The authors of this report present selected findings from the first American Pre-K Teacher Survey, administered to public school–based pre-kindergarten (pre-K) teachers in spring 2024. The authors provide new information about public school–based pre-K teachers’ well-being, pay, and working conditions and compare their responses with those of public kindergarten through grade 12 teachers, elementary grade teachers, and similar working adults.

Pre-K Teacher Well-Being, Pay, and Intentions to Leave in 2024

Findings from the American Pre-K Teacher Survey

Elizabeth D. Steiner, Anna Shapiro, Phoebe Rose Levine

ResearchPublished May 6, 2025

The authors of this report present selected findings from the first American Pre-K Teacher Survey, administered to public school–based pre-kindergarten (pre-K) teachers in March and April 2024. The authors provide new information about the well-being, pay, and working conditions of public school–based pre-K teachers.

The authors compare pre-K teachers’ responses with those of public kindergarten through grade 12 (K–12) teachers, elementary grade teachers, and similar working adults. The authors also examine responses for subgroups of pre-K teachers for whom one might expect to see variation in pay or working conditions, such as teachers who taught part-day classes and those who taught full-day classes, teachers who were special education teachers and those who were general education teachers, and teachers who worked in early childhood education–only buildings and those who worked in K–12 buildings. Across pre-K and K–12 teachers, the authors also compared teachers’ responses across experience, highest degrees earned, state collective bargaining status, and locale.

Key Findings

  • In spring 2024, almost twice as many public school–based pre-K teachers reported experiencing frequent job-related stress as similar working adults.
  • Eighteen percent of public school–based pre-K teachers intended to leave their jobs by the end of the 2023–2024 school year, compared with 22 percent of public K–12 teachers and 24 percent of similar working adults.
  • Public school–based pre-K teachers’ top-ranked sources of job-related stress were managing student behavior, low pay, supporting student mental health and well-being, and administrative work outside teaching.
  • Public school–based pre-K teachers reported earning nearly $7,000 less in base pay, on average, than public K–12 teachers, and about $24,000 less than similar working adults.
  • Thirty-eight percent of public school–based pre-K teachers said that their base pay was adequate, compared with 36 percent of public K–12 teachers and 51 percent of similar working adults.
  • On average, public school–based pre-K teachers reported working 47 hours in a typical week, eight hours more than the 39 hours per week that they were contracted to work.

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Steiner, Elizabeth D., Anna Shapiro, and Phoebe Rose Levine, Pre-K Teacher Well-Being, Pay, and Intentions to Leave in 2024: Findings from the American Pre-K Teacher Survey. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2025. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA3279-5.html.
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