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Job outlook for esl professors in the United States
Are esl professor jobs in demand?
Esl professor job and salary trends over time
Esl professor jobs over time
Esl professor job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 309 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 297 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 306 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 307 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 310 | 0.00% |
Average esl professor salary over time
Esl professor salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $60,764 | $29.21 | +0.2% |
| 2025 | $60,624 | $29.15 | --0.6% |
| 2024 | $60,999 | $29.33 | +4.5% |
| 2023 | $58,357 | $28.06 | --2.5% |
| 2022 | $59,857 | $28.78 | +5.1% |
Esl professor jobs by state
Most common states for esl professors
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 76 | 11% |
| 2 | Vermont | 623,657 | 49 | 8% |
| 3 | Colorado | 5,607,154 | 287 | 5% |
| 4 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 195 | 5% |
| 5 | West Virginia | 1,815,857 | 98 | 5% |
| 6 | Nebraska | 1,920,076 | 89 | 5% |
| 7 | South Dakota | 869,666 | 46 | 5% |
| 8 | New York | 19,849,399 | 711 | 4% |
| 9 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 380 | 4% |
| 10 | Utah | 3,101,833 | 130 | 4% |
| 11 | Mississippi | 2,984,100 | 117 | 4% |
| 12 | Alaska | 739,795 | 32 | 4% |
| 13 | Texas | 28,304,596 | 756 | 3% |
| 14 | Pennsylvania | 12,805,537 | 415 | 3% |
| 15 | New Jersey | 9,005,644 | 246 | 3% |
| 16 | Kentucky | 4,454,189 | 154 | 3% |
| 17 | Alabama | 4,874,747 | 151 | 3% |
| 18 | Louisiana | 4,684,333 | 142 | 3% |
| 19 | Maine | 1,335,907 | 40 | 3% |
| 20 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 36 | 3% |
ESL Professor job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of esl professor experts
Kean University
North Carolina State University
The University of Texas at San Antonio
University of Arizona
Southeast Missouri State University
Lehigh University
California University of Pennsylvania
What ESL Professor skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dr. Lisa Sisler D.Litt, MFA: After Covid, many teachers left the profession so the profession needs teachers. As well, with a return to in-person learning we have noticed significant gaps in learning. And with the emergence of AI Writing tools, a strong foundation in reading and writing is critical.
Jane Kuandre
Associate ProfessorWhat will help ESL Professors increase their earning potential?
Jane Kuandre: Networking is crucial for career advancement in academia as it allows individuals to establish collaborations, gain access to resources, and stay updated on the latest research trends.
Senior Lecturer Isabelle Hall Program coordinator
Senior LecturerThe University of Texas at San Antonio
Romance Languages, Literatures, And Linguistics
What general advice would you give to an ESL Professor?
Senior Lecturer Isabelle Hall Program coordinator: Every semester I teach 4 classes: 13 credits total. ( 3 language acquisition classes and one culture or literature related class in English (the class is cross-listed with Comparative Studies Humanities and /or Humanities). Day to day: preparing for classes, teaching, grading, talking to students as a group or individually, answering emails, planning extracurricular activities,... Weekly: If the professor is in charge of the Language Club, then we participate in at least one event a week. Tutoring: We have quite a few of those hours toward the end of the semesters. Most professors are part of committees that require bi-monthly meetings or more. Entering the field: Many hours of preparation daily.
What ESL Professor skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Senior Lecturer Isabelle Hall Program coordinator: Teaching has to be a passion. The interaction with the students is extremely rewarding. The quality of the team of professors we work along with is essential to everyone's well-being in the department. In my case, I have extraordinary colleagues and leadership. The paycheck is lower than other positions with similar degrees. We often work 6 days a week (especially at the beginning) and we usually work in the summer to prep, do research, take students abroad, participate in conferences ...
What will help ESL Professors increase their earning potential?
