Poway Unified Among Best SD School Districts To Teach In: Report

POWAY, CA — Public school teachers can make vastly different salaries, depending on which school district employs them. While money is far from the only factor that determines a good place to teach, it certainly matters.

Niche — a website known for its extensive rankings of schools, universities and communities — released rankings on the "best places to teach" in San Diego County, in California and in the United States. Poway Unified School District ranked sixth among San Diego area school districts, according to the list.

The platform's methodology incorporates several factors, including a school district's overall Niche grade, resources and facilities, and student-teacher ratio. But 30 percent of Niche's calculations include each district's average teacher salary and teacher salary index — the average teacher salary normalized by median household income by county.

The average salary of public school teachers was $85,856 in 2020-21 in California, according to the California Department of Education. Niche's evaluations use average salary data from the U.S. Department of Education.

As far as San Diego County's best places to teach, many of the districts atop Niche's list are in affluent communities and have an average educator salary of $100,000 or higher. And many placed high in Niche's rankings of San Diego County's top school districts.

Here are the San Diego area districts that finished highest, along with their average teacher salaries:

1. Solana Beach Elementary School District, $141,209
2. San Dieguito Union High School District, $110,214
3. Coronado Unified School District, $97,557
4. Del Mar Union Elementary School District, $128,937
5. San Marcos Unified School District, $133,683
6. Poway Unified School District, $91,035
7. Cardiff Elementary School District, $113,285
8. Rancho Santa Fe Elementary School District, $106,781
9. Encinitas Union Elementary School District, $111,958
10. Carlsbad Unified School District, $89,906

Here are the California districts that finished highest, along with their average teacher salaries:

1. Solana Beach Elementary School District, $141,209
2. Carmel Unified School District, $121,948
3. Tahoe-Truckee Unified School District, $106,017
4. Laguna Beach Unified School District, $127,138
5. Arcadia Unified School District, $111,323
6. Saint Helena Unified School District, $134,288
7. Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, $105,691
8. Beverly Hills Unified School District, $105,670
9. Redondo Beach Unified School District, $97,513
10. Pacific Grove Unified School District, $133,421
11. San Dieguito Union High School District, $110,214
12. El Segundo Unified School District, $97,490
13. Buellton Union Elementary School District, $138,747
14. Coronado Unified School District, $97,557
15. Portola Valley Elementary School District, $135,586
16. Owens Valley Unified School District, $93,906
17. La Canada Unified School District, $94,097
18. Del Mar Union Elementary School District, $128,937
19. South Pasadena Unified School District, $97,105
20. Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District, $95,806
21. Palo Alto Unified School District, $124,742
22. Holtville Unified School District, $88,855
23. San Marino Unified School District, $90,822
24. Whittier Union High School District, $112,852
25. Tamalpais Union High School District, $107,253

Teacher salaries depend on numerous factors, such as district contracts, seniority and local cost of living.

The average starting salary was $49,933 for California teachers in the 2020-21 school year, according to the National Education Association. The profession's average starting salary in the country that school year was $41,770.

Where does your school district rank? See Niche's full list of the best places to teach in California.