The amount of time teachers work varies greatly depending on the state, district, school, and individual teacher, making it difficult to calculate the relative value of teacher salaries. If a minimum amount of work and effort is assumed, teacher pay is relatively high in terms of per-hour payment. Many teachers, on the other hand, spend a significant amount of time at home developing lesson plans, brainstorming new ways to engage their students, and providing feedback on assignments. When all of this time is factored in, the relative value of teacher salaries can drop dramatically.
Teacher salaries vary greatly depending on the state in which they teach. According to a report by the American Federation of Teachers, average national salaries in 2006-2007 were $51,009 US Dollars (USD). Teachers in California earned an average salary of $63,640 USD, which was 125 percent higher than the national average. Teachers in South Dakota, on the other hand, earned an average salary of $35,378 USD, or 69 percent of the national average. These figures, of course, reflect the cost of living in their respective states: the three highest-paid states, California, Connecticut, and New Jersey, are also three of the most expensive to live in, while the three lowest-paid states, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Utah, are three of the cheapest.
Teacher salaries are heavily influenced by the level of education attained. For example, the average salary for a teacher with a Bachelor’s Degree was $38,332 USD. This is significantly less than the average salary for a Master’s Degree-holding teacher, which is $67,887 USD. Teachers who have been teaching for a longer period of time earn significantly more money than teachers who have only been teaching for a short period of time. When looking at those who teach in urban areas, the numbers become even more dramatic.
In general, those who teach in cities earn significantly more than those who teach in rural areas. For example, a teacher in Santa Ana, California, with a master’s degree and maximum longevity, earned $94,585 USD. The average salary in New York City was $94,154 USD, and the average salary in Oklahoma City, which was at the bottom of the list of large cities surveyed, was $47,850 USD. This is a significant difference from entry-level teacher salaries in Oklahoma City, which were $31,950 USD, and New York City, which were $45,530 USD.
Teacher salaries are, of course, still low when compared to those in many other professions. An emergency room doctor’s median salary is $173,445 dollars, while a pediatrician’s median salary is $120,412 dollars. However, salaries do not appear to be too low when compared to some high-paying professions at their entry levels: a starting lawyer earns an average of $57,013 USD, and a lawyer who has worked less than five years earns an average of $64,063 USD. Teaching is even better when compared to other professions: the average editor earns $53,143 USD, the average gardener earns $31,000 USD, and the average executive chef earns $75,596 USD.