> There are elementary school teachers in San Francisco whose total pay and benefits in 2023 were $150k or more:
In 2025 San Francisco we have ads on buses advertising low income housing to people making less than $185k/year.
In 2025 San Francisco we have ads on buses advertising low income housing to people making less than $185k/year.
But, again, CoL isn't relevant when we're discussing whether a particular job has 'low pay'. My point was (and is) that teachers in San Francisco are well paid compared with people with similar academic achievement and similar capabilities in the same city. Even when you don't adjust for the number of weeks they work.
[0] Here are the 2025 110% AMI caps by household size from the City’s chart (gross income, before taxes):
1 person: $120,000
2 people: $137,150
3 people: $154,300
4 people: $171,450
5 people: $185,150 ← this is the "$185k*" you saw
6 people: $198,900
https://media.api.sf.gov/documents/2025_AMI-IncomeLimits-HMF...
Well it’s a little relevant when talking specific numbers. It’s hard to know if $number is high or low without some reference.
Thanks for clarifying the AMI stuff
It’s hard to know if $number is high or low without some reference.
So a primary school teacher who is the sole breadwinner of a 4-person household will be eligible for housing support. That doesn't seem that outlandish. If anything it seems very much like a developed nation property. I grew up in the Third World: America is nothing like it. Even the ways it fails are not like the Third World.
My region’s version of that ad is just as ridiculous to 95% of the world.
However I do think the U.S. does have a lot of range, which does look really weird at times. You can cross a county line and suddenly the roads turn into an amusement park ride. I think that’s the main “whaaat?” That comes to mind when I’ve travelled there. Well, that and abandoned cars on the side of the road.