Educational publishing accounts for 31.28% of the publishing industry’s revenue as of 2022. While the educational segment bounced back from the terrible 2020, it’s still growing slower than the industry overall.
- As of 2022, educational books generated over $8.79 billion in sales revenue in the United States.
- Textbook sales grew by 9.46% compared to 2021, continuing the growth of this segment after the drop during the pandemic-affected 2020 calendar year.
- 2022 was the second-best year for educational sales over the past 10 years, trailing only $9.12 billion generated during 2014.
- Overall, educational book sales grew by 25.04%% over the last 5 years and 1.62% since 2013.
- Educational book sales are growing more slowly than book sales overall, as the publishing industry has grown by 11.3% over the last 5 years and 8.35% since 2013.
| Year | Educational books revenue ($ billion) | Growth |
| 2013 | $8.65 | |
| 2014 | $9.12 | 5.43% |
| 2015 | $8.64 | -5.26% |
| 2016 | $7.69 | -11.00% |
| 2017 | $7.65 | -0.52% |
| 2018 | $7.03 | -8.10% |
| 2019 | $7.68 | 9.25% |
| 2020 | $6.97 | -9.24% |
| 2021 | $8.03 | 15.21% |
| 2022 | $8.79 | 9.46% |
| 5-year growth | 25.04% | |
| 10-year growth | 1.62% |
- Educational book revenue accounted for 31.87% of the total publishing revenue in the United States in 2022, an increase from 28.24% a year before.
- Educational books had the biggest share in the publishing revenue in 2022 ever since 2014.
- Over the last 5 years, the share of the educational segment in the industry’s revenue grew by 16.53%.
| Year | Educational books revenue ($ billion) | Book industry revenue ($ billion) | Share of educational book sales |
| 2013 | $8.65 | $27.07 | 31.95% |
| 2014 | $9.23 | $27.96 | 33.02% |
| 2015 | $8.60 | $27.80 | 30.94% |
| 2016 | $7.60 | $26.27 | 28.92% |
| 2017 | $7.63 | $26.35 | 28.94% |
| 2018 | $6.95 | $25.41 | 27.35% |
| 2019 | $7.99 | $26.04 | 30.67% |
| 2020 | $6.85 | $26.11 | 26.22% |
| 2021 | $8.28 | $29.33 | 28.24% |
| 2022 | $8.96 | $28.10 | 31.87% |
| 5-year growth | 28.86% | 10.59% | 16.53% |
| 10-year growth | 3.54% | 3.80% | -0.25% |
PreK-12 book sales are on the rise within the educational sector, while higher-ed book sales have been declining over the last decade:
- In 2022, K-12 books generated $5.61 billion in revenue in the United States. This was a 16.63% increase compared to 2021, which also had a huge growth compared to 2020.
- Higher-ed book sales were at $3.18 billion in 2022, declining by 1.24% compared to 2021.
- Since 2019, K-12 textbooks have started generating more sales revenue than higher-ed textbooks in the United States.
- K-12 textbook sales have grown by 67.46% over the last years and 46.09% since 2013.
- At the same time, higher-ed book sales are declining – dropping by 13.59% over the last 5 years and over 33.89% since 2013.
| Year | K-12 sales revenue ($ billion) | K-12 growth | Higher-ed sales revenue ($ billion) | Higher-ed growth |
| 2013 | $3.84 | $4.81 | ||
| 2014 | $4.27 | 11.20% | $4.85 | 0.83% |
| 2015 | $4.11 | -3.75% | $4.53 | -6.60% |
| 2016 | $3.73 | -9.25% | $3.96 | -12.58% |
| 2017 | $3.64 | -2.41% | $4.01 | 1.26% |
| 2018 | $3.35 | -7.97% | $3.68 | -8.23% |
| 2019 | $4.38 | 30.75% | $3.30 | -10.33% |
| 2020 | $3.84 | -12.33% | $3.13 | -5.15% |
| 2021 | $4.81 | 25.26% | $3.22 | 2.88% |
| 2022 | $5.61 | 16.63% | $3.18 | -1.24% |
| 5-year growth | 67.46% | -13.59% | ||
| 10-year growth | 46.09% | -33.89% |
- As of 2022, preK-12 books account for 62.64% of the educational revenue in the US, while the share of college textbook revenue stands at 37.36%.
- For the first time over the last 10 years, K-12 books account for more than 60% of the educational revenue in the country. This is also the fourth year in a row where K-12 sales revenue represents the majority of the educational revenue in the US.
