teachers in general earning $50k, either teachers have to super good in U.S. or this doesn't include everything like high school, elementary schools, kindergardens and whatever else there is.
When I was in school my freshly minted Calculus teacher was earning $60k with her MS Math. My English teacher, $120k, was also the English curriculum coordinator and had a PhD.Ed.
And experience counts. The green, math teacher could barely keep a bunch of pubescent teenagers in their seats. Some of the exchanges were borderline sexual harrassment. The English teacher knew how to command a classroom.
Fresh out of college you start at 40k and can increase to 90k after 15 years. But you can increase by doing clubs or other activities + advanced degreees.
The downside is if you are a superstar teacher straight out of college you still make 40k. Similarly if you are a crappy teacher after 15 years you still make 90k
Thanks unions!
As far as pay. Like most jobs the first few years are low with a steep curve. Then it tapers off to COL increases once you've put in many years. This can be said of any job. Union and nonunion.
The area was pretty cheap too. Looking up citydata (2013), median household income: $50k, Median income per capita: $27k. For comparison in the same year SF was $77k and $52k respectively.
College is a little different. In my IT degree teachers were making anywhere from 70k-150k.
Some commentary:
1) 7 million households (can be single or married people) earn over $200,000 per year in the USA 2) 25% of US households make less than $25,000 per year 3) 25% of US households make more than $100,000 per year 4) Median income for average US household is $53,000 5) Asian/White households are significantly higher, 70-90k per year
So I'd say not everyone is making above $100,000 per year but quite a large number are... say 31.1 million households (8-9% of the US total population)
I have 2-3 years experience on the platform I work on and I'm expecting to find my next job soon somewhere between 80-100k.
possibly relevant: I'm not in SF, I'm in the midwest.