Most teachers, especially those early in their career, cannot afford the average U.S. rent with their salaries, Zillow reports.
Rent is particularly burdensome for teachers early in their careers: At the national level, the median market-rate rent takes a staggering 46.8% of a starting teacher’s salary. That improves to 35.6% for mid-career teachers and to 26.6% for the highest paid teachers — the last group finally falling below the 30% generally accepted threshold that deems housing costs to be affordable.
In 19 of the country’s largest 50 metro areas, starting-level teachers would pay more than half their salaries on the market rent.
The situation is generally better for teachers that can buy a home instead of rent one, thanks to the benefit of low mortgage interest rates and decades-long mortgage terms that help keep monthly payments very low, even as housing prices rise. Starting-level teachers pay 26.6% of their salaries on the median U.S. mortgage. Affordability improves for mid-career teachers to 20.2% and for the highest paid teachers to 15.1%.
