Can Teachers Afford a Home in the Nation’s Largest Metros?
According to recent statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor, there are around 4.2 million preschool, primary, secondary and special education teachers in the United States, making teaching one of the most popular careers in the country. Teachers are also among the most trusted professionals in the nation, with at least 60% of Americans placing high or very high degrees of trust in both grade and high school teachers.
That makes it no surprise that teacher pay is a hot-button issue for many Americans.
With that in mind, LendingTree, the nation’s largest online loan marketplace, asked whether or not teachers in the nation’s largest metropolitan areas are paid enough to be able to afford a home. What we found is that, assuming they can afford to dedicate around 28% of their income toward housing, most teachers are paid well enough to be able to buy the median-priced home in their area.
Key findings
- In 46 of the nation’s 50 largest metros, teachers in the nation’s largest metros can afford to buy the median-priced home in their city. Assuming a teacher can afford to spend 28% of their annual salary on a home, then they shouldn’t have too much trouble paying for a house in most of the nation’s largest metros. Our data shows teachers can afford to spend about $431 more on a home than they would need to buy a median priced home.
- Teachers from the Buffalo, N.Y., Pittsburgh and Detroit areas will likely have the easiest time affording a home. On average, teachers in these areas can afford to spend a little over $1,000 more a month on housing than what would be required to buy a median-valued home.
- San Jose, Calif., San Francisco and Los Angeles are the metros where home affordability would be hardest for teachers. In these metros, a teacher would need to shell out an average of $985 more than what they could comfortably afford in order to buy a house.
- While homes in many of the nation’s metros might look affordable to the average teacher, it is important to remember that teachers are often saddled with things like massive student loan debt and other monthly expenses related to their job. For example, those who earned a master’s degree in education graduated with an average loan debt of $50,879 in 2012. This debt load could require hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in monthly loan payments each month, which can severely limit the amount of money left over for home costs. As a result, many teachers may struggle to allocate 28% of their salary to a home, regardless of what their salary is.