Educational Services: NAICS 61

About the Educational Services sector

The educational services sector is part of the education and health services supersector.

The Educational Services sector comprises establishments that provide instruction and training in a wide variety of subjects. This instruction and training is provided by specialized establishments, such as schools, colleges, universities, and training centers. These establishments may be privately owned and operated for profit or not for profit, or they may be publicly owned and operated. They may also offer food and/or accommodation services to their students.

Educational services are usually delivered by teachers or instructors that explain, tell, demonstrate, supervise, and direct learning. Instruction is imparted in diverse settings, such as educational institutions, the workplace, or the home, and through diverse means, such as correspondence, television, the Internet, or other electronic and distance-learning methods. The training provided by these establishments may include the use of simulators and simulation methods. It can be adapted to the particular needs of the students, for example sign language can replace verbal language for teaching students with hearing impairments. All industries in the sector share this commonality of process, namely, labor inputs of instructors with the requisite subject matter expertise and teaching ability.

North American Industry Classification System

The educational services sector consists of a single subsector, Educational Services: NAICS 611. Data published under either the sector or subsector classification are included in the tables below. The subsector consists of these industry groups:

Elementary and Secondary Schools: NAICS 6111
Junior Colleges: NAICS 6112
Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools: NAICS 6113
Business Schools and Computer and Management Training: NAICS 6114
Technical and Trade Schools: NAICS 6115
Other Schools and Instruction: NAICS 6116
Educational Support Services: NAICS 6117

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment and unemployment in educational services. While most data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys, information on industry unemployment comes from a national survey of households. The following tables present an overview of the industry including the number of jobs, the unemployment rate of those previously employed in the industry, job openings and labor turnover, union membership and representation, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment, Unemployment, and Openings, Hires, and Separations


Data series	Dec. 2024	Jan. 2025	Feb. 2025	Mar. 2025
Employment (in thousands)
Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)	3,992.1	3,991.3	(p)4,000.4	(p)3,999.4
Unemployment
Unemployment rate	2.9%	3.6%	3.0%	3.8%
Job openings, hires, and separations (in thousands)
Job openings	135	148	169	(p)133
Hires	46	99	65	(p)58
Separations	76	70	51	(p)56
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Current Population Survey, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey)

Union Membership and Representation


Data series	2021	2022	2023	2024
Union membership and representation
Members of unions (percent of wage and salary workers)	12.9%	12.4%	12.9%	13.2%
Represented by unions (percent of wage and salary workers)	15.2%	14.4%	14.8%	15.5%

(Source: Current Population Survey)

Employment by Occupation


Data series	Employment, 2024
Education administrators, elementary and secondary school	314,650
Elementary school teachers, except special education	1,388,940
Middle school teachers, except special and vocational education	619,200
Secondary school teachers, except special and vocational education	1,067,580
Teacher assistants	1,173,620
Note: These employment estimates include employment in both the private-sector and government.

(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)

Projections

For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for educational services.

(Source: Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections)

Earnings and Hours

Weekly earnings by union membership status are shown. Recent hourly and annual earnings for occupations commonly found in educational services. This section also contains information on the average cost of benefits paid by employers, as well as recent rates of change in wages and total compensation.

Earnings by Occupation


Data series	Wages, 2024
	Hourly		Annual
	Median	Mean	Median	Mean
Education administrators, elementary and secondary school	(1)-$	(1)-$	$104,070	$113,410
Elementary school teachers, except special education	(1)-$	(1)-$	$62,360	$69,840
Middle school teachers, except special and vocational education	(1)-$	(1)-$	$62,980	$70,070
Secondary school teachers, except special and vocational education	(1)-$	(1)-$	$64,610	$73,740
Teacher assistants	(1)-$	(1)-$	$35,430	$36,150
Footnotes (1) Wages for some occupations that do not generally work year-round, full time, are reported either as hourly wages or annual salaries depending on how they are typically paid.

(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)

Employee Benefits

This section presents data on the incidence (the percentage of workers with access to and participation in employer-provided benefit plans) and provisions of selected employee benefits from the National Compensation Survey. More Benefits estimates are also accessible from the Benefits database, the archived NCS publications page, and the complete Employee Benefits Excel dataset (XLSX).


