This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Teachers are critical for student learning. Recent news and policy reports suggest there are shortages of teachers in many parts of the country, and these shortages are detrimental for students and public education since these positions are either left unfilled or are filled with less qualified or uncertified candidates. For our main purpose, we focus on vacant positions in a state, which means these are teaching positions that are left unfilled, even with emergency certification. We take this conservative approach to provide a lower bound on what the teacher shortages look like in the United States. To provide a comprehensive picture, in subsequent analyses, we also consider (1) teaching positions that are filled by teachers who are certified by irregular, provisional, temporary, or emergency certification; and (2) teaching positions that are filled by teachers who are certified, but who are teaching in academic subject areas other than their area of preparation.
Despite the many reports of teacher shortages, there has not been a concerted effort to examine what the teacher shortage looks like nationally. To address this issue, we have systematically examined news reports, department of education websites and presentations, and documented sources of teacher shortage for every state in the United States. Additionally, we have also contacted state departments for their vacancy/shortage numbers when they are not available online or in print. The map below shows the extent to which there is a teacher vacancy in every state and the most recent date for which we have information, as well as the main source of our information for each state. Based on news reports and state reports, we estimate that there are at least 36,000 vacant teacher positions in the United States. This estimate is likely an underestimate as some reports are out of date (before the Covid-19 pandemic). In particular, we have numbers of vacancies for 38 states/jurisdictions: 16 states and D.C. in 2021-2022, 10 states in 2020-2021, nine states from 2017 to 2020, and two states from 2014 to 2017. Moreover, some states, such as California, are likely to have teacher shortages but are able to fill the vacant positions, at least temporarily, with substitute teachers and emergency/provisional certifications. However, current news reports indicate these states are experiencing shortages but provide no specific data on how many positions are left vacant.
While there may be a debate as to whether there is a national teacher shortage or what constitutes a national teacher shortage, our results clearly indicate the majority of states are experiencing teacher shortages. We hope this work can be used to inform policymakers and researchers about the extent to which states are experiencing teacher shortages and what we can do to address this challenge for the future of public education.
Note: Lastest school year with information in parentheses.
| Region 1 Northeast: 1,515 | Region 2 Midwest: 7,421 |
| New England: 1,024 Mid-Atlantic: 491 |
East North Central: 5,775 West North Central: 1,646 |
| Region 3 South: 22,550 | Region 4 West: 5,018 |
| South Atlantic: 13,444 East South Central: 8,042 West South Central: 1,064 |
Mountain: 4,654 Pacific: 364 |
| Estimated National Teacher Vacancy: 36,504 | |
Note: Estimated national teacher vacancy is a rough estimate by summing all known vacant positions. Division 1: New England (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont). Division 2: Mid-Atlantic (New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania). Division 3: East North Central (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin). Division 4: West North Central (Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota). Division 5: South Atlantic (Delaware; Florida; Georgia; Maryland; North Carolina; South Carolina; Virginia; Washington, D.C. and West Virginia). Division 6: East South Central (Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee). Division 7: West South Central (Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas). Division 8: Mountain (Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming). Division 9: Pacific (Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington)
