Faculty salary statistics vary substantially by academic rank, institution type, subject, and employer setting. NCES IPEDS reported an average salary of $100,254 for 624,689 full-time instructional staff across all Title IV degree-granting institutions in academic year 2024–25. The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook reported a median annual wage of $83,980 for postsecondary teachers in May 2024. These figures describe different populations and measures, so they should not be treated as interchangeable.
Contents: Overall pay · Rank · Institution type · Subject · Wage distribution · Employer setting
Overall faculty pay
The NCES IPEDS figure is an average salary for full-time instructional staff during academic year 2024–25. Across all Title IV degree-granting institutions, the average was $100,254 for 624,689 staff members. By sex, male full-time instructional staff averaged $108,717, while female full-time instructional staff averaged $94,651. These are institution-wide averages for the reported staff population, not starting salaries or individual offers. (NCES IPEDS Table 7, 2024–25)
The BLS measure is different. For postsecondary teachers in May 2024, the median annual wage was $83,980. A median divides reported wages into two equal halves, while an average can be affected by higher or lower values. The BLS occupation-wide median therefore provides a useful labor-market reference, but it is not a replacement for the NCES average of full-time instructional staff. (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook)
Taken together, the two measures show why a faculty salary comparison needs a clear definition. The NCES statistic is tied to academic year 2024–25, full-time instructional staff, and degree-granting institutions. The BLS statistic is tied to postsecondary teachers and a May 2024 wage observation. Neither figure alone represents every faculty appointment, contract, workload, or compensation arrangement.
Salary by academic rank
Academic rank is one of the clearest differences in the NCES IPEDS data. Across all institutions in 2024–25, professors averaged $141,003. Associate professors averaged $101,068, and assistant professors averaged $86,006. Instructors averaged $73,028, while lecturers averaged $77,341. Full-time faculty with no academic rank averaged $69,697. (NCES IPEDS Table 7, 2024–25)
| Academic rank or category | Average salary, 2024–25 |
|---|---|
| Professors | $141,003 |
| Associate professors | $101,068 |
| Assistant professors | $86,006 |
| Lecturers | $77,341 |
| Instructors | $73,028 |
| No academic rank | $69,697 |
The rank pattern is descriptive rather than a prediction of an individual’s pay. The figures cover full-time instructional staff across all institutions, and the source does not provide a person-specific adjustment for discipline, location, experience, or contract terms in these reported values. Even so, the categories show a substantial difference between the average for professors and the averages for earlier-career or non-ranked categories.
The BLS wage distribution adds another perspective. In May 2024, the lowest 10 percent of postsecondary teachers earned less than $48,570, while the highest 10 percent earned more than $199,520. Those percentile figures describe the spread of wages within the occupation and should not be mapped directly onto the NCES academic-rank categories. (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook)
Salary by institution type
Institutional control and sector also correspond with different average salaries in the NCES IPEDS data for 2024–25. Public institutions averaged $98,299 for full-time instructional staff. Public four-year institutions averaged $103,341, compared with $77,384 at public two-year institutions.
Private nonprofit institutions averaged $108,050. Within that group, private nonprofit four-year institutions averaged $108,399, while private nonprofit two-year institutions averaged $57,189. Private for-profit institutions averaged $59,381 overall; private for-profit four-year institutions averaged $63,036, and private for-profit two-year institutions averaged $52,802. (NCES IPEDS Table 7, 2024–25)
| Institution category | Average salary, 2024–25 |
|---|---|
| Public, all institutions | $98,299 |
| Public, four-year | $103,341 |
| Public, two-year | $77,384 |
| Private nonprofit, all institutions | $108,050 |
| Private nonprofit, four-year | $108,399 |
| Private nonprofit, two-year | $57,189 |
| Private for-profit, all institutions | $59,381 |
| Private for-profit, four-year | $63,036 |
| Private for-profit, two-year | $52,802 |
These categories should be read with their geography and time period attached: they describe the institutions covered by NCES IPEDS in academic year 2024–25. They are not a ranking of every college or university, and they do not establish that institution type causes a particular salary. They do show that four-year and two-year categories have different reported averages within each control group.
