Teaching is known as being one of the world’s most noble professions. Shaping the minds of future doctors, politicians, and all kinds of other important roles is certainly something a lot of people love doing for a living.
However, the downside to teaching is that it’s considered a fairly underpaid profession, particularly in the United States. Of course, this doesn’t mean that all US teachers are paid as little as possible and some are able to earn a decent salary.
In this article, we’re taking a look at teacher salaries in Texas. According to Salary.com, the average public-school teacher in Texas makes $59,488 per year.
However, the salary for a public teacher in Texas can also range from as little as $45,000 to as much as $77,000. There are plenty of reasons for this massive range in salaries which we’ll explain more about later on.
Factors That Affect Teachers Salaries In Texas
There are plenty of reasons why a Texas teacher’s salary might be significantly more or less than the average figure stated above. Let’s take a look at some of the things that might earn you more or less money as a teacher:
Experience
The way minimum salaries are dictated under the law in Texas is mainly by experience. At least, this is the case for teachers, librarians, counselors, and other similar public-serving jobs.
For example, a teacher with zero years experience is required, by law, to be paid a minimum salary of $33,660 in Texas, whereas a teacher with 20 years experience or more is entitled to at least $54,540 per year.
As you can probably tell, it’s the kind of job where experience goes a long way so it’s definitely worth committing to for the long haul!
Age Group
Of course, the ages of the students you teach will also have an impact on the salary that you’re entitled to as a teacher, though this isn’t set out by any specific laws.
The general rule is that teachers earn more as the age of their students increases, with pre-kindergarten teachers earning the least and high school teachers earning the most.
Again, there is nothing set out in law or by a policy in most schools about how the age groups of students will affect teacher salary but this is a general trend that you can expect to see across the state.
Region
As you probably know, Texas is divided into 20 regions, with each having its own society and average salary.
Because Texas is such a large state, these regions can differ even more greatly in average salary than most.
For example, in places in region 4 like Houston, average salaries for teachers are around $60,000.
On the other hand, in cities in region 14 like Abilene, the average teacher salary is around $50,000.
As you can tell, there can be a pretty substantial difference in pay just based on which part of Texas you live in.
This factor is mainly determined by how built-up and populous each region is.
The theory is that places with more people have a higher demand for teachers and therefore pay them better.
Alternatively, in places with a low population, there is a much lower demand for teachers and they end up getting paid less.
Of course, things like the cost of living in each region will also impact how good a salary is in each location, so don’t go moving across the state to find a higher-paying job without doing your research first!
Subject
Interestingly, the subject you teach can also be a factor that determines how much you’re likely to earn as a teacher.
This is because certain subjects are in higher demand at given points in time than others.
For example, some of the most in-demand subjects in Texas, as of 2020, were bilingual (or English as a second language), special education, career technical education, computer science, and mathematics.
If you happen to specialize in teaching any of these subjects, there’s a good chance you’ll earn more than somebody who teaches a subject like art or English literature, simply because those subjects are in lower demand.
However, this won’t always be the case, and demand for different subjects is something that changes gradually over time as more and more people take up the higher-demanded positions.
This is why it’s a good idea to do your research about which subjects have the most demand in your area before deciding which one to pursue for a teaching career.
How Does Texas Teacher Salary Compare To Other States?
Based on research conducted by The National Education Association, we can pretty accurately determine how Texas shapes up against other states when it comes to teacher salaries (as of 2018).
According to the research, the average salary in Texas in 2018 was $53,334, way lower than the national average of $60,477.
However, this figure can be somewhat misleading. For example, there were actually only 14 states that had a higher salary than the national average, with the other 36 falling below.
Given that there were 24 states that paid a lower average teacher salary than Texas that year, it’s safe to say Texas doesn’t shape up too badly against the other states.
Although, if you were thinking about moving state to find a better-paying teaching job, New York’s average salary of $84,227 is certainly worth thinking about…
Conclusion
In general, teachers in Texas can earn a pretty reasonable salary, even if it’s a little bit lower than some other states in the US.
However, the downside to being a teacher in Texas is that the average salary is and has been lower than the national average for all jobs for a pretty long time.
It seems as though the common belief that teachers are underpaid does have some truth to it. On the bright side, there aren’t many more rewarding and enjoyable jobs in the world for some people.
If you’ve got the passion and the drive to become a teacher, there shouldn’t be anything stopping you from chasing that dream!
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