Senior Lecturer Isabelle Hall Program coordinator: A language professor is a good field to enter now because there are not as many of us as 15 years ago. Every year, I receive multiple emails searching for teachers and professors in San Antonio or elsewhere. But on the other hand, the Roman languages are not as popular as they used to be. (The highest demand at this point is for French high school teachers). I have noticed that today, the professors who are fluent in multiple languages or have diverse backgrounds (Film, Business, International relations, ... ) have an advantage. There is a growing number of Professional language classes.
What ESL Professor skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dr. Dennis Wise Professor Practice: The major benefit of the profession is flexibility of hours. Even for someone contracted for 40 hours a week of teaching, only about 12-15 of those hours are spent in the classroom – the grading and lesson prepping one can do anytime, anywhere. Likewise, working with the students is often increasingly rewarding. At the same time, burn-out from overwork and increasingly poor labor conditions is increasingly common, and our profession receives very poor compensation given the level of education professors are required to have.
Joseph M. Snyder Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of HistorySoutheast Missouri State University
Department of History and Anthropology
What experience really stands out on ESL Professor resumes?
Joseph M. Snyder Ph.D.: Students who study history develop the types of critical thinking, analytical, and written and oral communication skills, and are trained to synthesize multiple perspectives with often incomplete or inconsistent evidence and draw informed conclusions from it. Such skills are valued in dozens of professions, from public relations and marketing to financial analysis, political advising, teaching, journalism, and everything in between.
History students -- so, the first thing I like to explain to students is that the skills they are developing as history majors are transferrable across a wide spectrum of professions. Most students-and their parents-have a fairly narrow idea of the types of careers open to history majors. Part of my job is to help students understand that that isn't the case.
Before applying for a job, I always recommend students research their potential employer and then tailor their resume accordingly. For example, if a student is applying to be an entry-level marketing specialist, they should highlight the public-speaking and presentation skills they developed as part of their coursework. Upper-division history courses often require a large capstone project where students develop an argument which they must "sell" to an audience. They accomplish this by marshaling the evidence to convince their audience of their thesis. Arguably, this is the very essence of marketing.
On the other hand, a student who is considering applying to be a research specialist in a museum or library ought to emphasize archive-based research or relevant coursework. Many history programs have courses that touch on archival research; some even offer courses specifically in public history or museology. But lacking these, history coursework always involves students in research-intense projects that help them develop theories and arguments and then guide them through the processes of writing about the outcomes. Such coursework is the building blocks of the work of professional historians, of course, but it is no less important to a research specialist in a museum, a policy analyst in a lobbying firm, or a journalist.
I could go on, but in a nutshell, the research and problem-solving skills required of history majors, honed over years of coursework and practical experience, are always attractive to potential employers. Having worked for over a decade as a business executive in software development and telecommunications with a hand in hiring supervisory and managerial staff, I can attest that I always sought out history majors because I knew they brought these skills with them.
Nevertheless, the trick is to read up on the potential employer, develop an understanding of the company or firm, and then customize your resume to show HR managers, who are inundated with resumes and applications for highly-competitive positions, how your skillsets work toward the employer's goals and aims.
Dr. John Savage
Director, Lehigh in Paris Director of Graduate Studies, History Dept. Associate ProfessorLehigh University
History Department
How do you envision technology impacting ESL Professors in the next 5 years?
Dr. John Savage: The intense and sometimes disastrous recent experience of online learning at all levels from pre-K through graduate education will act as a watershed in making educators face the challenges and opportunities provided by the online learning environment and digital resources. It will be an exciting time for educators when they are able to integrate these tools more fully into in-person teaching, "flipping classrooms" and using what is most effective and valuable from digital resources while preserving what works best from traditional methods. This will require new generations of teachers and education professionals at all levels, who should have training not only in education administration but a deep exposure to humanistic, text, and skill-based disciplines like History.
What type of skills will young ESL Professors need?
Dr. Christina Fisanick: College graduates in 2021 and beyond need all of the skills that English programs have to offer: critical thinking, effective communication, creativity, and flexibility. New hires need to be able to adapt to workplace changes quickly and with aplomb, which requires critical thinking and problem solving and the ability to communicate those solutions to a diverse audience clearly and effectively. Those skills are refined and practiced regularly in English programs.