Key Takeaways
$81,344
Average salary for community college faculty
$27,000
Difference in pay between union and non-union community college faculty
Higher Education Faculty Salary Analysis
U.S. faculty salaries recovered a tiny amount in 2024, as faculty purchasing power increased by 1 percent over the previous year. But NEA’s analysis shows that faculty purchasing power still hasn’t recovered to pre-pandemic levels.
Purchasing power reflects the value of workers’ salaries or their ability to buy food, pay for medical bills, and keep a roof over their heads.
The bad news in 2025 is that the pay gap between women and men in higher education has persisted and HBCU faculty are still underpaid compared to their colleagues. The good news? When faculty and staff unionize and collectively bargain for better pay, they get it! The union difference is huge.
Key Findings
Faculty salaries rose by an average of 4.3 percent between 2022-23 and 2023-24, exceeding the 3.3 percent inflation rate. As a result, faculty purchasing power increased by 1 percent. Despite this improvement, purchasing power in 2023-24 was 6.8 percent below pre-pandemic levels.
Rank and institutional type make a difference. Faculty in community colleges earned about $81,344, on average, compared to $107,034 earned by professors at public, Ph.D.-granting research universities, on average.
Where you teach also makes a difference. The highest paid faculty are in states with powerful unions: California, New Jersey, Delaware, Hawaii, and Connecticut. The lowest paid faculty are not: Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana.
The gender gap persists. On average, women faculty in public institutions earned 86 cents to the dollar paid a man. The gender gap is smallest at community colleges; biggest at research universities where men are more likely to be promoted to full professor and women are more likely to work in departments that aren’t as valued, like education or library science.
HBCU faculty remain undervalued. On average, in 2024, HBCU faculty earned 75 cents on the dollar paid to other faculty. The disparity is most pronounced in research universities, where HBCU faculty earned $29,000 less than their non-HBCU counterparts.
Unions make a difference! Community college faculty, for example, were paid $93,000, on average, at institutions with collectively bargained contracts. Meanwhile, their colleagues in the same states—but who don’t have union contracts—were paid $73,000, while community college faculty in states without collective bargaining were paid $66,000.
8 Charts that Tell Everything About Faculty Pay Today
The bad news? You still are poorer than you were five years ago. The good news? Unions make a HUGE difference.
Faculty Salary Data
| State | Avg. Salary at Public 4-Year | 4-Year Rank | Change 2022-23 to 2023-24 | Avg. Salary at Public 2-Year | Rank, 2-Year | Change 2022-23 to 2023-24 | Avg. Salary at Private | Salary Rank - Private | Change 2022-23 to 2023-24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $104,349 | - | 3.9% | $81,223 | - | 5.5% | $111,643 | - | 4.3% |
| Alabama | $92,342 | 34 | 2.6% | $66,392 | 30 | 1.8% | $67,273 | 40 | 0.1% |
| Alaska | $89,364 | 39 | 5.2% | - | - | - | $66,395 | 43 | 7.5% |
| Arizona | $105,188 | 17 | 4.7% | $82,774 | 14 | 2.9% | $78,622 | 32 | -2.7% |
| Arkansas | $78,353 | 50 | 2.0% | $53,917 | 48 | 1.3% | $64,311 | 44 | 2.4% |
| California | $133,447 | 1 | 3.4% | $120,768 | 1 | 9.2% | $135,582 | 4 | 6.2% |
| Colorado | $99,017 | 27 | 1.5% | $70,297 | 22 | 4.3% | $105,668 | 15 | 5.3% |
| Connecticut | $119,180 | 5 | 3.9% | $93,555 | 2 | 3.7% | $138,470 | 3 | 4.6% |
