Most K-12 public school teachers are women

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U.S. public school teachers have spent 2024 in the spotlight. The Democratic vice presidential nominee, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, has highlighted his previous career as a high school teacher and football coach. And a congressional hearing in June focused on multiple “crises” facing public school teachers, including low pay and overwork.

Here are some key facts about the 3.8 million public school teachers who work in America’s classrooms. These findings primarily come from a fall 2023 Pew Research Center survey of public K-12 teachers and from federal data.
About three-quarters (77%) of teachers are women and 23% are men, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) for the 2020-21 school year, which is the most recent one available. This gender imbalance is especially notable in elementary schools, where 89% of teachers are women. Women make up 72% of middle school teachers and 60% of secondary or high school teachers.

There is far more gender balance among U.S. workers overall, across different industries and occupations. In 2020, women accounted for 47% of workers ages 25 and older, compared with 53% who were men, Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows. “Workers” in this analysis are those ages 25 and older in the U.S. noninstitutionalized civilian population.

Just 8% of K-12 public school teachers are at least 60 years old, but 16% of U.S. workers are at least 60. Public school teachers are more likely to be in their 30s and 40s than are U.S. workers overall (56% vs. 49%).

About half of Americans say public K-12 education is going in the wrong direction