National Council on Teacher Quality Highlights Growing Gap Between Teacher Pay and Housing Costs

By Julie Walker, NLIHC National Campaign Coordinator 

The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) released an issue brief, “Priced out: The growing challenge of teacher pay and housing costs” last month highlighting the housing affordability challenges facing educators across the country. Increases in teacher salaries alone cannot keep up with the housing market in many school districts, making it unaffordable for teachers to live in the communities they serve. The brief also highlights examples of school districts partnering with housing agencies to provide affordable housing for teachers while emphasizing that a national response to the affordable housing crisis is necessary to ensure that educators can afford to live where they teach and schools can retain their workforce.  

In a study examining 72 large, urban school districts, NCTQ found that housing costs between 2019 and 2025 have outpaced teachers’ salary growth, with rental costs increasing by 51% on average and teachers’ salaries only growing by about 24%. The analysis also found that new teachers cannot afford to rent a one-bedroom apartment in half of the districts sampled, regardless of whether they have a master’s degree. In 2019, 18 districts were unaffordable for teachers with bachelor’s degrees and 11 for those with master’s degrees. In 2025, 39 of the 72 districts sampled are unaffordable for early career teachers with bachelor’s degrees, and 34 are unaffordable to those with master’s degrees. Further, the rental cost for a one-bedroom unit in 10 of the districts sampled is more than 40% of the beginning bachelor’s degree holding teacher salaries, and four districts surpassed 45%. These numbers reveal a concerning trend of growing financial instability among educators, which contributes to challenges for school districts in attracting and retaining a diverse and high-quality teacher workforce. While some districts have been able to respond to the crisis by increasing teacher salaries to keep pace with the housing market, less-resourced districts have responded by partnering with affordable housing programs to provide housing to income-eligible teachers. 

The subject of this brief, the disparity between wages and rising housing costs, is the focus of NLIHC’s annual Out of Reach report. The 2025 report found that 14 of the 20 largest occupations pay median wages less than the one-or two-bedroom housing wage, which is an estimate of the hourly wage a full-time worker needs to earn to afford a modest rental home at HUD’s Fair Market Rent (FMR) without spending more than 30% of their income on housing costs. Several of these occupations, including secretaries and administrative assistants, office and administrative support workers, building cleaning and pest control workers, and cooks and food preparation workers, are also essential to the success of any school district workforce. While the issue brief from NCTQ focuses on educator pay, school staff at every income level must be able to afford stable and accessible housing in the communities they serve.  

Read the brief here.