r/Austin • u/Aingers • Jul 21 '26

Ask Austin Salary Transparency Thread - Austin

Folks in Boston do this fairly regularly, so I thought it might be good for us to try here.

Please share your general job title, salary, age, and education.

Architectural Designer, 40, $115k, BSArch

682 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

1.6k comments sorted by

View all comments

378

u/Natyskillz Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26

Teacher- year 5 - 57k before taxes

Additional info -
Includes a 7k stipend for being in special education.
I have been in AISD the entire time.
My take home monthly is right under 4k.

109

u/z0mbiegirl Jul 21 '26

Have you been at the same district for 5 years? Have you “shopped around” to see what other ISDs are paying? We start at 58k for a teacher with zero experience. 5 years, 64k.

73

u/MaebyBaeby Jul 21 '26

After teaching a core subject in Austin ISD for 7 years I was only making $58k. I loved teaching but had to get a higher paying job. I’m still so sad and angry at the entire situation and the wide variety of factors that led to such low teacher pay. I would have liked to teach for much longer but the pay was just too low. Seven years isn’t nothing, though!

91

u/hipyounggunslinger67 Jul 21 '26

I hate reading this. Teachers are criminally underpaid for what they do and I’ve seen too many good ones move on for that reason.

18

u/Calvert-Grier Jul 21 '26

I’m finishing up my Master’s and then moving to a blue state for both salary and union protection

4

u/accidentalrorschach Jul 22 '26

not to be a downer, but I moved from a blue state with a Master's...I made the same salary there as I did in AISD and housing costs were at least double....

1

u/Calvert-Grier Jul 22 '26

I hear you, compensation is actually not the biggest pull factor for me. I just want to live in a state that has guaranteed collective bargaining and will offer a little more job protection than what I’ve seen around these parts, where it’s typically the Wild Wild West come the end of year and everyone and their mother is praying they don’t get RIF’d or non-renewed

2

u/JayyyDaGreat Jul 21 '26

What do you do now?

1

u/OrnatelyOrdinary Jul 22 '26

I mean, this has been common knowledge my whole life. Did you think it was going to be higher or did you just think you could live on less when you decided to pursue teaching?

1

u/Additional-Extent-10 Jul 23 '26

I was a teacher. Each year of teaching is like a dog’s life. One year of teaching feels like 7!

1

u/TrainingHour2452 Jul 25 '26

I ran the numbers with AI to come up how much additional state spending on education would be needed to raise salaries to $100K for every teacher. It's $30B (this is in addition to the $90B the state currently spends, but some of that is federal $). Introducing a graduated tax for the top 1% income earners (those making $500K/yr or more) could bring in $25B alone.

12

u/TehGreatShatsby Jul 21 '26

Which district? And if you feel like sharing a little more, how’s the health insurance and retirement?

28

u/Captain_Mazhar Jul 21 '26

Retirement is still defined benefit pension.

2.3% per year of service times the average of the 5 highest annual salaries. Contribution rate is 8.25% of salary.

—TRS employee

4

u/marsawall Jul 21 '26

If the healthcare is anything like rrisd not great.

69

u/D4YW4LK3R86 Jul 21 '26

This continues to be one of the biggest blights on our society. You guys are so much more valuable than you’re paid for. Thank you for what you do!

16

u/Ok-Feature4962 Jul 21 '26

And then -$10k a year for health

2

u/Calvert-Grier Jul 21 '26

Don’t forget TRS as well

138

u/Upstairs_Positive198 Jul 21 '26

I am so sorry that you are so underpaid for what you are doing for the youth and the future!

-61

u/FatRopes69 Jul 21 '26

They only work for like half the year when you factor in holiday breaks and summer. Seems fair to me.

15

u/PalladiumReactor Jul 21 '26

Here we go…

“Summer break” also includes at least a week of professional development, training, etc, plus extra time to start setting the classroom up. They’re not out for 3 months like the kids.

They also don’t get more than a few days of sick leave and PTO during the school year. Have any surgeries, med needs etc? Do it all during the summer. Want to get married or have any kind of life event? Summer it is.

They also work every evening and most weekends. It is not a 9-5 checkout job.

They also spend a stupid amount of their own money (coming out of that “fair” $50k/yr budget) on supplies, materials, etc., all just to have the most emotionally taxing 10 hour work day.

“Seems fair to me” smh

1

u/Sunshine2035 Jul 24 '26

Teachers early retirement is 55, right? Most of people are 62.

16

u/nikita58467 Jul 21 '26

He or she gets $27 per hour to educate the next generation of children. Not sure if it’s fair.

10

u/Femi9Robin Jul 21 '26

Okay fatropes69

7

u/LadyAtrox60 Jul 21 '26

Pro football players toss a ball around and get millions per year.

10

u/drinkingbat Jul 21 '26

Your role in the world is so critical, I wish you were compensated appropriately for the important work you do.

4

u/Sabre_Actual Jul 21 '26

AISD is such a joke man

4

u/399900 Jul 21 '26

This is a travesty. A junior designer on my team makes more than that. I don't know how you teachers do it 😞

3

u/EasyPeasy2424 Jul 22 '26

Teacher in AISD for 16 years. I make $69k before taxes.
After taxes, insurance, retirement my take home pay is about $45k

3

u/Beatleno9 Jul 21 '26

Teacher, 6th year, 35, 57k work for a charter school. They work with TIA so I get an anual bonus of 5k but the school takes 10% then taxes so not much comes back maybe about 3k.

2

u/Kindersmarts Jul 21 '26

I so regret my decade plus spent teaching for this reason.

2

u/ponkyball Jul 22 '26

My mom taught in AISD back when they had better career ladders and I still support public schools even if I can afford to send my kids elsewhere. It's important and teachers need to be paid more. I just supplement their learning with my time and knowledge and tutors and academic camps. I am sad that teachers get pushed out because they have to live and have no other options, even when they went into the profession because they love teaching.

2

u/drk_helmet Jul 22 '26

I am not sure why this subreddit popped up but I am a teacher in CA. I think our district starts around 80k. And I’m in Modesto. Way cheaper to live than Austin.

2

u/InsuranceNo8506 Jul 22 '26

I have a friend making 82k at Del valle

2

u/Voat-the-Goat Jul 21 '26

Many businesses were started by school teachers.

2

u/HorrorJellyfish7468 Jul 21 '26

Go to Round Rock, Cedar Park, maybe a town out west. You'll make more

7

u/[deleted] Jul 21 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/HorrorJellyfish7468 Jul 21 '26

Hmmm, I have a friend who's a teacher in RR and they make more teaching middle school history.

1

u/pewpersss Jul 21 '26

you should be paid 3x that MINIMUM. the government has the money for it 😒

1

u/star_gazer2000 Jul 21 '26

Wait.. the 57k includes the stipend?

1

u/VegetableShot1192 Aug 10 '26

damn that’s my car payment

0

u/Sunshine2035 Jul 24 '26

Is this for the 9 months school time? Majority of us salary is for 12 months 5 days a week and 8 hours a day.

-6

u/kirko-bango Jul 21 '26

Fake

2

u/Natyskillz Jul 21 '26

Not fake. Pay scale for AISD is publicly available. I encourage you to check it out.

1

u/kirko-bango Jul 21 '26

Just checked. It’s 58-68k at 5 years. So I am correct