Teacher salaries in Italy are one of the clearest examples of how a socially essential job can be economically undervalued. Teachers are asked to educate future generations, manage complex classrooms, support families, adapt to new technologies and deal with growing social pressure. Yet their pay remains low compared with many other advanced economies.
The issue is not only that Italian teachers earn less than colleagues in Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland or the United States. The deeper problem is that they also earn much less than other graduates inside Italy. In other words, teaching is not just weak in international comparison. It is also weak as a career choice for a highly educated person.
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Italian Teachers Earn Far Less Than Other Graduates
The most important number is not only the salary itself. It is the gap between teachers and other workers with a university-level education. According to OECD data, actual salaries of primary teachers in Italy are around 33% lower than the earnings of tertiary-educated full-time workers. Across the OECD, the average gap is much smaller, around 17%.
The European Commission’s teacher salary data shows a similar picture. Lower secondary teachers in Italy earn almost 29% less than comparable tertiary-educated workers. This means that the Italian system sends a very clear signal: teaching is important in theory, but not especially rewarded in practice.
For young graduates, this matters. A person with a degree can compare teaching with private-sector work, public administration, international careers, digital jobs or technical professions. Teaching offers stability and purpose, but not strong economic progression. That is one of the reasons why the profession often struggles to attract and retain talent, especially in expensive cities and in subjects where graduates have better alternatives.
How Italy Compares With Europe
Teacher salaries vary enormously across Europe. Countries such as Germany, Luxembourg, Denmark, the Netherlands and Switzerland are usually much stronger than Italy in salary comparisons. Italy is not the absolute lowest in Europe, but it is clearly weak among Western European economies.
Germany is the most striking comparison. German teachers often earn far more than Italian teachers because teaching is treated as a highly qualified public profession with stronger salary scales. Spain also tends to offer better pay than Italy in many comparisons, while France is closer but still often performs better depending on school level, career stage and purchasing power.
| Country | General picture | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| Italy | Low salaries by Western European standards | Slow progression and weak pay compared with other graduates |
| Germany | Among the strongest teacher salaries in Europe | Teaching is more financially competitive |
| Spain | Often above Italy in salary comparisons | Better relative positioning for teachers |
| France | Closer to Italy, but often still ahead | Similar debate, but with different salary dynamics |
| United States | Higher nominal salaries, but huge state differences | Teachers still earn less than many other graduates |
This comparison needs one important warning. Gross salaries are not the same as net income, and cost of living changes everything. A teacher in Milan, Rome or Bologna does not experience the same purchasing power as a teacher in a smaller Italian town. The same is true abroad. A teacher in Munich, Paris, Madrid or New York may earn more, but may also face much higher housing costs.
Why Salary Growth Is So Slow in Italy
One of the biggest problems in Italy is that teacher salary growth is slow. The system is heavily based on seniority. Teachers usually move up the pay scale mainly through years of service, not through a dynamic career structure with many different professional roles.
This creates a flat career path. A teacher can become more experienced, more capable and more valuable for the school community, but the salary system does not always reflect that improvement in a visible way. The difference between an early-career teacher and an experienced teacher exists, but the climb is gradual and often less attractive than in countries where teachers can access stronger promotion paths, specialist roles or leadership responsibilities.
The result is that teaching can feel economically blocked. In many private-sector careers, workers can change company, negotiate pay, take on new responsibilities or move into better-paid positions. In Italian public schools, progression is slower and more tied to national contracts and political decisions.
Inflation Has Made Teachers Poorer
The salary problem became even more painful after the inflation shock of recent years. Even when salaries rise on paper, workers can become poorer if prices grow faster than wages. This is exactly why many Italian teachers feel that their work has lost value over time.
OECD data show that, while teacher salaries have increased in real terms on average across many OECD countries since 2015, Italy has moved in the opposite direction in some measures. For primary teachers, actual average salaries decreased in real terms compared with 2015, while the OECD average increased.
This means Italian teachers have not only remained behind many foreign colleagues. They have also lost purchasing power. Rent, food, energy, transport and family costs have risen, while salaries have not kept pace strongly enough. In high-cost cities, this can make teaching especially unattractive for younger workers.