| State/Jurisdiction | Vacancy | Underqualification | School year | Primary Source | Teachers | Students | Vcy/100 tch | Unq/100 tch | Vcy/10,000 stu | Unq/10,000 stu |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 3,000+ | ^5,046 | 2021-2022 | News Report | 42,021.73 | 734,559 | 7.14 | 12.01 | 40.84 | 68.69 |
| Alaska | Unknown | ^53 | 2021-2022 | DOE/BOE Information | 7,483.72 | 129,872 | N/A | 0.71 | N/A | 4.08 |
| Arizona | 1,699 | 3,634 | 2021-2022 | Institution Document | 48,911.78 | 1,116,034 | 3.47 | 7.43 | 15.22 | 32.56 |
| Arkansas | Unknown | 1,528 | 2017-2018 | DOE/BOE Document | 35,799.86 | 496,085 | N/A | 4.27 | N/A | 30.80 |
| California | Unknown | 24,029 | 2018-2019 | DOE/BOE Information | 266,149.00 | 6,180,188 | N/A | 9.03 | N/A | 38.88 |
| Colorado | 235 | 893 | 2020-2021 | DOE/BOE Document | 53,900.40 | 883,199 | 0.44 | 1.66 | 2.66 | 10.11 |
| Connecticut | 242 | 518 | 2014-2015 | DOE/BOE Document | 41,863.94 | 541,074 | 0.58 | 1.24 | 4.47 | 9.57 |
| Delaware | 205 | ^284 | 2020-2021 | News Report | 9,747.00 | 138,092 | 2.10 | 2.91 | 14.85 | 20.57 |
| District of Columbia | 160 | ^2130 | 2021-2022 | News Report | 7,409.22 | 89,883 | 2.16 | 28.75 | 17.80 | 236.97 |
| Florida | 3,911 | 16,585 | 2021-2022 | DOE/BOE Document | 165,929.10 | 2,789,892 | 2.36 | 10.00 | 14.02 | 59.45 |
| Georgia | 3,112 | ^5220 | 2019-2020 | News Report | 117,836.90 | 1,769,657 | 2.64 | 4.43 | 17.59 | 29.50 |
| Hawaii | 364 | ^718 | 2020-2021 | News Report | 12,220.77 | 176,441 | 2.98 | 5.88 | 20.63 | 40.69 |
| Idaho | 470 | ^476 | 2017-2018 | DOE/BOE Document | 16,591.97 | 301,186 | 2.83 | 2.87 | 15.60 | 15.80 |
| Illinois | 1,703 | 337 | 2021-2022 | DOE/BOE Information | 132,801.80 | 1,943,117 | 1.28 | 0.25 | 8.76 | 1.73 |
| Indiana | 980 | ^952 | 2020-2021 | News Report | 61,225.71 | 1,033,964 | 1.60 | 1.55 | 9.48 | 9.21 |
| Iowa | Unknown | 60 | 2017-2018 | DOE/BOE Information | 35,552.60 | 511,850 | N/A | 0.17 | N/A | 1.17 |
| Kansas | 1,200 | ^746 | 2021-2022 | News Report | 36,603.08 | 481,750 | 3.28 | 2.04 | 24.91 | 15.49 |
| Kentucky | 806 | ^245 | 2020-2021 | Institution Document | 42,222.99 | 658,668 | 1.91 | 0.58 | 12.24 | 3.72 |
| Louisiana | Unknown | 10,560 | 2019-2020 | DOE/BOE Document | 38,588.98 | 710,439 | N/A | 27.37 | N/A | 148.64 |
| Maine | 689 | ^485 | 2017-2018 | Institution Document | 14,760.10 | 180,204 | 4.67 | 3.29 | 38.23 | 26.91 |
| Maryland | ~1,000 | 3,658 | 2021-2022 | News Report | 61,484.61 | 882,527 | 1.63 | 5.95 | 11.33 | 41.45 |
| Massachusetts | Unknown | 7,407 | 2020-2021 | DOE Correspondence | 75,130.61 | 911,465 | N/A | 9.86 | N/A | 81.26 |
| Michigan | 527 | ^885 | 2019-2020 | News Report | 84,768.28 | 1,495,924 | 0.62 | 1.04 | 3.52 | 5.92 |
| Minnesota | 101 | 4,505 | 2019-2020 | DOE/BOE Document | 54,386.59 | 893,203 | 0.19 | 8.28 | 1.13 | 50.44 |
| Mississippi | 3,036 | ^1521 | 2021-2022 | DOE/BOE Information | 31,578.21 | 442,627 | 9.61 | 4.82 | 68.59 | 34.36 |
| Missouri | 38 | 3,547 | 2020-2021 | DOE/BOE Document | 69,144.54 | 882,388 | 0.05 | 5.13 | 0.43 | 40.20 |
| Montana | 328 | ^88 | 2016-2017 | DOE/BOE Document | 10,555.18 | 146,375 | 3.11 | 0.83 | 22.41 | 6.01 |
| Nebraska | 42 | 175 | 2020-2021 | DOE/BOE Document | 24,028.25 | 324,697 | 0.17 | 0.73 | 1.29 | 5.39 |
| Nevada | 837 | ^1,092 | 2018-2019 | Institution Document | 23,240.00 | 492,640 | 3.60 | 4.70 | 16.99 | 22.17 |
| New Hampshire | Unknown | 5,878 | 2020-2021 | News Report | 14,694.50 | 168,526 | N/A | 40.00 | N/A | 348.79 |
| New Jersey | 148+ | 9,455 | 2021-2022 | News Report | 117,059.80 | 1,373,948 | 0.13 | 8.08 | 1.08 | 68.82 |
| New Mexico | 1,048 | ^726 | 2021-2022 | Institution Document | 21,849.97 | 316,840 | 4.80 | 3.32 | 33.08 | 22.91 |
| New York | Unknown | 5,328 | 2017-2018 | DOE/BOE Information | 213,158.80 | 2,724,663 | N/A | 2.50 | N/A | 19.55 |