- Over the last 5 years, the share of K-12 book sales revenue in the educational segment increased by 29.96%, and the growth is over 41.10% over the last 10 years.
- On the other hand, the share of college book sales revenue in the educational segment declined by 27.87% over the last 5 years and more than 31% over the last 10 years.
| Year | K-12 share | K-12 growth | College share | College growth |
| 2013 | 44.39% | 55.61% | ||
| 2014 | 46.25% | 4.19% | 53.75% | -3.34% |
| 2015 | 47.78% | 3.30% | 52.22% | -2.84% |
| 2016 | 49.09% | 2.76% | 50.91% | -2.52% |
| 2017 | 47.73% | -2.78% | 52.27% | 2.68% |
| 2018 | 48.20% | 0.98% | 51.80% | -0.89% |
| 2019 | 54.84% | 13.77% | 45.16% | -12.81% |
| 2020 | 56.09% | 2.28% | 43.91% | -2.77% |
| 2021 | 58.07% | 3.54% | 41.93% | -4.53% |
| 2022 | 62.64% | 7.86% | 37.36% | -10.89% |
| 5-year growth | 29.96% | -27.87% | ||
| 10-year growth | 41.10% | -32.81% |
The price of textbooks over time
- Between 1977 and 2015, the cost of textbooks increased by over 1000%.
- Textbook costs rose 67% from 2008 to 2018.
- Hardcopy books can cost as much as $400.00, with the average price between $80 and $150.
- The price of textbooks increases by an average of 12% with each new edition but can cost up to 50% more.
- New editions come out every 3-4 years on average.
Who makes money from college textbooks?
- The average higher-ed textbook costs around $105.37.
- From the sales of the average college textbook:
- The publisher receives 66%, of which 7% is profit.
- The author receives 11.60% royalties.
- The campus store receives 22.40%, of which 4.50% is profit.
- McGraw-Hill’s profit margin is 25%, whereas Pearson’s is 10%
The impact of the price of textbooks on a student’s education
- Students purchase an average of 10 textbooks over an academic year
- 65% of students admit they have skipped buying a textbook because they are so expensive
- 90% of students believe not buying textbooks can have a serious impact on their grades
- 21% of students have skipped buying access codes to online textbooks and resources due to price
- Access codes also provide access to homework assignments and quizzes, meaning forgoing access codes directly impacts grades.
- 82% of students who have skipped a meal due to their financial situation have also skipped buying textbooks due to the cost
- 38% of students who have skipped a meal due to their financial situation have also admitted skipping access codes — almost twice as many as the national average of 21%
- 58% of college students share textbooks with friends
- 33% have used financial aid for their textbooks
- 19% of students have stated the cost of books has influenced their decision on what classes to take
- 71% of colleges believe new editions of textbooks are rarely justified
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K12
As of 2021, over 49.45 million students are enrolled in public schools in the United States, from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade. We decided to dive into the statistics on how much almost 50 million children spend on educational books and compiled the most comprehensive report on K-12 textbook sales in the United States.
PreK-12 textbook sales by year
- Over $5.61 billion was generated in preK-12 textbook sales revenue in the United States in 2022.
- The preK-12 segment had another big year in 2022 as revenues grew by 16.63% over 2021.
- 2021 was a huge bounce-back year for K-12 textbook sales, as the revenue jumped by 25.3% over 2020 levels.
- Pandemic-impacted 2020 decreased sales of K-12 educational material by 12.3% after a huge sales boom in 2019.
- Overall, 2022 was another record year for preK-12 book textbooks in terms of sales revenue.
- Revenue from K-12 educational books has increased by over $2.26 billion over the last 5 years.
| Year | PreK-12 sales revenue ($ billion) | Growth |
| 2013 | $3.84 | |
| 2014 | $4.27 | 11.20% |
| 2015 | $4.11 | -3.75% |
| 2016 | $3.73 | -9.25% |
| 2017 | $3.64 | -2.41% |
| 2018 | $3.35 | -7.97% |
| 2019 | $4.38 | 30.75% |
| 2020 | $3.84 | -12.33% |
| 2021 | $4.81 | 25.26% |
| 2022 | $5.61 | 16.63% |
Over the last several years, preK-12 book sales became the dominant source of revenue for the educational publishing industry, taking over from the higher-ed segment:
- In 2022, over 63.82% of the educational publishing revenue came from preK-12 textbooks.
