1. Washington, Master’s with 7 years and a stipend: $96,000. Doing pretty well in my district; getting along great and being appreciated.
2. Suburb of a major Texas city, starting salary is 61k. I have 27 years experience and a masters degree. I make 68k. I’m furious that my education and decades of experience is only worth about ten percent more than a rookie with bare minimum certification requirements.
3. I’m in the Deep South. Year 1 with a BA – 43,540 plus whatever extra cash I get from PD stipends and whatnot. Decently content with my salary (I’m in a LCOL area), could be better but it’s better than some horror story salaries I hear about in the very rural parts of the south.
4. New Mexico. I am tier 3, two master’s degrees, national board certified $91,000 with a VERY LOW COL.
5. Los Angeles Metro Area. 8 years plus masters & leadership stipend: $85,000
6. Year one, $50k, Northern CO
7. Suburbs of Pittsburgh, master’s year 17 – 104,000 + 12,500 buyout for opting out of our healthcare plan. I love my job and love teaching, but I hope my children choose a different profession when they grow up.
8. SoCal- BA + 30 I’m technically a year 1 but they’re starting me at year 3- $67k
9. Everett, WA – year 12, masters – 143,000. Pretty happy
10. Rural Michigan 25 years ma+ 69,000
11. NE Ohio, 15 year MA plus 30=75k. If I worked in a district closer to the city not even 30 miles from where I am now, that would be almost 100k. Ridiculous how we fund public schools in Ohio.
12. WA state, MA +45, year 9, 105k
13. 18 years in central Florida and make $53,000. Didn’t even break $50,000 until year 16.
14. I live in Alabama, a red state. I have 10 years experience, M.S., teach math and CS, NBCT, no extra duties, work 189 days, and make $91,797 as a base pay
15. 17 years BA plus 30 72k Northern Minnesota
16. My wife is a teacher with 13 years experience and a master’s degree. 52,000 a year, in Mississippi.
17. NYC. 136k. 23 years
18. 10 years. National Board Certified. No masters degree. Only bachelors. I’ll be making about $95k in the 2024-2025 school year. Las Vegas.
19. Carroll County, Georgia. Master’s Degree. 9 years. $52,000 (this includes a $5,000 annual stipend)
20. $140,000 base salary. 21 years experience. In Southern California. Love the job, but burned out with all the other stipend positions I have. However, the stipends bring in another $25,000.
21. Texas, 16 years, $71,000 with a masters. (But I get more than that with dual credit classes. Topped out at $95k one memorable year.)
22. Fairfax county Virginia, first year kindergarten teacher, 65,000. I’m ok. Not happy, but I’m doing ok for now. Thankfully, my co workers are very helpful.
Theodore Lee is the editor of Caveman Circus. He strives for self-improvement in all areas of his life, except his candy consumption, where he remains a champion gummy worm enthusiast. When not writing about mindfulness or living in integrity, you can find him hiding giant bags of sour patch kids under the bed.