Teachers Cannot Afford Average Rent

Most teachers, especially those early in their career, cannot afford the average U.S. rent with their salaries, Zillow reports.

Rent is particularly burdensome for teachers early in their careers: At the national level, the median market-rate rent takes a staggering 46.8% of a starting teacher’s salary. That improves to 35.6% for mid-career teachers and to 26.6% for the highest paid teachers — the last group finally falling below the 30% generally accepted threshold that deems housing costs to be affordable.

In 19 of the country’s largest 50 metro areas, starting-level teachers would pay more than half their salaries on the market rent.

The situation is generally better for teachers that can buy a home instead of rent one, thanks to the benefit of low mortgage interest rates and decades-long mortgage terms that help keep monthly payments very low, even as housing prices rise. Starting-level teachers pay 26.6% of their salaries on the median U.S. mortgage. Affordability improves for mid-career teachers to 20.2% and for the highest paid teachers to 15.1%.

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