- This was the fourth year in a row in which preK-12 books account for more than half of the industry’s sales revenue.
- In 2013, preK-12 textbooks accounted for only 44.4% of the industry’s revenue.
- The share of this segment in the industry’s total increased by 43.77% over the last 9 years.
- 7 over the last 9 years, this segment grew faster than the educational industry. However, since 2013 only 3 times did the educational industry record growth in sales year-over-year.
| Year | K-12 sales ($ billion) | Educational sales ($ billion) | Share of K-12 in educational sales |
| 2013 | $3.84 | $8.65 | 44.39% |
| 2014 | $4.27 | $9.12 | 46.82% |
| 2015 | $4.11 | $8.64 | 47.57% |
| 2016 | $3.73 | $7.69 | 48.50% |
| 2017 | $3.64 | $7.65 | 47.58% |
| 2018 | $3.35 | $7.03 | 47.65% |
| 2019 | $4.38 | $7.68 | 57.03% |
| 2020 | $3.84 | $6.97 | 55.09% |
| 2021 | $4.81 | $8.03 | 59.90% |
| 2022 | $5.61 | $8.79 | 63.82% |
The average price of K-12 textbooks
It’s very difficult to estimate how much the average K-12 student spends on textbooks in the US. This is due to the fact that over 60% of students reported that they purchased their textbooks either online or second-hand.
The other reason is the lack of recent publicly-available data on the average price of new textbooks. Our estimates, based on the 2011 survey of North Caroline K-12 students and the rate of inflation in the US, show that:
- The average math textbook for K-12 costs around $57.34 for elementary school students, $72.32 for middle school, and $86.14 for high school.
- Reading textbooks cost around $40.4 for elementary, $77.86 for middle school, and around $66.31 for high school.
- Science textbooks will cost around $54.81, $70.19, and $77.64 for elementary, middle, and high school, respectively.
- Social studies textbooks stand around $51.19 for elementary, $72.80 for middle school, and $88.79 for high school students.
- The average K-12 student will need around 19.9 textbooks per semester or around 39.8 books for a full school year.
- Based on these estimates, the average elementary school student will spend between $1,608.08 and $2,282.25 on textbooks for every school year if they want to buy only new textbooks.
- Middle school students’ expenditure on new textbooks is between $2,793.44 and $3,098.71.
- For high schoolers, between $2,639.26 and $3,533.84 is needed for new textbooks each school year.
- However, the estimates are that the average student spends between $910 and $1300 for textbooks, which indicates that a good portion of purchased K-12 textbooks are obtained on the second-hand market.
| Expenditure on new textbooks | Elementary | Middle school | High school |
| Math | $57.34 | $72.32 | $86.14 |
| Reading | $40.40 | $77.86 | $66.31 |
| Science | $54.81 | $70.19 | $77.64 |
| Social studies | $51.19 | $72.80 | $88.79 |
| Minimum expenditure on new textbooks | $1,608.08 | $2,793.44 | $2,639.26 |
| Maximum expenditure on new textbooks | $2,282.25 | $3,098.71 | $3,533.84 |
K-12 textbooks during Covid-19
- During March 2020, the peak of the Covid-19 lockdowns, around 50% of Amazon’s best-selling print titles were K-12 educational and activity books.
- Educational publishers also benefited from the lockdowns, as Scholastic reported an increase of 70% compared to 2019 for workbook sales.
- There was a huge interest in investing in online education during this period, and venture capitalists invested around $16 billion in online education technologies in 2020,
- This was over 2x more than the previous record in 2018 ($8.2 billion).
College
Over 19 million students enroll in US colleges yearly in over 5,300 colleges and universities. While the number of US students has declined by 9.6% since 2010, higher education still plays a significant role in the publishing industry.
We compiled a report on the most interesting statistics about the higher-ed book industry and its changes over the years.
College textbook sales by year
- In 2022, higher-ed textbook sales in the United States generated over $3.18 billion in revenue.
- With a decline of 1.24% over 2021, the college textbook revenue in 2022 was the lowest annual revenue of this category over the last 9 years, excluding the pandemic-affected 2020.
- Overall, college textbook sales are down by over 34.94% compared to 2013, while the educational industry is up 1.62% over the same period.
- At the same time, the publishing industry overall has grown by 8.35% since 2013.
