% of teachers reported that they are tired most of the time. Only 7% of teachers said that they have energy left after working hard. 

Energy Level Of Teachers	Percentage Of Teachers
Have energy left out after working hard.	7%
Tired most days but catch up at the end of the week.	35%
Always tired.	58%

How Clearly Can Teachers Think When At Work?

25. 68% of the teachers reported that they find themselves struggling to concentrate when tired. 

Teachers’ Feelings	Percentage Of Teachers
Clear-headed when working at home and at school.	18%
Struggle to concentrate when tired.	68%
Struggle to concentrate all the time.	15%

What Physical Problems Do Teachers Face?

26. 75% of teachers reported that they have physical health issues. 37% of the teachers reported that they have regular headaches or stomach aches. 

The following table displays the physical health problems faced by the teachers in school. 

Physical Problems Faced By The Teachers In School.	Percentage Of Teachers
Shortness of breath	10%
Dizziness	15%
Heart palpitations or chest pain	16%
Regular headaches or chest pains	37%
None of the experience	22%

Are Teachers Burning Out?

27. 65% of the teachers reported that they are showing signs of burning out, while 15% of teachers do not show any signs of burnout. 

Sings Of Burnout Shown By Teachers	Percentage Of Teachers
No signs of burnout	15%
At the risk of burnout	20%
Shows sign of burnout.	65%

General Teacher Burnout Statistics

28. The k12 teachers have the highest burnout levels in all industries. 44% of the teachers report that they are always or very often burnt out. 

Industry	Percentage Of Burnout.
K-12 education	44%
College or university	35%
Professional services	33%
Government or public policy	33%
Retail	32%
healthcare	31%
law	31%
Entertainment	29%
Manufacturing	28%
Technology	25%
Utilities	25%
Construction	22%
Community/ social services	22%
Finance	21%

29. There is a 24% burnout gap between K-12 and other industries on average. 

30. 52% of K-12 teachers said that they “always” burned out at work. On the contrary, only 35% of college and university workers reported that they are “always tired.”

31. 36% of the K-12 workers reported feeling burned out often in the year 2022. However, this number increased to 44% as of 2024. 

32. On the contrary, workers in other professions reported that they feel burnt out only 30% of the time. This shows us that there is a 14-point difference, which is huge. 

Did you know? There are 50 million K-12 students across the US.

Teacher Burnout Statistics: Demographics

33. Female teachers, in particular, are especially burned out. The burnout rate recorded for female teachers is 55%. On the contrary, the burnout rate of male teachers in the K-12 industry is reported to be 44%.

The following table displays the burnout rates of female and male workers. 

Industry	Female	Male
All industries	34	26
K-12 workers	47	38
K-12 teachers	55	44

34. Men in the physical health domain feel burned out by 73.64%, while females feel burned out by 67.62%. On the other hand, male teachers are exhausted by 2.31%, and females are exhausted by 2.64%. 

The following table displays the burnout of male and female teachers in different domains of their life. 

Domain	Male	Female
Physical health	73.64%	67.62%
Psychological health	74.5%	67.57%
Social relationships	69.16%	65.02%
Environment	65.59%	64.73%
Disengagement	2.07%	2.09%
Exhaustion	2.31%	2.64%

How Are Teachers Affected By Burnout?

35. 55% of the teachers said that they are ready to leave the profession due to excessive burnout. 

36. 40,000 teachers quit teaching in the year 2016 due to being overworked and underpaid. 

Bonus read: Curious to know the earnings of teachers? Roll over to our article to know how much do teachers earn in 2024! 

37. In the last three decades, the percentage of teachers retiring and quitting has increased by 55%. 

38. 30% of teachers leave teaching within five years of their teaching career. You can read more Teaching Statistics for additional details!

39. 29% of the teachers have to quit their jobs due to personal and lifestyle issues. 

40. Since the year 2020, 86% of the teachers have quit and retired. This number is the highest than the ones recorded before. 

What Is The Effect Of Teacher Burnout On Students? 

41. Teacher burnout leads to a lack of interest while teaching. Hence, it negatively impacts the teaching quality of the teachers. It leads to a decrease in the motivation of the students and a lack of enthusiasm while learning new things. 

Other changes seen in student behavior are reported to be an increase in disruptive behavior, low sense of belonging, etc. 

42. Students also tend to achieve lower grades and have weak or no belief in their abilities and talents due to improper guidance or no guidance from their teachers. 

On the other hand, teacher burnout leads to higher stress levels in the teachers, which results in increased students’ stress levels. 

