Another thread on private vs. public sector pay got me thinking on this. I often wonder how my financial situation would be different if I had stayed in the military vs. having left and become a teacher. I always thought my pay was comparable to what officers made. Boy was I wrong. In my California school district, I make about $5000 a year less than an E-6 with the same number of years. And to be an E-6 with 18 years is no great feat. If you want to see how much you would make as a military enlisted person, first look up your base salary here. Determine your "rank" as follows: Less than 6 months = E-1 6 months to a year = E-2 A year to three years = E-3 Three to six years = E-4 Six to 10 years = E-5 10 to 18 years = E-6 18+ years = E-7 To determine your TAX FREE housing allowance, go here. This is the money they give you if you are authorized to live off base. If they do not give you this, they provide housing. That means a room in the barracks if you are single or a house or apartment on base if you are married. Most married servicemembers are authorized to live off base. Enter your "rank" and zip code. I'd suggest using the "with dependents" rate. Finally, add $323.87 to all of this. That's your food allowance. Everyone in the military gets either that or a meal card. I was single the whole time I was in and I always got this because I had a very weird work schedule. In my district, a new teacher gets paid the same as a married E-1 at Travis AFB. E-1 is a new recruit with no stripes. The difference is that the E-1 gets promoted to E-2 after six months. At that point, he or she makes as much as a fully credentialed teacher with four years service!
Sarge, is that monthly pay? My gross pay is pretty close to what's there. (Of course, I don't get free housing or anything.) But I wouldn't begin to compare my job to the military. I know that some of the people here work under pretty rough conditions. But as much as I would love to be making more money, my job is nowhere as difficult as military service.
It's monthly. Actually, I found the military pretty easy. Far easier and less stressful than being a teacher. Keep in mind that I didn't include hazard pay, combat pay, or separation pay, or anything like that. This is what you get if you are stationed stateside in a job that is not dangerous. My point is that this is what they pay you if you only have a high school diploma. In other words, a 25 year old teacher can quit, go enlist in the Air Force, and probably end up financially better off.
***big edit*** Should have read your follow-up post.... Wooooah I see my major malfunction! Hahaha, that was monthly, let me rethink myself here. Well still, when comparing DoD teacher salaries to that chart, a first year teacher is making more than an E6 with 10 years experience. They also get a lot of the perks like government housing or extra money to pay rent/utilities. I think DoD teachers versus enlisted, the teachers come out pretty well ahead, not as much as my original estimates though.
Including the food and housing allowances, my pay as a teacher is pretty similar to what my military enlisted pay would be at the same experience. Right now I would make a few thousand more annually, but I think over time that salary difference would flip-flop.
Pretty sure it's gross, and someone can correct me if I'm wrong but gross = net when they're in a combat zone I believe (no taxes taken out).
Base pay is taxable. Housing and meals allowances are not. This would be the salary of an ordinary GI stationed stateside in a non-hazardous job. The fact that a large part of the GI's pay is not taxable, that would equate to about a 5 to 10% boost for the GI, depending on his or her tax bracket.
I actually make more as 2nd year teacher than I would in a 2nd year in the military. The "base pay" is less than what I actually take home per month now (so my "net" pay while the gross is listed here for the military), and I assume taxes being taken out would equal the other add-ins.
My husband is military. With housing money in Hawaii he makes more than me, but we made the same amount in Idaho ( including housing, and my salary was pretty low).
I actually get paid more than I would in the military, even including BAH. My husband got out of the Army as an E4 and he makes a little less than he did then, but not a lot less, and he will make more when he gets his degree. Plus unfortunately, we get quite a bit of money from the VA so that supplements it for us. So all in all (and for many other reasons we are much better off out of the military!
My husband is active duty military - promoted to an E-8 last month. He does not get a "food allowance". He does get BAH (Basic Allowance for Housing) which is tax free. The best benefit, as compared to teaching, is the health benefits. All being said, I'd rather have my husband at home, safe, spending time with the family than having him deployed. I don't know that the family separation, combat and tax free pay made up for the daily worry and fear for my husband. I, too, spent 8 years in the military. Would I be making more money if I had stayed in the military than I am now? Yep. I would. Would I have the job satisfaction? I don't think so. There are a lot of jobs you can compare salaries with teaching. I'm one of the first to say that teachers are highly underpaid. Interesting to think about.
After three years at the same school and no raise (but an increase in out of pocket for my health insurance), I would make more joining the military!
How many would pass muster on the height weight chart? I'm 30 pounds below my allowable weight: http://www.navycs.com/navyheightweightchart.html I earn more than an enlisted person, but I do have a Masters degree plus 60 additional credits with 14 years experience. Plus I work in a high SES district with higher pay scale than many in my area. DH is a retired O4.
Funny you made this thread. I'm actually contemplating leaving teaching to join the Army at the end of this school year. I'm in a low-paying state, so as an E-4 (which I'd get with a college degree) I would make MORE per month than I do now, not even considering housing allowance. Since I'm single I'd be getting barracks for free. No rent. It would be a huge raise when living expenses are considered. Then I might drop an officer packet after a couple years, which would be amazing pay.
I think it's been well documented here and other places that, if you're primarily concerned with money, teaching is not the profession for you. I have seen many different paths...I have relatives in the military, I have worked in the private sector, and I now work in teaching. For me personally, teaching is the best combination of personal/professional reward, time availability for family, and pay. Certainly I made more money in my previous life, but having time with family, as well as doing something that I feel a personal satisfaction from (it is great when I have former students come back to tell me how much they learned), teaching is hands-down the best place for me to be. I make enough along with my wife for our family to be relatively comfortable... Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking those who think about financial reward...I'm right there along with you...but we all know that's not the main reason to go into teaching...
My husband was in the Army and got out two years ago. He's now a police officer. We often think about how much money he was making, it's not even comparable to to what makes now as an officer much less what I make. He was an E-6 very close to making E-7 after only 6 years of service, which is nearly unheard of. But we got out because he was about to go on his 4th deployment and we were ready to settle down.
