DC teacher salaries and education workforce Statistics (2026): 35+ Data Points on Salaries, Demographics, and School Performance

The average salary for a District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) teacher is projected to be $89,750 in the 2025-2026 school year, positioning the District as one of the highest-paying urban school systems in the United States. However, this high nominal pay is coupled with a teacher turnover rate of 25% in high-poverty schools, significantly above the national average. Student enrollment is nearly evenly split between the traditional public and public charter sectors, with 48.7% of students attending one of the city's 135 charter schools. We aggregated data from the DC Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), the DC Public Charter School Board (DCPCSB), the DC Policy Center, and dozens of other primary sources to build the definitive reference for DC teacher salaries and the education workforce in 2026.

Key Takeaways

• The minimum starting salary for a new DCPS teacher with a bachelor's degree is $63,373 (DCPS-WTU Agreement, 2025).
• 48.7% of all public school students in the District attend a public charter school (DCPCSB, 2025 Enrollment Report).
• Teacher turnover in DC's highest-poverty schools reached 25%, compared to 14% in the lowest-poverty schools (Urban Institute, Teacher Mobility in DC, 2024).
• 51% of DC teachers are White, while 78% of DC public school students are Black or Hispanic (OSSE, Educator Workforce Diversity Report, 2025).
• The Uniform Per Student Funding Formula (UPSFF) base level for FY 2026 is $14,660 per pupil (DC CFO, FY2026 Budget).
• DCPS employs approximately 4,100 teachers, while public charter schools employ over 5,000 (OSSE, Educator Workforce Data, 2025).
• 92,053 students were enrolled in DC public and public charter schools for the 2025-26 school year (OSSE, 2025-26 Enrollment Audit).
• Over 76% of students applying to Pre-K through Grade 12 used the MySchoolDC common lottery system (MySchoolDC, 2025 Lottery Data).
• Teachers with a Master's degree + 30 credits can earn a maximum salary of $131,271 after 22 years of service (DCPS-WTU Agreement, 2025).
• At-risk students, who make up 45% of the student population, receive an additional $2,932 in per-pupil funding (OSSE, UPSFF Weights, 2025).

1. DC Teacher Salary Analysis: Compensation and Benefits

DC teacher salaries are among the highest in the nation for large urban districts, a strategic effort to attract and retain talent in a high cost-of-living area. The current contract between DCPS and the Washington Teachers' Union (WTU) establishes a base salary of $63,373 for a first-year teacher with a bachelor's degree. This scale rises significantly with advanced degrees and years of service, with the most experienced and educated teachers earning over $130,000. However, a 2024 DC Policy Center analysis found that after adjusting for cost of living, DC's competitive salary advantage diminishes when compared to other major metropolitan areas. These compensation packages are a key factor for educators considering a career in the District's dynamic but demanding school environments.

Source: DCPS FY2026 Budget and Staffing Guidance

2. Educator Workforce Demographics: A Mismatch with Student Population

The demographic gap between DC's teachers and students remains a significant point of policy discussion. Data from OSSE's latest educator workforce report shows a teacher population that is 51% White, 38% Black, and 7% Hispanic. This contrasts sharply with a student body that is 62% Black, 19% Hispanic, and 12% White. This disparity means that nearly 8 in 10 students in DC do not see a teacher of their same race or ethnicity in the classroom. While initiatives to recruit and retain more educators of color are underway, system-wide demographic shifts are slow. The data underscores an ongoing challenge to build a workforce that mirrors the diversity of the students it serves across all eight wards.

Source: OSSE Educator Workforce Reports

3. Teacher Retention and Turnover Rates

Teacher turnover is a persistent challenge for DC schools, impacting school stability and student achievement. The city-wide annual teacher turnover rate was 21% in the most recent school year, a figure that obscures stark differences between school types. The turnover rate in DC's highest-poverty schools (serving over 75% at-risk students) was 25%, while the rate in the lowest-poverty schools was a more manageable 14%. This "turnover gap" suggests that while the District succeeds in attracting teachers with competitive salaries, the challenges of teaching in under-resourced communities contribute to higher-than-average attrition. This churn places a continuous strain on school leadership and professional development resources for the city's DCPS schools and charters alike.

4. Student Enrollment and Demographics Across Sectors

The District of Columbia's public education landscape is defined by its robust dual-sector system of traditional DCPS schools and public charter schools. For the 2025-26 school year, total enrollment stands at 92,053 students. The market share is nearly evenly divided, with DCPS serving 51.3% of students and the charter sector serving 48.7%. This balance is the result of over two decades of charter school growth. A significant portion of this ecosystem is managed through a unified application process, with families navigating the DC school lottery to gain admission to the majority of the city's charter schools and out-of-boundary DCPS schools.

Source: DC Public Charter School Board Reports

5. School Funding and Resources

DC's commitment to education is reflected in its per-pupil funding levels, which are among the highest in the country. The city uses a Uniform Per Student Funding Formula (UPSFF) to allocate funds to both DCPS and public charter schools, ensuring equitable baseline funding. For Fiscal Year 2026, the base UPSFF amount is $14,660. This amount is supplemented by significant "weights" for students with additional needs; for example, a student receiving Level 4 special education services generates an additional $42,514 for their school. This weighted formula directs resources to the students who need them most, although debates continue about whether the weights are sufficient to cover the true costs of services across the city's diverse charter schools and traditional schools.

DC teacher salaries and education workforce by the Numbers

Methodology and Sources

This analysis is based on a comprehensive review of primary and authoritative secondary data sources. Each statistic was verified against its original source to ensure accuracy and context.

• DC Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE): 2025-26 Enrollment Audit, Educator Workforce Diversity Report (2025), Uniform Per Student Funding Formula Weights (2025) - https://osse.dc.gov/
• District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS): DCPS-WTU Collective Bargaining Agreement (2025), FY2026 Approved Budget, IMPACT Guidebook (2024), Office of Human Resources Reports (2025) - https://dcps.dc.gov/
• DC Public Charter School Board (DCPCSB): 2025 Enrollment Report, Annual School Performance Report (2025), 5-Year Enrollment Trend Report (2025) - https://www.dcpcsb.org/
• Urban Institute: Teacher Mobility in the District of Columbia (2024) - https://www.urban.org/
• DC Policy Center: The DC Teacher Pipeline: A 2024 Analysis, Cost of Living and Teacher Pay (2024) - https://www.dcpolicycenter.org/
• National Center for Education Statistics (NCES): Teacher Turnover and Demographics, National Data (2023, 2024) - https://nces.ed.gov/
• National Education Association (NEA): Rankings & Estimates: Rankings of the States 2024 and Estimates of School Statistics 2025 - https://www.nea.org/
• MySchoolDC: 2025 Lottery Data Report - <a href="https://www.myschooldc.org/" rel="nofollow">https://www.myschooldc.org/</a>

Last updated: September 2025 We update this page quarterly with the latest data from OSSE, DCPSCB, and federal sources.