Teacher demographics statistics help describe who makes up the public K–12 teaching workforce. In the 2020–21 National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS) age/sex table, public K–12 teachers in the United States had an average age of 42.9 years. State averages ranged from 38.8 years in the District of Columbia to 46.0 years in Maine. The figures below are averages for the 2020–21 measurement period, reported by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
Contents
- National snapshot
- State averages at a glance
- Youngest reported averages
- Oldest reported averages
- State-by-state teacher age statistics
- How to read these figures
National snapshot
The average age of United States public K–12 teachers was 42.9 years in 2020–21. This is the national figure in the NCES NTPS 2020–21 age/sex table. It provides a useful reference point for interpreting the state averages, but it does not describe the age of every teacher or show how ages are distributed within a state.
The state figures are also averages from the same 2020–21 table. They should therefore be read as a snapshot of the public K–12 teaching workforce during that measurement period. An average age is not a median, and it does not indicate the share of teachers in any particular age group.
State averages at a glance
The reported averages show meaningful variation across jurisdictions. The table below groups selected high and low values to make the range easier to scan. Every figure is an average teacher age in years for 2020–21.
| Jurisdiction | Average age |
|---|---|
| District of Columbia | 38.8 |
| North Dakota | 40.1 |
| Kentucky | 40.2 |
| Maine | 46.0 |
| Rhode Island | 45.8 |
| New Mexico | 45.6 |
| Alaska | 45.0 |
| California | 44.5 |
The national average was 42.9 years. In the reported state and District of Columbia figures, the youngest average was 38.8 years and the oldest was 46.0 years. Those endpoints describe the difference between reported jurisdictional averages; they do not measure individual teachers’ ages or imply a cause for the variation.
Youngest reported averages
The District of Columbia had the youngest reported average teacher age, at 38.8 years in 2020–21. North Dakota followed at 40.1 years, while Kentucky’s average was 40.2 years. Mississippi and North Carolina each reported an average of 41.0 years.
Other averages below the national figure included Missouri at 41.1 years, South Dakota at 41.1 years, Wisconsin at 41.4 years, Nebraska at 41.6 years, Illinois at 41.6 years, Delaware at 41.7 years, and Louisiana at 41.8 years. Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Ohio also had averages near the national reference point, ranging from 42.0 to 42.5 years.
These values indicate the average age reported for teachers in each jurisdiction. They do not establish that a jurisdiction had more early-career teachers, more older teachers, or a particular hiring or retention pattern, because the supplied NCES figures are averages rather than age-group distributions.
Oldest reported averages
Maine had the oldest reported average teacher age, at 46.0 years in 2020–21. Rhode Island’s average was 45.8 years, and New Mexico’s was 45.6 years. Alaska reported 45.0 years.
Several other jurisdictions reported averages above 44 years: Nevada, 44.7; New Hampshire, 44.6; California, 44.5; Washington, 44.5; Florida, 44.4; and Oklahoma, 44.4. Connecticut reported 44.3 years, while Hawaii reported 43.9 years and Oregon and West Virginia each reported 43.7 years.
The presence of a higher average does not by itself show how many teachers are nearing retirement or how long teachers have worked. It only summarizes the reported average age for the specified public K–12 teacher population in the 2020–21 survey period.
State-by-state teacher age statistics
The full set of reported averages is listed below. The source label for each figure is the NCES NTPS 2020–21 age/sex table.
Alabama through Georgia
- Alabama: 42.4 years.
- Alaska: 45.0 years.
- Arizona: 42.7 years.
- Arkansas: 42.3 years.
- California: 44.5 years.
- Colorado: 42.7 years.
- Connecticut: 44.3 years.
- Delaware: 41.7 years.
- District of Columbia: 38.8 years.
- Florida: 44.4 years.
- Georgia: 43.2 years.
Hawaii through New Jersey
- Hawaii: 43.9 years.
- Idaho: 43.0 years.
- Illinois: 41.6 years.
- Indiana: 42.2 years.
