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Census webinar: educator turnover varies more across counties than over time, low pay flagged as key factor
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Summary
A U.S. Census Bureau webinar showcased LEHD and QWI tools and presented analysis showing that educator turnover rates vary more between counties than over time; lower-paid educators and certain demographic groups showed higher turnover in Q1 2024 and long-term cohorts.
A U.S. Census Bureau webinar on LEHD data and Quarterly Workforce Indicators on educator exits found that turnover among elementary and secondary educators differs more between counties than over time, and that lower pay often coincides with higher separations, the presenter said.
Erling Dow, the webinar presenter, said the LEHD-linked data cover employer and employee records dating back to around 1990 for participating states and include roughly 97% of private employment plus most state, local and federal jobs. Using QWI Explorer for Q1 2024, Dow showed state and county maps that ranked turnover and employment counts and pointed to sharp within-state differences.
"Turnovers vary more between counties than across time," Dow said, summarizing the LED in action analysis of educator labor markets from 2000 to 2024. He highlighted that turnover rates for educators without a bachelor’s or advanced degree were reported above 8% in the slides and that, by 2023, Black or African American educators had the highest reported turnover in the series (about 12.6% in the presenter’s figures).
Dow also connected earnings and turnover: slide examples showed median monthly educator earnings in Q1 2024 of about $2,391 in Puerto Rico and roughly $6,400–$6,600 in the District of Columbia depending on filters and the indicator view. He illustrated county-level contrasts—Teton County, Wyo., (Jackson Hole) had among the highest median county earnings while other Wyoming counties such as Crook had substantially lower values.
The presentation drew on several LEHD products: the QWI Explorer for employment counts, turnover and earnings by NAICS and geography; job-to-job (j2j) flows for transitions; and OnTheMap for finer spatial detail. Dow emphasized that interactive filters (ownership, NAICS detail, geography, and date-quarter) can change rankings and that some differences between on-slide figures arose from switching between Q1 and Q2 2024 during the demo.
Why it matters: local variation in turnover has implications for district recruitment and retention strategies and for policymakers allocating resources. The Census presenter recommended that users explore the QWI and PSCO (postsecondary employment outcomes) tools to examine how degree pathways and local labor markets relate to educator retention.
The webinar included a Q&A in which Census staff confirmed that the "all ownership" option includes state and local public employees (so public school teachers are included) and pointed participants to QWI documentation for technical definitions of separations and turnover indicators. Attendees were directed to census.gov/academy and the LEHD site for downloadable tables, charts, and code-access via API.
The Census team said the session recording and supplemental materials will be posted on the Census Academy site within the advertised posting window and offered to share the QWI release schedule by email.
