The International Schools Review Forum

I read somewhere where that an average salary today for International teachers is 32K per year. I made that amount 9 years ago. Is this the right number (32K)?

No idea, but I’m not sure it’s a useful indicator anyway. You’d be lumping together all the high end schools with all the missionary schools, some of which pay less than 10K. Ignoring the vast differences in cost of living that people (including me) are always going on about being so important. Ignoring the packages that include or exclude taxes, tuition, housing and so on.
Always better to get a specific offer and evaluate it in terms of what it means to you.

I clicked on the topic planning to type pretty much the same as @sid did, so I won't and just say that I fully agree.

I've seen that number once before on this forum. I'm not sure who came up with it and what their sources were, but I think it was just a guess, so it's pretty worthless anyway, apart from all of @sid's valid points.
Average savings potential would make more sense, and even then you'd have plenty of problems coming up with a number that makes sense.

::sigh::

Im often the one that cites that statistic, until recently it was 30K. Its accurate, and its not a guess, but with two limitations: First, as @Sid indicated its an average and its sensitive to a high number of low salary ISs compared to a relatively small number of high salary ISs. Second, it doesnt account for regional disparity in salary differences. I tend to uphold salary is the most important factor, @Sid cost of living and @Heliotrope savings.

PsyGuy wrote:
> ::sigh::
>
> Im often the one that cites that statistic, until recently it was 30K. Its
> accurate, and its not a guess, but with two limitations: First, as @Sid
> indicated its an average and its sensitive to a high number of low salary
> ISs compared to a relatively small number of high salary ISs. Second, it
> doesnt account for regional disparity in salary differences. I tend to
> uphold salary is the most important factor, @Sid cost of living and
> @Heliotrope savings.

Without anything to back that 32K number up, I would dismiss it out of hand. And even if it's true, it's not relevant anyway, for reasons mentioned before.
And yes, salary alone without knowing the cost of living tells you very little. I'd rather make 50K in Pakistan than 100K in Switzerland, because I would save more with that 50K in Pakistan than with that 100K in Switzerland. Perhaps for some boasting about making 100K is their goal, but for me it's saving a substantial amount of money for retirement.

@Heliotrope

We disagree.

Such a vague figure.

32k for what? What type of teacher? How many hours/week or month? What region? How many years of experience does it take to reach that?

I can tell you, I haven't spoken to any teachers in S. America, China or E. Europe who make that...

Salary - cost of living = savings.

Some places with a low cost of living will still pay a high salary because of location. Some won't. Some places with a high cost of living will pay a salary that doesn't allow for high savings. Some won't.

I'm off to measure pieces of string....

[quote=MusicTravel30 post_id=60644 time=1611237936 user_id=229936]
I can tell you, I haven't spoken to any teachers in S. America, China or E. Europe who make that...
[/quote]

I hope you're joking, as I currently make 33k teaching ESL in Korean public schools. Making me re-think my decision to get a PGCE and find an international school.

@TCH12
Rest assured, most IT make more than that, not less.
Mayeb @MusicTravel30 means savings potential?

Also, the 32K number has only ever been mentioned by one forum member, and he's not telling us how he arrived at that number, so we can safely ignore it.
Plus, as @secondplace sort of says, salary without cost of living tells you very little. I'd rather save half of a 40,000 USD salary than 10% of a 100,000 USD salary. Average salary at ISs only helps if you know the average IT salary per country, or better yet, per city.

Search Associates did some research on this. Guessing it is based on their network of schools which perhaps might not include some of the lower tier schools.
I would say the initial figure posted of 32k might not be too far off.

2019 Data

Average Base Salary: BA+4 years

North America - $53,800
SE/East Asia - $45,800
Europe - $45,700
Middle East - $39,000
South/Central Asia - $37,600
South America - $35,800
Africa - $35,700
Central America/Caribbean - $31,700

ALL - $41,700

NOTE: Salary is pre-tax and does not include the value of any other allowance/benefits


Average Base Salary: MA+8 years

Upped the figures by 5-9,000. I wasn't bothered to cut and paste these results :-)

I have heard a number of $39,000 but that seems low seeing the Search Associates averages of $41,700 and $48,700.
If you count all schools that label themselves as international the number might go down but I would only count accredited schools where you need to be a licensed teacher from an English speaking country to get a job.
But agree with secondplace and heliotrope that just salary says very little.

@MusicTravel30

Its a global average, region is moot. Its an average, but the data set was of entry level ITs which was somewhere between 0 and 3 year of experience, and a bachelors degree for a full time appointment.

@secondplace

Its more, salary-costs=Discretionary income. Some may choose to save it and I assume if your not spending it youre saving it.
Off to measure pieces of string as well.

@TCH12

No its accurate, but again its a global average for entry level ITs.

@Heliotrope

No most ITs dont make more than that, its an average, there are ITs that make substantially less.
Yes your priority is savings potential, @Sids is cost of living and mine is salary. You cant save what you dont earn and you have more control over cost of living and savings than you do salary.
We disagree.

@87654321

SAs data is greatly range restricted their database is less than 1000 ISs, even if you use the ISC data there are over 12K ISs. If you want to use the average of an already selective grouping of ISs thats fine, but its not global or representative of the IS population.

PsyGuy wrote:
> No most ITs dont make more than that, its an average, there are ITs that
> make substantially less.

It's not an average, it's just a number you've mentioned once and you've never explained how you arrived at that number, and "what can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence."
And an actual worldwide average doesn't mean anything. What's a great salary is country A could be a pittance in country B.


> Yes your priority is savings potential, @Sids is cost of living and mine is
> salary. You cant save what you dont earn and you have more control over
> cost of living and savings than you do salary.
> We disagree.

So you think you would walk away with more money after 4 years of making 50,000 USD in Bermuda than 4 years of making 49,000 USD in Ukraine?
You need to know cost of living to be able to tell if an offered salary is good. One without the other is pretty useless.

@Heliotrope

Ive mentioned it far more times than once.
Its a global average.
Its meaningful for what it is a global average, that you dismiss it as meaningless, is just your position.
maybe I could, I have more control over how much my living expenses cost than I do how much coin I make in salary. An IT wont know what their actual costs are until they are there. Some other ITs cost of living may have little to do with your cost of living.
We disagree.