This Data Point uses data from the 2015–16 National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS) Teacher Questionnaire. NTPS is a nationally representative sample survey of public K–12 schools, principals, and teachers in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. This Data Point describes jobs outside the school system held by regular, full-time teachers in public schools.1 This report was revised in 2021 to correct sample weights. For more information, please see https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2018137rev.
FIGURE 1. Percent of regular, full-time public school teachers who supplemented their income with a job outside their school system, by region: 2015–16
NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), “Public School Teacher Data File,” 2015–16.
What percentage of public school teachers earn income from working outside their school system, and how does this vary by region?2
Regular, full-time public school teachers were asked whether they earned additional compensation, beyond their base teaching salary, for working a job outside their school system. Overall, 18 percent of teachers had a job outside their school system. Teachers categorized these jobs as teaching or tutoring (5 percent), nonteaching, but related to the teaching field (4 percent), or in another field (10 percent) (FIGURE 1).
A higher percentage of teachers in schools in the Northeast and Midwest (both 19 percent) worked in a job outside their school system than teachers in schools in the South and West (both 17 percent).
A higher percentage of teachers in schools in the Northeast (5 percent) supplemented their income through teaching or tutoring than teachers in schools in the Midwest (4 percent). A higher percentage of teachers in schools in the Northeast and Midwest (both 4 percent) supplemented their income through activities in a nonteaching, but related field than teachers in the South (3 percent).
A higher percentage of teachers in the Midwest (11 percent) supplemented their income by working in another field than teachers in the Northeast, South, and West (9, 10, and 8 percent, respectively). A higher percentage of teachers in the Northeast and South (9 percent and 10 percent, respectively) worked in another field than teachers in the West (8 percent).
For public school teachers who earn income from working outside their school system, how much do they earn from these additional jobs and how does this vary by region?
Nationally, regular, full-time public school teachers who supplemented their income earned an average (mean) of $5,100 from jobs outside their school system (FIGURE 2).
FIGURE 2. Among regular, full-time public school teachers who supplemented their income with a job outside their school system, mean amount earned, by job type and region: 2015–16
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), “Public School Teacher Data File,” 2015–16.
At the national level, teachers earned more from jobs in another field ($5,400) than from teaching or tutoring ($5,000) or nonteaching jobs related to the teaching field ($4,500).
In the Northeast, there were no differences in teachers’ outside earnings by the type of outside job they had (teaching or tutoring, nonteaching, but related to the teaching field, or in another field).
In the Midwest, teachers earned more from jobs in another field ($4,900) than teaching or tutoring ($3,600).
In the South, teachers earned more from jobs in another field ($5,500) than nonteaching jobs related to the teaching field ($4,200).
In the West, teachers earned more by teaching or tutoring ($5,400) or in jobs in another field ($5,500) than nonteaching jobs related to the teaching field ($4,100).
Endnotes
1 A regular full-time teacher is any teacher whose primary position in a school is not an itinerant teacher, a long-term substitute, a short-term substitute, a student teacher, a teacher’s aide, an administrator, a library media staff member or librarian, another type of professional staff (e.g., counselor, curriculum coordinator, social worker), support staff (e.g., secretary), or a part-time teacher.
2 Region is defined as the Census region in which a district is located. Northeast = Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Midwest = Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. South = Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. West = Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
Data in this report are from the 2015–16 National Teacher and Principal Survey. To learn more, visit https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ntps. For questions about content or to download additional copies, go to: https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2018137rev.
This NCES Data Point presents information of education topics of current interest. It was authored by Maura Spiegelman of NCES. Estimates based on samples are subject to sampling variability, and apparent differences may not be statistically significant. All stated differences are statistically significant at the .05 level. In the design, conduct, and data processing of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) surveys, efforts are made to minimize effects of nonsampling errors, such as item nonresponse, measurement error, data processing error, or other systematic error.