| North Carolina | 1,698 | ^14,822 | 2020-2021 | News Report | 100,776.90 | 1,513,677 | 1.68 | 14.71 | 11.22 | 97.92 |
| North Dakota | 145 | ^50 | 2018-2019 | News Report | 9,470.08 | 113,845 | 1.53 | 0.53 | 12.74 | 4.39 |
| Ohio | Unknown | 542 | 2017-2018 | DOE/BOE Information | 98,912.16 | 1,704,399 | N/A | 0.55 | N/A | 3.18 |
| Oklahoma | 494 | 1,237 | 2018-2019 | News Report | 42,447.90 | 698,891 | 1.16 | 2.91 | 7.07 | 17.70 |
| Oregon | Unknown | 381 | 2017-2018 | DOE/BOE Information | 29,822.82 | 580,645 | N/A | 1.28 | N/A | 6.56 |
| Pennsylvania | 343 | 1,085 | 2017-2018 | DOE/BOE Information | 121,917.70 | 1,726,809 | 0.28 | 0.89 | 1.99 | 6.28 |
| Rhode Island | 93+ | ^180 | 2021-2022 | News Report | 10,692.64 | 139,184 | 0.87 | 1.68 | 6.68 | 12.93 |
| South Carolina | 938 | ^632 | 2021-2022 | Institution Document | 53,556.00 | 766,819 | 1.75 | 1.18 | 12.23 | 8.24 |
| South Dakota | 120 | ^71 | 2021-2022 | News Report | 9,929.61 | 139,318 | 1.21 | 0.72 | 8.61 | 5.10 |
| Tennessee | 1,200 | ^1,483 | 2020-2021 | News Report | 64,784.20 | 985,207 | 1.85 | 2.29 | 12.18 | 15.05 |
| Texas | 570+ | ^8,697 | 2021-2022 | News Report | 364,478.40 | 5,372,806 | 0.16 | 2.39 | 1.06 | 16.19 |
| Utah | 37 | 3,966 | 2021-2022 | DOE/BOE Document | 30,256.01 | 680,659 | 0.12 | 13.11 | 0.54 | 58.27 |
| Vermont | Unknown | ^98 | 2021-2022 | News Report | 8,042.20 | 82,401 | N/A | 1.22 | N/A | 11.89 |
| Virginia | 1,420 | ^3,756 | 2020-2021 | News Report | 87,220.39 | 1,250,713 | 1.63 | 4.31 | 11.35 | 30.03 |
| Washington | Unknown | 5,902 | 2019-2020 | DOE/BOE Information | 62,209.05 | 1,142,073 | N/A | 9.49 | N/A | 51.68 |
| West Virginia | 1,000 | ^458 | 2021-2022 | News Report | 18,853.73 | 253,447 | 5.30 | 2.43 | 39.46 | 18.07 |
| Wisconsin | 2,565- | ^1,346 | 2021-2022 | Institution Document | 59,801.12 | 830,066 | 4.29 | 2.25 | 30.90 | 16.22 |
| Wyoming | Unknown | 181 | 2020-2021 | DOE/BOE Information | 7,391.19 | 93,037 | N/A | 2.45 | N/A | 19.45 |
Note: + denotes a subtotal of the state’s total teacher vacancies. - denotes the number of teacher openings instead of teacher vacancies. ~ denotes a rough estimate of the state’s teacher vacancies. ^ denotes estimated underqualification counts retrieved from the Civil Rights Data Collection (2018) and Common Core Data.
Variable description
We acknowledge there are difficulties in measuring teacher shortages on a state-by-state basis using news reports and state reports as they are often provided without specific definitions of vacancy, whether they include or exclude uncertified teachers, or whether they are only for core academic subjects or all subjects. We will continue to work on collecting various measures of teacher vacancy and shortages, and we will aim to provide multiple measures of vacancy and shortages in the future. Furthermore, we note there are also important variations within and between districts within states that need to be explored and addressed, but the first step is to assess nationally at the state level.
If you have any questions, please contact Tuan D. Nguyen, Ph.D, Kansas State University, via email: nguyetd1@ksu.edu or twitter: edu_tuan.
If you have updated data from any state or states without current data or if there are any errors with the data, please email Dr. Nguyen and share your information, including state's presentations and reports.
This work is derived from a research project by Tuan D. Nguyen, Chanh B. Lam, Kansas State University, and Paul Bruno, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
For the full publication, see Nguyen, T. D., Lam, C. B., & Bruno, P. (2022). Is there a national teacher shortage? A systematic examination of reports of teacher shortages in the United States. (EdWorkingPaper: 22-631). Annenberg Institute at Brown University. https://doi.org/10.26300/76eq-hj32
We thank Kate Nelson, Susan Patrick, Allison Gilmour, and Chris Redding for their helpful comments and suggestions. Any errors remain our sole responsibility.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.