Salary by teaching subject
The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook reported May 2024 median annual wages for many postsecondary teaching occupations. Law teachers had a median of $126,650, followed by economics teachers at $119,980. Engineering teachers had a median of $106,120, health specialties teachers $105,620, architecture teachers $101,480, and atmospheric, earth, marine, and space sciences teachers $101,390.
Other subject-specific medians were $100,830 for forestry and conservation science teachers, $97,360 for physics teachers, $97,270 for business teachers, $96,690 for computer science teachers, $95,770 for anthropology and archeology teachers, and $94,680 for political science teachers.
The BLS also reported a $87,710 median for environmental science teachers, $86,730 for geography teachers, $86,350 for agricultural sciences teachers, and $86,220 for chemistry teachers. Area, ethnic, and cultural studies teachers had a median of $84,290, biological science teachers $83,460, and sociology teachers $82,540.
Additional May 2024 medians included $81,500 for history teachers, $80,330 for psychology teachers, $80,190 for art, drama, and music teachers, $79,940 for nursing instructors and teachers, $79,350 for mathematical science teachers, and $78,630 for library science teachers.
| Postsecondary teaching occupation | Median annual wage, May 2024 |
|---|---|
| Law teachers | $126,650 |
| Economics teachers | $119,980 |
| Engineering teachers | $106,120 |
| Health specialties teachers | $105,620 |
| Physics teachers | $97,360 |
| Computer science teachers | $96,690 |
| Chemistry teachers | $86,220 |
| History teachers | $81,500 |
| Psychology teachers | $80,330 |
| Nursing instructors and teachers | $79,940 |
The remaining reported subject medians were $78,270 for English language and literature teachers, $78,050 for philosophy and religion teachers, $77,800 for communications teachers, $77,280 for family and consumer sciences teachers, $77,010 for foreign language and literature teachers, $76,210 for social work teachers, $75,890 for recreation and fitness studies teachers, and $75,040 for social sciences teachers, all other.
Education teachers had a May 2024 median of $72,090, and criminal justice and law enforcement teachers had a median of $71,470. These figures are subject-level occupational medians from the BLS and are not NCES academic-rank averages. (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook)
The postsecondary teacher wage distribution
The broad BLS distribution places the May 2024 median of $83,980 between the lower and upper ends of the occupation. Postsecondary teachers in the lowest 10 percent earned less than $48,570, and those in the highest 10 percent earned more than $199,520. The data therefore describe a wide wage range around the middle value. (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook)
The subject figures show the same broad variation within the occupation. The reported median was $126,650 for law teachers and $71,470 for criminal justice and law enforcement teachers. Between those points were economics at $119,980, engineering at $106,120, business at $97,270, biological science at $83,460, English language and literature at $78,270, and education at $72,090.
Because the BLS values are medians, they indicate the midpoint for each named occupation rather than the average pay of all faculty in that subject. Because the NCES values are averages for full-time instructional staff, they answer a different question. Keeping the statistic, population, geography, and measurement period together is essential when using faculty salary statistics in a teaching guide or career comparison.
Salary by employer setting
The BLS reported separate May 2024 medians by employer setting. Postsecondary teachers in private colleges, universities, and professional schools had a median annual wage of $91,310. The median was $87,310 for teachers in local junior colleges and $85,650 for teachers in state colleges, universities, and professional schools.
State junior colleges had a lower reported median of $64,600. These employer-setting figures use the BLS categories and May 2024 measurement period; they are not the same sector groupings as the NCES IPEDS control and degree-level categories.
| Employer setting | Median annual wage, May 2024 |
|---|---|
| Private colleges, universities, and professional schools | $91,310 |
| Local junior colleges | $87,310 |
| State colleges, universities, and professional schools | $85,650 |
| State junior colleges | $64,600 |
The difference between the highest and lowest employer-setting medians in this reported group is a feature of the published BLS categories, not a universal salary rule for every faculty member. A specific offer can belong to a different academic rank, subject, workload, or institutional classification than the broad occupation and employer medians shown here.
For practical interpretation, use the NCES IPEDS results when comparing average full-time instructional staff salaries by rank or institution category for academic year 2024–25. Use the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook results when comparing May 2024 median wages across postsecondary teaching subjects, wage percentiles, or employer settings. Keeping those definitions separate makes the statistics more useful for understanding faculty compensation.