| Delaware | $121,990 | 3 | 2.7% | $81,882 | 15 | 5.5% | $78,086 | 34 | -1.2% |
| District of Columbia | $83,630 | 46 | 0.4% | - | - | - | $128,763 | 6 | 2.9% |
| Florida | $107,149 | 13 | 4.1% | $66,415 | 29 | 3.8% | $95,240 | 22 | 3.0% |
| Georgia | $95,190 | 31 | 4.2% | $60,416 | 39 | 4.2% | $94,245 | 23 | 3.7% |
| Hawaii | $119,443 | 4 | 4.1% | $87,789 | 7 | 4.5% | $80,968 | 30 | 3.1% |
| Idaho | $84,225 | 45 | 2.8% | $64,992 | 33 | 8.1% | $67,299 | 39 | 3.0% |
| Illinois | $106,064 | 14 | 6.4% | $89,319 | 5 | 4.8% | $118,017 | 10 | 4.3% |
| Indiana | $101,684 | 21 | 3.9% | $56,923 | 43 | 3.4% | $98,792 | 18 | 4.4% |
| Iowa | $108,102 | 12 | 2.0% | $67,028 | 28 | 1.6% | $74,065 | 37 | 3.1% |
| Kansas | $89,708 | 37 | 3.1% | $61,848 | 38 | 2.2% | $59,561 | 47 | 3.3% |
| Kentucky | $83,327 | 47 | 2.8% | $55,789 | 47 | 2.3% | $66,993 | 41 | 0.5% |
| Lousiana | $79,520 | 49 | 4.6% | $55,953 | 45 | 2.1% | $96,955 | 21 | 4.3% |
| Maine | $92,904 | 33 | 4.3% | $65,987 | 32 | 1.6% | $99,817 | 17 | 5.1% |
| Maryland | $115,268 | 6 | 6.9% | $84,890 | 11 | 3.6% | $122,352 | 9 | 7.1% |
| Massachusetts | $109,142 | 11 | 2.6% | $71,042 | 21 | 3.5% | $140,251 | 2 | 4.1% |
| Michigan | $112,298 | 7 | 2.8% | $91,022 | 3 | 1.8% | $75,972 | 36 | 3.0% |
| Minnesota | $104,351 | 20 | 3.8% | $76,654 | 16 | 4.0% | $86,189 | 26 | 2.4% |
| Mississippi | $78,015 | 51 | 1.8% | $56,725 | 44 | 3.4% | $66,643 | 42 | 1.7% |
| Missouri | $89,443 | 38 | 5.2% | $67,475 | 27 | 7.5% | $102,671 | 16 | 4.7% |
| Montana | $84,296 | 44 | 5.1% | $58,500 | 41 | 8.3% | $59,016 | 48 | 1.8% |
| Nebraska | $95,837 | 30 | 3.7% | $68,245 | 24 | 3.8% | $78,101 | 33 | 3.3% |
| Nevada | $105,568 | 15 | 10.7% | $85,472 | 10 | 11.6% | - | - | - |
| New Hampshire | $100,947 | 24 | 5.4% | $73,561 | 20 | 0.4% | $133,701 | 5 | 4.2% |
| New Jersey | $129,661 | 2 | 3.1% | $84,148 | 12 | 2.3% | $141,158 | 1 | 5.6% |
| New Mexico | $91,094 | 36 | 4.8% | $67,647 | 26 | 9.8% | $84,002 | 28 | 0.5% |
| New York | $104,460 | 19 | 2.8% | $90,443 | 4 | 2.0% | $124,607 | 8 | 3.5% |
| North Carolina | $98,421 | 28 | 4.4% | $58,655 | 40 | 5.1% | $106,841 | 13 | 4.8% |
| North Dakota | $86,852 | 42 | 7.3% | $64,113 | 35 | 3.9% | $61,312 | 46 | 2.7% |
| Ohio | $101,619 | 22 | 1.8% | $73,741 | 19 | 1.9% | $83,261 | 29 | 3.2% |
| Oklahoma | $88,372 | 41 | 7.6% | $62,308 | 37 | 12.5% | $76,410 | 35 | 3.6% |
| Oregon | $100,734 | 25 | 3.9% | $86,747 | 9 | 2.5% | $89,067 | 25 | 3.3% |
| Pennsylvania | $104,820 | 18 | 0.8% | $75,253 | 18 | 2.3% | $110,499 | 11 | 4.1% |
| Rhode Island | $105,299 | 16 | 1.9% | $67,727 | 25 | -1.8% | $128,241 | 7 | 2.6% |
| South Carolina | $94,872 | 32 | 6.1% | $57,542 | 42 | 5.6% | $67,335 | 38 | 2.6% |
| South Dakota | $84,406 | 43 | 6.6% | $66,134 | 31 | 3.1% | $64,080 | 45 | 4.4% |
| Tennessee | $92,121 | 35 | 4.6% | $63,486 | 36 | 6.2% | $97,276 | 20 | 2.7% |
| Texas | $101,189 | 23 | 4.6% | $69,622 | 23 | 4.7% | $107,806 | 12 | 4.0% |
| Utah | $112,057 | 8 | 6.5% | $82,893 | 13 | 8.1% | $106,446 | 14 | 7.8% |
| Vermont | $88,475 | 40 | -1.5% | - | - | - | $98,146 | 19 | 4.2% |
| Virginia | $112,022 | 9 | 5.3% | $76,188 | 17 | 4.6% | $84,600 | 27 | 3.2% |
| Washington | $110,332 | 10 | 4.5% | $86,918 | 8 | 9.7% | $90,106 | 24 | 5.3% |
| West Virginia | $80,874 | 48 | 1.9% | $55,880 | 46 | 2.4% | $54,580 | 49 | 1.6% |
| Wisconsin | $99,102 | 26 | 7.0% | $89,027 | 6 | 2.5% | $79,862 | 31 | 2.8% |
| Wyoming | $97,591 | 29 | 4.2% | $64,947 | 34 | 2.9% | - | - | - |
Higher Education Faculty Pay
NEA examines post-pandemic faculty salaries in 2024.
Download the Report (docx)