Above all, various negative impacts of teacher burnout are observed on the students, which negatively affects the mental health as well as the academic performance of the students. 

Job Quitting Due to Burnout

There are many reports that state that teachers are led to quit their profession due to burnout.

This number is growing each year.

43. More than 40,000 teachers quit their jobs in 2016, which was the highest of all time for the loss of teachers in education.

44. There are over 20% of the teaching positions left unfilled due to the huge number of teachers quitting.

45. It is seen that between 2015 to 2016, over 12,000 male and over 8,000 female teachers quit their secondary teaching jobs.

46. The reports stated that teachers are forced to work 60 hours a week, which leads to creating too much pressure to handle.

47. Data from 2020 states that 28% of the teachers were planning to return early in their careers.

48. It is seen that the new teachers are leaving their jobs within 5 years of teaching.

Here is data on the projected teacher exits. (2020-2026)

Type of school	Estimated teacher exits (2020-26)
Elementary School	48,300
Secondary school	32,400
Middle School	21,600
Special education	16,600
Kindergarden	6,900

What Are The Impacts Of Teacher Burnout?

49. Increased teacher burnout rates have a negative effect on the physical health as well as mental health of teaching staff. 

Let us take a look at some of the common impacts of burnout on teachers. 

1. Poor Health: 

Many teachers reported that they faced high blood pressure due to excessive burnout and high-stress levels. Other health complaints received due to burnout were cardiovascular disease, depression, and anxiety. 

2. Lower Job Satisfaction:

Most of the teachers reported dissatisfaction with their jobs due to more work pressure and fewer payouts. Besides that, many teachers reported that they are planning to change their profession or quit teaching. 

On the other hand, lower job satisfaction negatively impacts life satisfaction levels, contributing to increased stress levels. 

3. Increased Days Of Absence:

Due to unsatisfactory jobs, teachers start to lose interest in teaching and their job. Hence due to low dedication levels, the number of leaves increases gradually. 

In a survey that took place in Canada, the average number of leaves increased from 8.9 in the year 2014 to 11.9 in 2018. 

4. Weak Culture:

The relationship of teachers with their colleagues or with other faculties and children may weaken due to increased stress rates. This may negatively influence the work culture and the atmosphere of the school. 

5. Stress In Personal Life:

The stressful atmosphere at work impacts the personal lives of teachers. It eventually leads to weaker bonds even in personal life and loss of peace at home. 

Moreover, as seen above, 57% of the teachers do not have any personal life or do not have any time to enjoy and relax. 

According to the data from Wordstrated, 3 in every 4 teachers have reported physical health issues.

50. 37% of the teachers stated that they have frequent stomach aches and headaches.

Here is data on physical complaints experienced by teachers.

Physical Complaints	Percent of Teachers
Regular headaches or chest pains	37%
No physical issues	22%
Heart palpitations or chest pain	16%
Dizziness	15%
Shortness of breath	10%

Effect Of A Covid-19 Pandemic On Teacher Burnout

51. During the pandemic, 36% of the teachers reported that they are very often burned out. 

52. Online teaching, as well as in-person teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic, caused more stress to the teachers. They reported that they felt more burnout during the pandemic period. 

53. 47% of the teachers reported that the biggest factor that contributed to burnout was increased screen time and the absence of proper communication between the teachers and the students. 

54. The COVID-19 pandemic caused 78% of the learning loss of the students, which immensely affected the burnout rates of the teachers. 

Teacher Burnout Current State (2024)

55. 44% of the teachers in K-12 education in the United States said that they very often feel or always feel burned out. 

56. 35% of college or university teachers reported that they always feel burned out or are often tired. 

57. 81% of the teachers reported that they have an increased workload. 

58. 71% of teachers spend their own money on classroom materials. 

59. The changes in the curriculum and teaching pattern were made by 45% of the teachers due to stress and loss of interest in teaching. 

60. Staff shortages and other factors led to a decrease in the planning time of teachers by 55%. 

61. 18% of the teachers reported that they had less access to instructional materials and tools. 

Related Read:

• Admission Statistics
• Interview Statistics
• College Student Statistics
• Average College Professor Salary
• Community College Statistics

That’s all about teacher burnout from my side. 

In the upcoming years, teacher burnout rates are expected to increase due to the recession taking place worldwide. However, the burnout rates may reduce due to the switch from online classes to offline classes worldwide. 

Hence, it will be interesting to track the graph of teacher burnout rates. 

Will the rates of teacher burnout increase? How will it impact the education system of the nation? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.