Moving abroad to teach at an international school means leaving some security behind, including family and friends. But what about pay? Do international schools pay well? Are the packages worth my time and effort? Will I be able to make ends meet or go beyond that? When we talk about international school salaries and packages, that covers several different things: salary, housing, moving allowances, flights, health insurance, retirement, and professional development. Let’s dig into what these can look like.
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However, before we get too deep into these, we recommend you read about international school tiers. These are a very informal and subjective ranking of international schools, but they can help provide insight into what a school might offer before you receive anything. We also highly recommend you research and ask about a school and its package if you’re expecting or have received an offer. The International Teachers sub-Reddit, International Schools Review, and Glassdoor are good places to start. You should also be checking with your recruitment agency. Schools will have information available via those agencies about possible salaries, potential savings, housing, and more.
Now that you’ve examined these, we can dig into what might make up international school salaries and packages.
International School Salaries
You won’t find a common salary amongst cities or countries. Unlike the US, where each state might set its teacher salary, international schools are not beholden to that. Each school will determine what it pays its faculty and staff depending on various factors: student-body size, tuition, cost of living, and years of experience and education. Schools will use salary scales, and you might even be able to negotiate your salary. Unfortunately, not every school will present you with a salary scale. For many, this can be a red flag. It doesn’t matter for others as long as the number satisfies them. Ultimately, it’s your choice.
Salaries could range (we really want to stress this is just a possible range) from $35,000 to $70,000 or more, depending on location. Sadly, we cannot give you the bottom or top salaries because they aren’t standard. Generally, schools in the Middle East and China (as of 2024) tend to offer some of the best salaries. Western Europe is known for being difficult to get into and offering very middling salaries after taxes.
Negotiations can happen in international schools, but it isn’t necessarily the norm. It can depend on your position, any dependents, other offers you’re fielding, and more. We know of a few teachers who have leveraged their positions into better offers. It’s not, however, something we have ever personally had experience with.
International school salaries do compare with those back in the US, usually considerably. There are notable exceptions, such as Washington State, New York, California, Massachusetts, and others. However, these states also have an incredibly high cost of living in major cities, while rural areas are far more manageable. Private schools in the US can also rival international school salaries, probably going even higher for some of those top-tier US schools. The biggest difference, however, is taxes. You’ll not pay home country taxes on most international school salaries (check out our post on taxes as an expat).
Let’s look at a real-world example. When living in the US, we made approximately $140,000 gross as private school educators. After taxes, we only made around $115,000. Our international school salaries, however, are less overall than our Hawaiian gross but more than our net take-home pay in Hawaii. Plus, we don’t have to cover rent (more on this next)!
Ultimately, international school salaries can be lower than you make at home. Still, generally, you might be able to save more when combined with the cost of living and the rest of the package, particularly housing. It all depends on the country and overall costs there. To get an idea of cost of living in different locations across the world (and even compare them with your city in some cases!), check out sites like Numbeo and Expatica.
International School Housing
As mentioned in the example above, our international school salary is more than what we made in the US, though not by much. International school salaries, while great, are even better when you look at the whole package. Housing is a common part of almost every school’s package. However, there are some schools, countries, or cities where housing might not be covered (think Western Europe, some schools in Hong Kong, and possibly Singapore). Returning to our example of us in Hawaii, our rent was $2200 monthly. Yes, we could walk to Waikiki, but that’s a lot of money and it came all out of pocket! With schools covering your housing, international school salaries go much further. This usually happens in one of two ways.
School-Provided Housing
Many schools have housing on or near campus or have special leases with apartment complexes around the city. This means that you’ll have your home ready and waiting for you when you arrive. You can unpack and start settling in, making it easy to immediately start getting a feel for how you’ll live rather than focusing on where you’ll have to live. Most schools will have a welcome basket with some basic necessities like some fruit, bread, milk, cereal, coffee or tea, etc., so you can at least make yourself breakfast the first day you wake up in your new place. Some schools will even ask you ahead of time what you’d like to have included in your welcome basket (our current school in Saudi Arabia did this!).
These places often have basic amenities, including appliances, some basic cookware, cutlery, and flatware to help you get started. Teachers usually supplement these with their purchases, but you can start living your life immediately, which, if this is your first time going abroad, arriving into what will be your new apartment or house is a big relief and can help ease your mind and the minds of your loved ones at home.
Housing Stipend
Other schools might offer teachers a stipend to help them find their own living arrangements. Sometimes, this means spending your first year (or possibly more) in school-provided housing, then moving out to find a place you have chosen and paying rent with a stipend provided by the school. Other times, it might mean the school provides a hotel for a couple of weeks until you get set up and find your own place and pay rent with the school stipend (less common).
Many larger international schools are outside the city, so teachers have the space they desire. A housing stipend allows teachers to live in the heart of the city, where they might spend more time and enjoy their lives at home. This can mean a longer commute but for many teachers that is worth it to live in the city and be closer to amenities.
Teachers could choose to find an apartment or home that goes beyond the stipend, but most do not. Some schools offer a flat stipend, regardless of the cost of your apartment. This means some teachers pocket the excess stipend. Some schools only offer a stipend for the actual rental amount.
Housing Allowances
Whatever the case, schools covering housing is one of the biggest benefits international teachers get as part of their packages. For example, in the US, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, housing is the largest expense for American households. Allowances such as housing, whether it’s assigned by the school or a stipend directly paid to you, combined with international school salaries, allow many teachers to truly increase their take-home pay.
