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Teacher (K-12): pay, training and money by age
Teaching children and teens in public and private schools. A bachelor's degree and a state certificate; many districts pay more with a master's. About $64,000 a year at the middle of a career, about $31 an hour.
Opens Starting Out with this job picked. Change anything: school, rent, car, family, savings, detours.
Getting there
In-state public university, 4 years. About $25,000 a year in school costs. Pay starts near $44,800 and rises with experience. Student loans are paid off around age 31.
First month on the job (age 22)
| Pay before taxes | $3,733 |
| Take-home after taxes | $3,104 |
| Rent or housing | −$870 |
| Car | −$350 |
| Food, phone, utilities, health and personal | −$980 |
| Student loan payment | −$501 |
| Saved (10%, plus the tax a 401(k) saves) | −$375 |
| Left for everything else | $28 |
Plus about $149 a month from an employer match. Rent assumes roommates.
What changes the picture
| Choice | Result | Could stop at |
|---|---|---|
| Stay single, no kids | $355,535 at 45 | 58 |
| Invest $250 more a month | $559,350 at 45 | 56 |
| Rent from 18 instead of living at home to 22 | $462,955 at 45 | |
| A DUI at 22 | about $94,596 less by 65 | 59 |
| Smoking a pack a day from 22 | about $431,466 less by 65 | 61 |
At the same savings rate, higher pay doesn't always mean stopping sooner: spending tends to rise with pay. Saving more is what moves the date.
Questions
How much does a K-12 teacher make?
About $64,000 a year at the middle of a career (U.S. median, Bureau of Labor Statistics), or about $31 an hour. Starting pay is lower, around $44,800.
How do you become a K-12 teacher?
Teaching children and teens in public and private schools. A bachelor's degree and a state certificate; many districts pay more with a master's. In the model: In-state public university, 4 years. About $25,000 a year in school costs.
When could a K-12 teacher retire?
With the defaults on this page (saving 10% of take-home, a 4% match, married at 28, two kids, a home at 32), about age 58, and from 53 to 63 depending on pay and markets. Saving more moves it sooner.
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How these numbers are made: the FIRE Mission Starting Out model in today's dollars. Pay is the U.S. median from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2023-24), rounded; starting pay is about 70% of it, rising to about 125% after 20 years. Defaults: start at 18, live at home to 22 with the rent invested, roommates to 24, $1,450 rent, a paid-off car with $150 insurance, married at 28 to a spouse earning $50,000, two kids from 30, a $400,000 home at 32 once affordable, saving 10% of take-home with a 4% match, 5% returns after inflation, Social Security from 67. The range runs from 25th-percentile pay with 3% returns to 75th-percentile pay with 7%. A sketch, not a forecast, and not financial advice.