[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-586321-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-586321-en":131},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","nea-education-support-professional-earnings-report-april-2026","NEA Education Support Professional Earnings Report - April 2026","","NEA Education Support Professionals (ESPs) underpin daily school operations and student safety and readiness to learn. This report analyzes ESP earnings across 2024–2025 by career family and by whether workers are employed in K–12 public schools or higher education institutions, alongside comparisons to 2023–2024. It finds earnings rose in both sectors but did not keep pace with inflation, eroding purchasing power, and it highlights state differences, collective bargaining effects, and living-wage shortfalls for full-time ESPs.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/nea-education-support-professional-earnings-report-april-2026/586321/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/nea-education-support-professional-earnings-report-april-2026/586321.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Taylor Morgan","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-06","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",11,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"How did ESP earnings change from 2023–2024 to 2024–2025?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"Average earnings increased between 2023–2024 and 2024–2025 in both K–12 and higher education, but the report notes they did not keep up with inflation when adjusted for purchasing power.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What is the relationship between collective bargaining laws and ESP pay?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"In states where bargaining laws covered ESPs, average earnings were higher than in states without such laws. This advantage appears in both K–12 and higher education ESPs.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"Why does the report emphasize a living wage problem for many full-time ESPs?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"Although most full-time ESPs work 30+ hours per week, many earnings are below levels needed for basic needs. The report cites that a large share of full-time ESPs earn under $25,000 and that salary levels can fall short of family budget requirements.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},586321,1792189451,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,106,111,115,120,123,127],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":102,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":107,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":108,"show_sort_weight":109,"slug":110},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":112,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},8,30,"research-report",{"id":116,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":117,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":119},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":118,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":121,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":122},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":124,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":125,"show_sort_weight":124,"slug":126},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":128,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":130},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":132},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":133,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":134,"doc_module":4,"category_id":112,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":135,"file_id":136,"file_url":137,"file_type":138,"file_size":139,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":128,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},1099523885336,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c","NEA Education Support Professional Earnings Report  \nAPRIL 2026  \nEducation support professionals (ESPs) keep our schools running and our students safe, healthy, and ready to learn every day. ESPs are classified into nine career families: clerical service workers, custodial and maintenance service workers, food service workers, health and student service workers, paraeducators, security workers, skilled trade workers, technical service workers, and transportation service workers. This report looks at ESP earnings in 2024–2025 across career families and for those working in K–12 public schools and higher education institutions.  \nESP earnings in both K–12 and higher education increased between 2023–2024 and 2024–2025 but did not keep up with inflation.  \nAmong ESPs working full-time (30 or more hours per week), the average earnings in 2024–2025 was $38,494, about $1,400 more than the average earnings in 2023–2024. When adjusting for inflation, the average salary increased by a modest $300 from 2023–2024 to 2024–2025. This average was lower for ESPs in K–12 public schools ($36,360) than those in higher education institutions ($47,029) (See Table 1).  \n• For full-time ESPs in K–12 public schools, the average earnings in 2024–2025 was about $1,400 more than the average earnings in 2023–2024.  \n• For full-time ESPs in higher education, the average earnings was $47,029, an increase of nearly $1,370 from 2023–2024.  \nNEA EDUCATION SUPPORT PROFESSIONAL EARNINGS REPORT | 1  \nWhen accounting for inflation, ESPs have been falling behind and losing purchasing power. The average earnings for all ESPs rose from $31,581 in 2015–2016 to $38,494 in 2024–2025; however, when adjusted for inflation, the average earnings for ESPs fell from $31,581 to $28,779 in constant 2016 dollars (Figure 1).  \n• For ESPs in K–12 public schools, earnings decreased by $2,344 in 2024–2025 as compared with 2015–2016 when adjusting for inflation, while higher education ESP earnings fell by $6,413.  \n• In four states, K–12 ESP earnings increased from 2015–2016 to 2024–2025 when adjusted for inflation: South Dakota, Rhode Island, Nebraska, and North Dakota, increasing by $1,941, $684,$464, and $367, respectively.  \n• Only two states, North Dakota and Maine, saw an increase—$2,214 and $1,408, respectively—in higher education ESP earnings from 2015–2016 to 2024–2025 when adjusted for inflation.  \nNEA EDUCATION SUPPORT PROFESSIONAL EARNINGS REPORT | 2  \nCollective bargaining was associated with higher pay for ESPs.  \nESPs in states where there were bargaining laws earned more than their counterparts in states without bargaining laws.  \n• In states where there were bargaining laws covering ESPs, the average ESP earnings was $40,494.  \n• In states that did not have bargaining laws, the average earnings was $35,846, about $4,600 less than those in states where bargaining was allowed (Figure 2).  \nThe advantage of working in a state where bargaining laws covered ESPs was also evident when looking separately at K–12 ESPs and higher education ESPs.  \n• For ESPs in K–12 public schools working in states where bargaining was permitted, the average salary ($38,564) was almost $5,200 more than the average salary of those working in states where there were no bargaining laws ($33,393).  \n• The same was true for ESPs in higher education: ESPs in states where bargaining was permitted had an average salary of $48,820, while those working in states without bargaining laws had an average salary of $44,920, a difference of $3,900.  \nNEA EDUCATION SUPPORT PROFESSIONAL EARNINGS REPORT | 3  \nDespite most ESPs working full-time, many did not earn a living wage.  \nWorking as an ESP is a professional career. More than three-quarters (77.6 percent) of all ESPs worked full-time, which is defined as 30 or more hours per week. More than four-fifths (81.8 percent) of ESPs in K–12 public schools worked full-time, while about two-thirds (67.2 percent) of ESPs in higher education worked full-time. The ","cbCaipL3Pn60kbJG","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaipL3Pn60kbJG","pdf",398917,"English","# Overview\n## ESP earnings by sector (K–12 vs higher education)\n## Inflation-adjusted trends (2023–2024 to 2024–2025)\n## State comparisons and collective bargaining\n## Full-time pay and living-wage gap\n## ESP workforce and career families","[{\"question\":\"How did ESP earnings change from 2023–2024 to 2024–2025?\",\"answer\":\"Average earnings increased between 2023–2024 and 2024–2025 in both K–12 and higher education, but the report notes they did not keep up with inflation when adjusted for purchasing power.\"},{\"question\":\"What is the relationship between collective bargaining laws and ESP pay?\",\"answer\":\"In states where bargaining laws covered ESPs, average earnings were higher than in states without such laws. This advantage appears in both K–12 and higher education ESPs.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the report emphasize a living wage problem for many full-time ESPs?\",\"answer\":\"Although most full-time ESPs work 30+ hours per week, many earnings are below levels needed for basic needs. The report cites that a large share of full-time ESPs earn under $25,000 and that salary levels can fall short of family budget requirements.\"}]","NEA Education Support Professional Earnings Report - April 2026 | PDF",1792057580,48]