We live in Southern California and there’s quite a bit of discussion going on about teachers’ salaries and whether teachers are overpaid or underpaid. Being that Mrs. Frugal is a teacher, I figured it would be worth looking into the data to find the real story.
Many teachers’ unions in California claim their teachers are significantly underpaid when compared to other states’ teachers. On the other hand, the average salary of all teachers in California is $59,825, which is the highest in the country. How can both sides be telling the truth? To quote a former president: It depends on what your definition of “is” is.
Here’s what I found:
Average starting teacher’s salary in California: $35,770. Rank: 9th Highest
Average teacher’s salary: $59,825. Rank: Highest.
The discrepancy between average starting vs. average salary is due to the complex nature of seniority and (almost) guaranteed salary increases for simply not getting fired. I can’t tell if the average tenure of California teachers is higher than the national average, but I’m sure the stats are out there.
This being said, how could teachers say they’re among the lowest paid in the nation?
I believe it lies in the combination of salary vs. cost of living.
When you look at the stats provided by the Census Bureau and pit salaries against cost of living data, the picture is different.
If you assume the average cost of living in the entire US is $40,000 per year and figure the cost of living by each state based on the Census Bureau’s Cost of Living Index, you will find that the average salary of new teachers in California is enough to meet about 65% of the cost of living. ($35,770 / ($40,000 x 1.366)). The average salary of all teachers is enough to meet 109% of the average cost of living in California.
As far as rank is concerned, new teachers rank 43rd and all teachers rank 29th. For comparison, the worst state (for both new and all teachers) is Hawaii, with 55% and 75.7%, respectively. The worst Continental US state is Vermont (56% and 98%, respectively).
The best state? Illinois with 96% and 151% for new and all teachers, respectively.
I think that next to parents, teachers have one of the most important jobs our country. As such, this isn’t meant to be a discussion of whether teachers are paid enough. Instead, it’s simply a look at how different definitions of the same “statistic” can lead to very different conclusions.
Salary data is pulled from http://TeacherPortal.com/teacher-salaries-by-state and they pull data from National Education Association and private data analyses. Cost of Living is from the Census Bureau’s website.
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