What States Pay The Best For New(ish) Teachers?

Discussion in 'General Education' started by York, Jul 6, 2017.

  1. York

    York New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 19, 2017
    Messages:
    3
    Likes Received:
    0

    Jul 6, 2017

    Places that still pay well relative to their cost of living?

    I'm from a city in Texas where new teachers start off at $50,000/year. Texas doesn't have income tax and has a pretty low cost of living.

    Are there other states that have a good set up for teachers like this? Places that I've looked at so far have been literally $10,000 less in salary in more expensive states.

    Thanks!
     
  2.  
  3. FourSquare

    FourSquare Fanatic

    Joined:
    Aug 4, 2009
    Messages:
    2,841
    Likes Received:
    319

    Jul 9, 2017

    In my district you will start between $52-55K depending on if you come in with a BA or MA. A quality suburb will pay even more, but this is IL and the cost of living is high. Plus, our government is incompetent on a local and state level. o_O
     
  4. Wendy Long

    Wendy Long Guest

    Jul 12, 2017

    In Pennsylvania, average teacher salary: $64,991. Pennsylvania has been the 10th-highest paying state for teachers for three years running. According to the EPI report, teachers in the state earn 87.1% of the salary that other college graduates do, the 7th best in the nation.
     
  5. Caesar753

    Caesar753 Multitudinous

    Joined:
    Jun 10, 2007
    Messages:
    14,595
    Likes Received:
    2,711

    Jul 12, 2017

    Average salary is usually quite different from new teacher salary.

    The largest district in Nevada pays a flat $40k for new teachers. It's kind of hard to get raises right now, although that might change in the future. The cost of living is not as high as you might expect for a big city.
     
  6. Leaborb192

    Leaborb192 Enthusiast

    Joined:
    Jun 18, 2016
    Messages:
    2,407
    Likes Received:
    1,180

    Jul 12, 2017

    https://edexcellence.net/publications/how-strong-are-us-teacher-unions.html

    I'm linking you to this website which was research completed about the power of teacher's unions. Not surprisingly -- and directly tied to your question-- the states with more powerful unions are more likely than not to have a) better pay, b) benefits, c) job security and d) over all better working environment. However, the down side being, getting a job in these places can be very difficult! But check it out.
    :)
     
    SageScience likes this.
  7. shoreline02

    shoreline02 Cohort

    Joined:
    Jan 13, 2010
    Messages:
    632
    Likes Received:
    116

    Jul 12, 2017

    I'm from Pennsylvania. The district I grew up starts teachers at around 42k and a neighboring district is only 37k. The pay in the state VARIES widely.
     
  8. Leaborb192

    Leaborb192 Enthusiast

    Joined:
    Jun 18, 2016
    Messages:
    2,407
    Likes Received:
    1,180

    Jul 12, 2017

    ,
     
    Last edited: Feb 4, 2019
  9. Geologygirl

    Geologygirl Comrade

    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2009
    Messages:
    444
    Likes Received:
    59

    Jul 13, 2017

    I second this! I work on California and pay varies by region widely. Cost of living varies widely also. Making 48k starting in San Jose or San Fransisco is very different from 48 k starting in the central valley in like Fresno or Sacramento. 48 in the valley = livable wage. 48k in San Jose or San Fransisco = bellow poverty line. Best to look by city at cost of living vs wage for some states.
     
    SageScience likes this.
  10. waterfall

    waterfall Virtuoso

    Joined:
    Feb 5, 2011
    Messages:
    6,156
    Likes Received:
    993

    Jul 13, 2017

    That link lists Hawaii as number one and I've heard absolutely awful things about the salary vs. COL there...teachers living in cars and things like that.

    I'm in CO and we seem to get a lot of transplants from TX...don't do it! The salary is really bad in comparison to COL. A first year teacher would make about 36-38K in the urban areas and about 30-32K in the rural areas. I pay over $1300 per month for a small 1 bedroom apartment way, way out in the suburbs, and people just moving in pay a lot more than I do.

    I'm originally from OH and I think the salary for COL is pretty great there, although as my CO friends love to point out, "Yeah, but then you have to live in OH :rolleyes:. " However, as a pp pointed out, it's hard to get a teaching job there whereas the market is a lot more open in CO. The better the conditions are, the harder it is to get a job in that location.
     
  11. 2ndTimeAround

    2ndTimeAround Phenom

    Joined:
    Aug 10, 2010
    Messages:
    4,328
    Likes Received:
    570

    Jul 13, 2017

    That link is old and outdated. There were multiple incorrect items regarding my state.
     
  12. Ima Teacher

    Ima Teacher Virtuoso

    Joined:
    Oct 25, 2005
    Messages:
    6,302
    Likes Received:
    1,637

    Jul 14, 2017

    My area in Kentucky has a low cost of living. My DH and I work in separate districts, and we make almost identical salaries. I'm not sure of starting salary. I'm going to start year 25 in August. I'm approximately $55,000. That's with a MA. We live comfortably. I lived by myself for a long tome. Bought a house by myself. Very doable here.

    My area, however, is not for everybody. Small, rural towns are not everyone's cup of tea.

    Just about 50 miles away, cost of living rises sharply, but salary doesn't go up quite as much. One of my coworkers left our district for a job about 125 miles away. His salary is close to $80,000, but it costs way more to live there, too.
     
  13. teacherintexas

    teacherintexas Maven

    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2005
    Messages:
    5,294
    Likes Received:
    760

    Jul 14, 2017

    And other districts in the same state pay someone with two decades plus experience 51k. It varies wildly.

    Plus, many districts start teachers off at a decent salary but only go up 200-500 a year as you gain more experience.
     
  14. K-5_teacherguy

    K-5_teacherguy Companion

    Joined:
    Dec 7, 2014
    Messages:
    193
    Likes Received:
    41

    Jul 14, 2017

    In my district in Ohio (a suburb just outside of Columbus) a first year teacher with a bachelor's makes about $43K, which was enough for me to live comfortably in a fairly nice area, although I don't have kids. The most experienced teachers in my district, with master's degrees, make six figures.
     
  15. Missy

    Missy Aficionado

    Joined:
    Aug 5, 2004
    Messages:
    3,820
    Likes Received:
    365

    Jul 15, 2017

    Ohio is a great place to live! I lived many other places when my husband was in the Air Force and we were so glad to move back here. But you're right, it is hard to get a job here - a lot of great universities in this state.
     
  16. Backroads

    Backroads Aficionado

    Joined:
    Apr 23, 2010
    Messages:
    3,684
    Likes Received:
    1,971

    Jul 15, 2017

    While Utah isn't quite run screaming here yet, it's pretty good and getting better with the tech boom and the recent district wars. The CoL here is very nice, so districts competing for teachers is pretty fun. We still lose people to Wyoming, but the situation is still quite decent.
     
  17. Leaborb192

    Leaborb192 Enthusiast

    Joined:
    Jun 18, 2016
    Messages:
    2,407
    Likes Received:
    1,180

    Jul 15, 2017

    ,
     
    Last edited: Feb 4, 2019

Share This Page

Members Online Now

Total: 203 (members: 0, guests: 171, robots: 32)
test