Teacher burnout statistics from the RAND 2023 State of the American Teacher Survey show that 56% of all teachers reported burnout in 2023, while 58% reported frequent job-related stress. The same survey measured lack of resilience, symptoms of depression, and difficulty coping with job-related stress, making it possible to view burnout as part of a wider picture of teacher well-being.
Table of contents
- Key teacher burnout statistics
- Stress and burnout by race and ethnicity
- Stress and burnout by gender
- Stress and burnout by school level
- Resilience and depression symptoms
- Difficulty coping with job-related stress
Key teacher burnout statistics
The figures below are from Figure 3 of the RAND 2023 State of the American Teacher Survey. They describe teachers in 2023 and should be read as survey percentages, not as a count of all teachers or as a forecast of future conditions.
- 58% of all teachers reported frequent job-related stress.
- 56% of all teachers reported burnout.
- 27% of all teachers reported lack of resilience.
- 19% of all teachers reported symptoms of depression.
- 17% of all teachers reported difficulty coping with job-related stress.
These measures are related but distinct. Frequent job-related stress describes how often stress was experienced. Burnout is a separate reported condition in the survey. Lack of resilience, symptoms of depression, and difficulty coping with job-related stress are additional indicators rather than alternate names for burnout.
The overall results provide a useful baseline for reading the group comparisons. In this survey, frequent stress was reported by a slightly larger share of teachers than burnout. The other three measures were reported by smaller shares of all teachers, although their levels varied by race and ethnicity, gender, and school level.
Stress and burnout by race and ethnicity
The RAND 2023 State of the American Teacher Survey reported different percentages across the race and ethnicity groups shown in Figure 3. Hispanic teachers had the highest reported rate of frequent job-related stress at 59%, followed by White teachers at 58% and teachers in the “other race/ethnicity” group at 58%. Black teachers reported frequent stress at 55%.
Burnout followed a different ordering. Black teachers had the highest reported burnout rate among the listed groups at 63%. Hispanic teachers reported burnout at 59%, White teachers at 55%, and teachers in the “other race/ethnicity” group at 54%.
| Race or ethnicity group | Frequent job-related stress | Burnout |
|---|---|---|
| All teachers | 58% | 56% |
| White teachers | 58% | 55% |
| Black teachers | 55% | 63% |
| Hispanic teachers | 59% | 59% |
| Other race/ethnicity | 58% | 54% |
The resilience and depression measures also differed across these groups. Lack of resilience was reported by 29% of Hispanic teachers, 27% of White teachers, 24% of teachers in the “other race/ethnicity” group, and 23% of Black teachers. Symptoms of depression were reported by 23% of Black teachers, 21% of Hispanic teachers, 20% of teachers in the “other race/ethnicity” group, and 18% of White teachers.
Difficulty coping with job-related stress was reported by 21% of Hispanic teachers, 19% of Black teachers, 17% of White teachers, and 16% of teachers in the “other race/ethnicity” group. These figures show that the group with the highest percentage for one well-being measure was not always the group with the highest percentage for another.
Stress and burnout by gender
The 2023 RAND survey reported frequent job-related stress among 61% of female teachers and 46% of male teachers. Burnout was reported by 59% of female teachers and 45% of male teachers.
| Gender | Frequent job-related stress | Burnout | Lack of resilience |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female teachers | 61% | 59% | 30% |
| Male teachers | 46% | 45% | 17% |
The same gender comparison appears in the resilience and coping indicators. Lack of resilience was reported by 30% of female teachers and 17% of male teachers. Symptoms of depression were reported by 19% of female teachers and 18% of male teachers. Difficulty coping with job-related stress was reported by 17% of female teachers and 15% of male teachers.
These percentages describe the survey’s reported results for the gender groups; they do not establish why the rates differed. They are also separate measures. For example, the 14-percentage-point difference in reported frequent stress between female and male teachers should not be treated as a calculated difference in causes, workload, or working conditions.
Stress and burnout by school level
Elementary teachers reported the highest rate of frequent job-related stress among the school levels listed in Figure 3, at 65%. Middle school teachers reported frequent stress at 55%, while high school teachers reported it at 51%.
Burnout was reported by 61% of elementary teachers, 55% of middle school teachers, and 49% of high school teachers. The ordering of the three school levels was therefore the same for frequent stress and burnout.
| School level | Frequent job-related stress | Burnout |
|---|---|---|
| Elementary | 65% | 61% |
| Middle school | 55% | 55% |
| High school | 51% | 49% |
The remaining measures show a less uniform pattern. Lack of resilience was reported by 33% of middle school teachers, compared with 26% of elementary teachers and 23% of high school teachers. Symptoms of depression were reported by 24% of middle school teachers, 19% of elementary teachers, and 16% of high school teachers.
Difficulty coping with job-related stress was reported by 20% of middle school teachers, 19% of elementary teachers, and 14% of high school teachers. Thus, middle school teachers had the highest reported percentage for lack of resilience, symptoms of depression, and difficulty coping among these school-level groups, while elementary teachers had the highest reported percentages for frequent stress and burnout.
Resilience and depression symptoms
Across all teachers, 27% reported lack of resilience and 19% reported symptoms of depression in the RAND 2023 State of the American Teacher Survey. These indicators varied by each comparison shown in Figure 3.
By race and ethnicity, lack of resilience ranged from 23% among Black teachers to 29% among Hispanic teachers. The reported percentages were 27% for White teachers and 24% for teachers in the “other race/ethnicity” group. Symptoms of depression ranged from 18% among White teachers to 23% among Black teachers. Hispanic teachers were at 21%, and teachers in the “other race/ethnicity” group were at 20%.
By gender, 30% of female teachers reported lack of resilience, compared with 17% of male teachers. Symptoms of depression were reported by 19% of female teachers and 18% of male teachers.
By school level, 26% of elementary teachers reported lack of resilience, compared with 33% of middle school teachers and 23% of high school teachers. Symptoms of depression were reported by 19% of elementary teachers, 24% of middle school teachers, and 16% of high school teachers.
Because these are reported percentages for separate survey measures, they should not be added together. A teacher could potentially be represented in more than one measure, and the supplied figures do not provide the overlap between categories.
Difficulty coping with job-related stress
Difficulty coping with job-related stress was reported by 17% of all teachers in 2023. The percentage was 21% among Hispanic teachers, 19% among Black teachers, 17% among White teachers, and 16% among teachers in the “other race/ethnicity” group.
The gender figures were 17% for female teachers and 15% for male teachers. By school level, difficulty coping was reported by 19% of elementary teachers, 20% of middle school teachers, and 14% of high school teachers.
Viewed alongside the stress figures, these results indicate that the percentage reporting difficulty coping was lower than the percentage reporting frequent job-related stress in every listed group. For all teachers, the corresponding figures were 17% and 58%; for elementary teachers, they were 19% and 65%; for middle school teachers, 20% and 55%; and for high school teachers, 14% and 51%.
The source for all figures in this article is the RAND 2023 State of the American Teacher Survey, Figure 3, measuring reported teacher experiences in 2023. The survey categories are presented as published: frequent job-related stress, burnout, lack of resilience, symptoms of depression, and difficulty coping with job-related stress.