Cross-profession planning comparison

Teacher Salary Comparison Calculator

Compare your estimated teacher workload to the average hourly equivalent of selected professions. This is a comparison tool, not a claim that different professions are equivalent.

Important: Comparison results are estimates only.

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What it shows

  • Your estimated effective hourly rate
  • The selected profession’s hourly equivalent
  • Your yearly hours valued at that rate
  • The difference from your entered salary

Start here

If you’re not sure where to begin, follow these steps:

1. Estimate your workloadExtra Hours Calculator
2. Compare your workloadSalary Comparison Calculator
3. Plan long-termRetirement Calculator
This calculator provides general planning estimates based on user inputs and publicly available data. It is not affiliated with NHRS, BLS, the State of New Hampshire, or any employer and may not reflect your exact benefits or compensation.

Salary comparison calculator

Enter your salary and yearly hours. If you do not know your yearly hours yet, use the Extra Hours Calculator first.

Wage-data note: This version is structured to use BLS OEWS data. Current dataset status: review before launch.

Work-year note: The PTO-adjusted full-time year (1,920 hours) reflects a typical full-time job with time off built in, such as vacation days, holidays, and personal leave. The 2,080-hour option represents a full 40-hour workweek across all 52 weeks without accounting for time off.

Using salary comparisons responsibly

This tool compares a teacher's user-entered annual hours and salary with selected occupation wage assumptions. It is not designed to prove that one career is better, harder, or more valuable than another. Different jobs include different schedules, benefits, risks, required credentials, flexibility, stressors, and long-term opportunities.

What this comparison can show

  • How total hours can change the way a salary feels.
  • How effective hourly rate changes when extra work is included.
  • Why salary comparisons should include assumptions, not just headlines.

For more context, read the salary comparison guide.

How to read the profession comparison

This tool does not claim that teaching is equivalent to engineering, sales, nursing, insurance, skilled trades, public safety, or any other profession. It simply asks: if the number of hours you entered were paid at the average hourly equivalent of another occupation, what would that annual amount be?

Because many full-time jobs include paid holidays or vacation time, the calculator includes a work-year assumption. The PTO-adjusted setting uses 1,920 hours, while the 2,080-hour setting uses the traditional 40 hours x 52 weeks baseline.

School and education-adjacent

Closest comparisons, such as school counselors, instructional coordinators, and librarians.

People-centered public service

Care, service, and communication-heavy roles, such as nurses, social workers, and HR specialists.

Professional careers

Cross-profession comparisons such as engineers, accountants, training specialists, and marketing specialists.

Sales and business careers

Common career-change comparisons such as insurance agents, sales representatives, real estate agents, and financial advisors.

Skilled trades and logistics

Relatable public-salary-discussion comparisons such as electricians, plumbers, HVAC mechanics, and delivery drivers.

High-variance technology careers

Roles where pay can vary widely by industry, region, experience, and employer.

Estimate your yearly hours first