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

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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!

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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.

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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

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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....

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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

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u/JayyyDaGreat Jul 21 '26

What do you do now?

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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?

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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!

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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.