- Iowa: 42.0 years.
- Kansas: 42.0 years.
- Kentucky: 40.2 years.
- Louisiana: 41.8 years.
- Maine: 46.0 years.
- Maryland: 43.3 years.
- Massachusetts: 42.0 years.
- Michigan: 43.0 years.
- Minnesota: 42.6 years.
- Mississippi: 41.0 years.
- Missouri: 41.1 years.
- Montana: 43.0 years.
- Nebraska: 41.6 years.
- Nevada: 44.7 years.
- New Hampshire: 44.6 years.
- New Jersey: 42.3 years.
New Mexico through Wyoming
- New Mexico: 45.6 years.
- New York: 43.2 years.
- North Carolina: 41.0 years.
- North Dakota: 40.1 years.
- Ohio: 42.5 years.
- Oklahoma: 44.4 years.
- Oregon: 43.7 years.
- Pennsylvania: 42.0 years.
- Rhode Island: 45.8 years.
- South Carolina: 42.0 years.
- South Dakota: 41.1 years.
- Tennessee: 42.6 years.
- Texas: 43.0 years.
- Utah: 43.1 years.
- Vermont: 43.2 years.
- Virginia: 43.4 years.
- Washington: 44.5 years.
- West Virginia: 43.7 years.
- Wisconsin: 41.4 years.
- Wyoming: 43.2 years.
How to read these figures
The measurement period matters. These are 2020–21 averages, not a current-year estimate or a forecast. They describe public K–12 teachers and should not automatically be generalized to private-school teachers, college faculty, substitute teachers, or the broader education workforce.
The geography also matters. The list includes states and the District of Columbia, and the District of Columbia is reported separately rather than as a state. Comparisons should keep that distinction visible.
What the state comparison can show
The figures support a straightforward descriptive comparison. Some jurisdictions had averages close to the national 42.9-year reference point: Alabama was 42.4 years, Arizona and Colorado were each 42.7 years, Minnesota and Tennessee were each 42.6 years, and Ohio was 42.5 years. Other jurisdictions were farther from that reference point in either direction. The District of Columbia was reported at 38.8 years, while Maine was reported at 46.0 years.
The middle of the list also contains a wide range of values. Maryland was 43.3 years, Virginia was 43.4 years, and Vermont and New York were each 43.2 years. Texas and Michigan were each 43.0 years, as were Idaho and Montana. These close values can be useful when a reader wants to see which jurisdictions have similar reported averages, but they should not be treated as evidence that their teacher workforces have identical age distributions.
The same caution applies to differences that appear small. A one-year difference between two reported averages does not reveal whether the underlying populations differ in the number of new teachers, experienced teachers, or teachers near retirement. The table provides average ages only. It does not provide counts, percentages by age band, or a measure of uncertainty.
Questions these statistics do not answer
Teacher demographics is a broad topic, but this particular set of figures covers one dimension: age. The NCES table label identifies an age/sex table, while the supplied quantitative results here are average-age values. No sex percentage, race or ethnicity percentage, employment-status measure, salary figure, experience measure, or school-level breakdown is included in the reported facts.
Readers using these statistics for teaching guides, presentations, or background research should keep the scope in the wording. A precise description is that public K–12 teachers had the listed average ages in the 2020–21 NCES NTPS age/sex table. It would go beyond the reported evidence to say that a state had a particular proportion of young teachers or that its average reflected a specific workforce policy.
The figures are most useful as a baseline for describing the age dimension of the teaching workforce at that time. A later comparison would need a separately reported measurement period and compatible population definition. Without those details, placing the 2020–21 values beside another year could blur changes in the workforce with changes in survey coverage or definitions.
Finally, an average age is a summary statistic. It can be useful for comparing broad differences among the reported jurisdictions, but it cannot answer questions about gender composition, race and ethnicity, years of experience, vacancies, turnover, or retirement intentions. Those questions require separate measures. For this dataset, the supported demographic measure is average age, reported in years by the NCES NTPS 2020–21 age/sex table.