- This means that the higher-ed segment was the main reason behind the slower growth of educational book sales over the last decade.
| Year | Higher-ed textbook sales ($ billion) | Growth |
| 2013 | $4.81 | |
| 2014 | $4.85 | 0.83% |
| 2015 | $4.53 | -6.60% |
| 2016 | $3.96 | -12.58% |
| 2017 | $4.01 | 1.26% |
| 2018 | $3.68 | -8.23% |
| 2019 | $3.30 | -10.33% |
| 2020 | $3.13 | -5.15% |
| 2021 | $3.22 | 2.88% |
| 2022 | $3.18 | -1.24% |
College textbooks were the dominant revenue source for the educational industry until 2019, when the preK-12 segment took over:
- In 2022, higher-ed textbooks accounted for 36.18% of the educational book sales revenue in the United States.
- Only 4 years ago, in 2018, college textbooks accounted for over 52.3% of the industry’s revenue.
- In 2013, this segment controlled over 55.6% of the educational publishing market.
- Over the last 9 years, college textbooks’ share in the educational revenue has declined by over 34.94%.
- In 2022, college textbooks generated over $1.63 billion less than in 2013.
| Year | Higher-ed textbook sales ($ billion) | Educational books revenue ($ billion) | Share of educational book sales |
| 2013 | $4.81 | $8.65 | 55.61% |
| 2014 | $4.85 | $9.12 | 53.18% |
| 2015 | $4.53 | $8.64 | 52.43% |
| 2016 | $3.96 | $7.69 | 51.50% |
| 2017 | $4.01 | $7.65 | 52.42% |
| 2018 | $3.68 | $7.03 | 52.35% |
| 2019 | $3.30 | $7.68 | 42.97% |
| 2020 | $3.13 | $6.97 | 44.91% |
| 2021 | $3.22 | $8.03 | 40.10% |
| 2022 | $3.18 | $8.79 | 36.18% |
| Growth since 2013 | -33.89% | 1.62% | -34.94% |
The average price of college textbooks
While college expenses for the average US student, including tuition fees, are presenting a huge challenge for most students, the price of college books actually declined over the last few years:
- As of 2022, the average newly printed college textbook costs around $105.37.
- Considering the revenue from college book publishing, we can roughly estimate that over 29.42 million copies of college textbooks are sold during the year.
- The same estimation can suggest that the average US student will purchase only 2 newly-published textbooks during the year while seeking the rest on the second-hand or a digital book market.
- At the same time, the average US college student (in a public university) spends around $1,226 on textbooks.
- The average price of college textbooks is on a decline – dropping from $1,269 in 2018.
| Year | Annual student expenses on college textbooks | Change |
| 2018 | $1,269 | |
| 2019 | $1,272 | 0.24% |
| 2020 | $1,281 | 0.71% |
| 2021 | $1,226 | -4.29% |
- Overall, college textbook prices have been growing at a slower rate compared to the US industry average.
- Since 2013, the Consumer Price Index for college textbooks (CPI) has grown by 21.9%, while the overall CPI in the United States grew by 25.6%.
- From 2013 to 2018, college textbook prices grew by 20.29%, while overall prices in the US (measured through CPI) grew by 7.8%.
- Since 2019, the situation has been the opposite – college textbooks grew by only 3.8%, and the industry became 14.47% more expensive overall.
| Year | College textbooks CPI | CPI in the US |
| 2013 | 101.75 | 101.16 |
| 2014 | 105.73 | 102.80 |
| 2015 | 111.98 | 102.93 |
| 2016 | 118.15 | 104.22 |
| 2017 | 121.24 | 106.44 |
| 2018 | 122.39 | 109.04 |
| 2019 | 119.50 | 111.02 |
| 2020 | 117.66 | 112.39 |
| 2021 | 118.82 | 117.67 |
| 2022 | 124.05 | 127.09 |
| Change from 2013 to 2018 | 20.29% | 7.79% |
| Change from 2019 to 2022 | 3.80% | 14.47% |
- Over 29.7% of US public university students used some kind of financial aid to buy college textbooks.
- College ebooks are on the rise, as the spending on digital textbooks has increased by more than 156% over the last 10 years.
- Additionally, over 63% of students have skipped buying at least one required college textbook.
- At the same time, over one-third of college professors don’t know the real price of textbooks required for their classes when they choose them.
- Each new edition of a college textbook is over 12% more expensive than the previous one.
- Over 12% of Latinx college students fail a class because they weren’t able to buy textbooks, as opposed to only 5% of caucasian students.