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Turns out an ugly mug labeled “#1 Teacher” and an average annual salary of around $66,000 not only isn’t enough to live comfortably, but they’re also not enough to find a place to live near work. Add a backbreaking commute to the housing affordability crisis as yet another reason that the crucially important job of high-school teacher is just harder and harder to fill.
Many teachers nationwide are having to impart a lesson no more complicated than what’s 3+5: which is what happens when the cost of living increases and wages stay the same? A career that’s increasingly untenable.
An August report from Redfin, the real-estate agency and research firm, reveals a hidden truth, finding that the average teacher in America can afford only 12% of the homes near the school where they teach. And the affordability is shrinking fast, as 30% of teachers could afford nearby homes in 2019 and 17% could just last summer. That’s in part due to the current cost of living, as Redfin estimates that teachers are making $3,644 less than they did 10 years ago, accounting for inflation.
You might say that public and private schools are a different bag, but Redfin’s methodology explicitly accounts for that, as it looked at median salaries in the 50 most populous metro areas and considered over 70,000 schools from PreK-12, both public and private. Redfin defines “commuting distance” as a 20-minute drive during rush hour.
It’s no secret that despite all the rhetoric regarding the value of our educators, our nation doesn’t tend to put its money where its mouth is. A lack of pay and strenuous working conditions has created a teacher shortage that was worsened by the early pandemic. The problem persists years later, and the school doors start to become revolving ones as employees search for livable wages during a time of high inflation. It’s become so pervasive this past year that half of the governors in the U.S. have suggested raises to better retain and recruit much-needed teachers. It appears as if one of the only things both aisles can agree on is that our education system is in trouble, as turnover persists amidst low wages, high political involvement and censorship in the classroom and widespread school shootings.
Even as inflation slows a bit, housing is still a can of (pricey) worms. As Fortune’s Lance Lambert points out, the current housing market rivals the infamous bubble conditions from 2006 for lack of affordability, with the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate hitting 7.48%— the highest levels since 2000. Younger generations are finding homeownership especially difficult, as having finally saved enough they’re finding themselves outbid by Boomers’ only-cash offers. And those ones that can afford a home often depend on assistance from their parents. Home ownership has been touted as an investment that will grow in value and help provide financial stability, but simply getting a home has started to feel increasingly difficult. In some cities more than half of the homes cost more than $1 million. And those cities still need teachers, who are often making the trek.
Less than a third (27%) of available rental properties close to teachers’ schools are affordable, per Redfin. It makes sense given that the average educator’s wages struggle to compete with inflation and certainly can’t withhold the housing market. While the average educator can afford a $224,455 home, the current average home price stands at almost double that, at $416,000, adds Redfin.
The currently unaffordable market has “such a big impact on teacher recruitment and teacher retention, an impact on who’s in front of our kids,” Elyse Howard, an employee at Habitat for Humanity Vail Valley and parent at Eagle County, Baltimore, told Mother Jones’ Emily Tate Sullivan earlier this month. She adds that there really aren’t housing options for their teachers, explaining, “It’s not reasonable to think someone on a teacher’s salary could buy a $1.4 million home.”
It means many teachers are adding on extra jobs, roommates, or living in less than ideal situations, in order to afford living where they are, as Sullivan points out, speaking to teachers like Edgar Arroyo, an employee of Eagle County in Baltimore who is unable to move out, and lives with his ex-wife.
“You think the hardest part is to get a job. In this county? There are plenty of jobs. The hardest part is to get housing,” he told Sullivan.