Settling-In Allowance
School-provided housing will come with the basic amenities needed to survive, but not necessarily everything you really need. You may want to purchase different coffee mugs or more cutlery. You’ll almost certainly want to buy cleaning supplies and more sheets and towels. Well, most schools help with this as well.
Often built into most contracts is a settling-in allowance. It’s a one-time gift that ranges in amount depending on school and location, and teachers can use it to buy everyday household items. It may or may not be enough depending on each person, but it’s a great starting point for making your home start to feel a bit like ‘yours.’ Settling-in allowances are typically paid in cash and in local currency, and can not only help you get more comfortable by buying household items you may need, but also help you get by while you get your first paycheck, which usually happens several weeks after you arrive.
Shipping Allowances
Along with a settling-in allowance, most schools also include a one-time payment for teachers (usually reimbursed) for moving to the new country and another when leaving. This can be used for excess luggage or properly shipping items to your new home (schools can usually help you get set up with a moving company they’ve worked with – ask your new HR representative).
When you finish a contract and decide to leave, many schools also offer shipping to help you move, be it back home or to a new country and school. Like everything else, this depends on the school and country/city.
Flights – To and From
International school salaries usually allow for teachers to travel a fair bit, but many choose to go home for the summer. These can be expensive tickets. Schools will often purchase a flight for you when you first arrive in the country. This is because they like to have new hires arrive simultaneously to help with all the simple logistics and pick-ups.
After this, however, you’ll usually receive a flight home from the school. Some schools will ask you to meet to give you some options and purchase the ticket(s) on your behalf. Others will provide you with the money for a flight; how you use it is up to you. It should almost always cover the amount for a ticket home. Some teachers might find the cheapest flights they can and pocket the extra. Some might choose to fly somewhere other than home and travel. Occasionally, some decide to stay put and keep it all!
Either way, flight allowances to your home of record are common at nearly every international school. These allowances allow teachers to travel home to see family and friends and save money in the process!
Health Insurance
All schools will ensure that you have some health insurance. They aim to ensure you stay at their school, and health insurance keeps you feeling secure. Not all health insurance is created equal, though. Some schools offer insurance for in-country only. Others will offer in-country and emergency worldwide insurance. Others might give you both in-country and full coverage in your home country. It’s best to check with your school about the insurance coverage.
Should your insurance not cover anything out of the country or only for emergencies worldwide, you might want to look into supplemental insurance when you travel. There are many options, but we recommend SafetyWing (we are a SafetyWing affiliate and receive a small commission at no extra cost to you). SafetyWing has plenty of options for short-term and long-term travel to fit all your needs.
No matter what, every school worth working at will ensure you are covered in-country. You might not be thrilled with the quality of care or bedside manners in each country, but it will be provided. It’s also important to discuss with the school any previous conditions that might be difficult to receive care for or prescription medication for. Prescription medications and over-the-country drugs available in the US might not be available in other places or may require a prescription when they wouldn’t at home. One notable example is ibuprofen: while easily available over the counter in large quantities in the US, it is a prescription drug in many countries.
Retirement with International School Salaries
Retirement can be tricky when you work at an international school. International school salaries are great, and you’ll not pay taxes in your home country, but it can also mean missing out on certain programs at home, like Social Security or the National Pension system. Many countries can restrict what kind of money you can invest at home or into what kinds of accounts. In the US, for example, you need taxable income to invest in a 401K or IRA.
However, there are other options available. You can look into different brokerages to invest in mutual funds, ETFs, target date funds, crypto (not our recommendation), or others. You’ll need to look into your home country’s restrictions on investments and retirement management before you go abroad. To help you get a better idea of how to manage that money, there are several books we recommend. Two of these books are by author Andrew Hallam, an American who worked as an international teacher himself and stopped to focus on how to improve his finances.
- Ramit Sethi – I Will Teach You To Be Rich
- Andrew Hallam – Millionaire Expat
- Andrew Hallam – Millionaire Teacher
- Broke Millennial Talks Money – Erin Lowry
- The Financial Diet – Chelsea Fagan
There are a few schools (very few) that offer retirement options. This might be depositing money into a retirement account back in the US, offering a match, or something similar. It’s not common, but it can happen.
Overall, however, as an international school teacher, you should be prepared to start managing your own retirement accounts or at least seek help from professionals to help you set up something that works for you.
Professional Development
As part of any good international school package, a professional development allotment is the norm. Some schools offer set amounts, and all you need to do is get approved to be able to attend. These allotments usually help to cover flights and hotels if necessary. Other schools might not offer a set amount but will cover fees for any professional development. It may or may not include flights and hotels if those are needed.
Each school will be different and might not cover all the professional development you want. For example, if you’re interested in IB training, but your school is not an IB school, they may be reluctant to approve that. Some schools will also decline professional development if you are in the last year of your contract and are not renewing. They will not want to invest that money into someone they know is leaving.
International School Salaries & Packages – Final Thoughts
First, remember that these are just guidelines. The aspects of a contract we’ve discussed are generalities you can and should look for in a contract with an international school but are not guaranteed. International school salaries and packages can vary. Typically, specific questions about salaries and packages need to wait until you’ve made it past the first interview. To find out more about the school’s compensation before you apply, you can check the school’s recruitment/careers page (many schools publish recruitment packages with detailed explanations of benefits), or their profile in your recruitment platform of choice, if you use one.
The items discussed above, however, are considered pretty standard for contracts in the international school world. Remember that unlike many of the countries teachers come from, salaries and packages are not standardized and vary between schools, cities, and/or countries.
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