Italy Spends Too Little on Education
Teacher salaries are also connected to how much priority a country gives to education. Italy spends a lower share of public budgets on education than the OECD average. According to OECD data, the share of public expenditure devoted to education in Italy fell from 7.1% in 2015 to 6.7% in 2022.
This matters because teacher pay is one of the largest parts of education spending. Raising salaries across the system would require serious money, not a small symbolic bonus. Italy has many teachers, many schools, strong regional inequalities, demographic decline and tight public finances. Improving salaries would require a political decision to put education higher in the national budget.
That is the heart of the issue. Everyone says schools are important. But if public spending does not reflect that priority, teacher salaries remain trapped in the same cycle: small increases, temporary measures, contract delays and recurring frustration.
The United States Pays More, But Has Its Own Problem
The comparison with the United States is interesting because American teacher salaries are much higher in nominal terms. The National Education Association estimated the average public school teacher salary in the United States at about $74,495 for the 2024-25 school year, with an average starting salary above $48,000.
At first sight, that looks far better than Italy. But the US comparison is complicated. Salaries vary enormously by state and district. Teachers in California, New York or Massachusetts can earn much more than teachers in poorer states or rural areas. Housing, healthcare, student debt, taxes and pension rules also change the real value of the salary.
There is another important point: even in the United States, teachers are often underpaid compared with other workers who have similar education levels. So the US is not a perfect model. It pays more in nominal terms, but it also shows that teaching can be economically undervalued even in richer labour markets.
Low Pay Makes Teaching Less Attractive
Low salaries affect more than teachers’ personal finances. They affect the future of the profession. If teaching offers modest pay, slow progression and high emotional responsibility, fewer talented graduates may choose it as a first career option.
This is especially true in subjects where graduates have strong alternatives. A person with a degree in mathematics, engineering, computer science, economics or foreign languages may find better pay in the private sector. Teaching may offer purpose, stability and social value, but for many people that may not be enough if the salary feels too low.
The risk is long-term. If the profession becomes less attractive, schools may struggle to recruit motivated and highly qualified teachers. That would not only hurt teachers. It would hurt students, families and the country’s ability to build human capital.
It Is Not Only About Money
Teacher pay is central, but it is not the only issue. Italian teachers also face bureaucracy, administrative work, social pressure, difficult classroom management, limited support and a public debate that often praises teachers in words but undervalues them in policy.
This is why salary increases alone would not solve everything. Italy also needs better training, clearer career paths, more support for new teachers, less bureaucracy and stronger recognition of different responsibilities inside schools.
However, money remains the foundation. It is difficult to tell young graduates that teaching is one of the most important jobs in society if the salary system sends the opposite message.
What Italy Would Need to Change
Italy has three main options. The first is to raise salaries, especially for early-career teachers. The second is to create a more dynamic career system, with higher pay for additional responsibilities, mentoring, specialisation and leadership roles. The third is to provide stronger support in expensive areas, where teacher salaries are especially weak compared with rent and local living costs.
The most realistic solution would probably combine all three. Raising everyone’s salary equally would be expensive, but doing nothing would continue to make teaching less attractive. A smarter model would increase starting pay, reward real responsibilities and make career progression less flat.
The Real Takeaway
Teachers in Italy are paid so little because of a combination of factors: low education spending, slow seniority-based progression, weak salary growth, inflation, limited career differentiation and a labour market where other graduate careers often offer better economic prospects.
The comparison with Europe and the United States makes the issue even clearer. Italy is not alone in underpaying teachers compared with other graduates, but it is one of the Western European countries where the problem is most visible. The risk is simple: if teaching remains economically unattractive, Italy will keep asking teachers to carry one of the country’s most important social missions without giving the profession the pay and status it deserves.
For international data behind these comparisons, the OECD’s Education at a Glance 2025 country note on Italy and Eurydice’s teacher salaries tool for Europe are the best external references. And if you want to understand how work is changing beyond public-sector pay, our article on how AI is making workers 15% faster is a useful related read.
