After recent pay raises, here’s how teachers in Fresno, Clovis compare to state average
Teachers in Fresno County’s largest K-12 districts received above-average pay raises last school year but still lag behind California’s average teacher salary, according to new state data.
Average teacher pay in California public schools rose to $88,508 in the 2020-21 school year, an increase of 3.1% from 2020-21, new data from the California Department of Education show.
Fresno County’s four largest school districts pay an average salary less than that, even while receiving raises of between 3.5% and 5.6%.
However, the raises didn’t keep up with inflation, which increased about 8.6% from May 2021 to May 2022, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. So, in reality, many teachers across the state and in Fresno County saw their purchasing power drop.
Additionally, over the same period, typical home values in California rose by about 21% to $791,000, according to Zillow.
A quick way to adjust pay for cost of living is to calculate the difference between average teacher salary and the cost of the typically priced home.
For example, it would take over four years for a teacher making the average salary of roughly $86,000 in Fresno Unified to purchase a typically-priced home in Fresno, which cost about $372,094 at the end of 2022.
This isn’t as dramatic as in other parts of the state, such as Silicon Valley’s Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District, where — despite receiving the highest average pay in California — it would take a teacher roughly 10 years’ worth of paychecks in full to buy an average-priced home in Santa Clara County.
A snapshot of Fresno County
Fresno Unified, the county’s largest school district with over 72,000 students and 4,301 teachers as of the 2021-22 school year, paid its teachers an average of $85,768.
While Clovis Unified is Fresno County’s next-largest district with over 42,000 students and 1,965 teachers, its teachers have the lowest average salary of the county’s top four at $76,931.
The second-highest average salary of Fresno County’s four largest districts can be found in Central Unified, a district of almost 16,000 students and 705 teachers. The district paid those teachers an average of $82,691 a year.
Sanger Unified, with just over 13,000 students and 667 teachers, paid its teachers an average salary of $77,312.
While all four districts received raises of at least 3.5% — higher than the state average increase of 3.1% — some saw bigger increases than others.
The largest pay bump was in Sanger, where average pay went up 5.6%.
Clovis Unified teachers saw a 4.5% raise on average.
Average teacher pay went up by 3.9% and 3.5% in Fresno Unified and Central Unified, respectively.
It would take teachers in any four of these districts approximately five years’ pay to buy a typical home in Fresno.
A yearslong trend
These numbers in Fresno County and beyond fit into a larger trend of rising inflation that teacher wages have struggled to keep up with since 2015. Across California, average teacher pay increased by about 15% between 2015-16 and 2021-22. By comparison, inflation rose about 22% during that time.
It should also be noted that any of the above values only represent the average salary in each district and that pay can still vary widely for individual teachers.
In Fresno Unified, for example, while the average pay is over $85,000, the lowest-paid teacher makes $50,660.
Average teacher pay depends on a number of factors. Pay increases with seniority, so a district with mostly veteran teachers would tend to pay more on average than a district with a lot of inexperienced teachers.
Cost of living also plays a role, as districts located in expensive communities must pay more to attract talent.
This salary data is taken from a form sent to school districts each year. Districts educating the large majority of the state’s students usually complete the form. The figures used in this story show the “average salary paid” line from the form. That line is “the average salary that is paid to an employee on the certificated salary schedule. The average salary is determined by dividing the total salary schedule cost by “FTE,” an acronym for full-time equivalent teachers.
The Education Lab is a local journalism initiative that highlights education issues critical to the advancement of the San Joaquin Valley. It is funded by donors. Learn about The Bee’s Education Lab at its website.