Data series	Access		Participation
Data series	Back data	2024	Back data	2024
Private industry
Retirement benefit plans		70		60
Defined benefit plans		17		11
Defined contribution plans		65		54
State and local government
Retirement benefit plans		93		82
Defined benefit plans		90		78
Defined contribution plans		37		16

(Source: Employee Benefits in the United States)


Data series	After 1 year of service		After 20 years of service
Data series	Back data	2024	Back data	2024
Mean number of vacation days for workers without consolidated leave plans
Private industry		11		16
State and local government		14		21

(Source: Employee Benefits in the United States)


Data series	Private industry		State and local government
Data series	Back data	2024	Back data	2024
Percent of workers with access to employer-sponsored benefits
Health care		72		90
Paid vacation		70		34
Paid sick leave		83		93

(Source: Employee Benefits in the United States)

Employer Compensation Costs


Data series	1st quarter 2024	2nd quarter 2024	3rd quarter 2024	4th quarter 2024
Private industry
12-month percent change
Total compensation	4.5%	4.6%	4.7%	3.9%
Wages and salaries	4.6%	4.7%	4.8%	4.1%
3-month percent change
Total compensation	1.2%	0.6%	2.1%	-0.1%
Wages and salaries	1.2%	0.6%	2.1%	0.1%
State and local government
12-month percent change
Total compensation	4.3%	4.5%	4.3%	4.2%
Wages and salaries	4.6%	4.7%	4.4%	4.2%
3-month percent change
Total compensation	0.8%	0.5%	2.3%	0.5%
Wages and salaries	0.7%	0.4%	2.5%	0.5%

(Source: Compensation Cost Trends)


Data series	Private industry				State and local government
	Compensation component ($ per hour worked)		Percent of total compensation		Compensation component ($ per hour worked)		Percent of total compensation
	Back data	4th quarter 2024	Back data	4th quarter 2024	Back data	4th quarter 2024	Back data	4th quarter 2024
Total compensation		55.54		100.0		67.32		100.0
Wages and salaries		40.10		72.2		43.23		64.2
Total benefits		15.44		27.8		24.09		35.8
Insurance		4.05		7.3		7.38		11.0
Retirement		2.65		4.8		9.16		13.6
Paid leave		4.52		8.1		3.99		5.9

(Source: Compensation Cost Trends)

Union Membership and Representation


Data series	Back data	Median weekly earnings
Data series	Back data	2021	2022	2023	2024
Union membership and representation
Full-time workers		$1,110	$1,152	$1,193	$1,236
Members of unions		$1,143	$1,197	$1,329	$1,341
Represented by unions		$1,133	$1,180	$1,321	$1,328
Nonunion		$1,105	$1,146	$1,168	$1,222

(Source: Current Population Survey)

Work-related Fatalities, Injuries, and Illnesses

This section presents data for the industry on the number of workplace fatalities and the rates of workplace injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers in educational services. An injury or illness is considered to be work-related if an event or exposure in the work environment either caused or contributed to the resulting condition or significantly aggravated a pre-existing condition.


Data series	2020	2021	2022	2023
Fatalities
Number of fatalities				103
There was a series break beginning with 2023 data due to NAICS 2022. Data for years prior to 2023 are available at www.bls.gov/iif.


Data series	2023
Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers
Total recordable cases	1.7
Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer	0.8
Cases involving days away from work	0.6
Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction	0.2
Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.

(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in educational services.

Establishments


Data series	4th quarter 2023	1st quarter 2024	2nd quarter 2024	3rd quarter 2024
Number of establishments
Private industry	164,931	(p)167,115	(p)168,605	(p)170,422
Local government	66,420	(p)66,349	(p)66,371	(p)66,464
State government	8,313	(p)8,381	(p)8,432	(p)8,359
Federal government	188	(p)197	(p)197	(p)197
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Productivity

This section presents productivity and related data for the industry, presented as the percent change from the previous year. Measures of total factor productivity (TFP) compare growth in output to the growth in a combination of inputs that include labor, capital, energy, materials, and services. Measures of labor productivity, or output per hour, compare the growth in output to the growth in hours worked.


Data series	2020	2021	2022	2023
Total factor productivity (TFP)	-6.5	0.3	3.4	1.4
Output	-14.7	6.5	15.3	8.1
Combined inputs	-8.8	6.3	11.5	6.6
Capital input	0.6	1.5	1.5	1.2
Labor input	-8.1	4.9	4.3	0.8
Labor productivity, output per hour	-5.6	1.4	10.3	6.5

(Source: Productivity)

Data extracted on: April 29, 2025

Educational Services: NAICS 61

On This Page

About the Educational Services sector

Workforce Statistics

Employment, Unemployment, and Openings, Hires, and Separations

Union Membership and Representation

Employment by Occupation

Projections

Earnings and Hours

Earnings by Occupation

Employee Benefits

Employer Compensation Costs

Union Membership and Representation

Work-related Fatalities, Injuries, and Illnesses

Workplace Trends

Establishments

Productivity