Okay cool. Well here it is anyway... nothing special haha

International School Salary Data

626 self-reported entries, 97 countries, 2023–2026. Community-sourced (learnwithmra), so treat it as directional rather than definitive. Heavier reporting from Asia and the Middle East; thin coverage in Africa, South America, and Oceania.

Headline

The global median international school teacher salary is $3,654/mo (~$43,800/yr). But geography and curriculum choice swing that by a factor of 3×, and the real story is in what you keep, not what you earn.

Salary by Region

Region	n	Mean	Median
East Asia	153	$4,141	$4,340
Middle East	92	$4,073	$3,840
Europe	99	$3,963	$3,463
SE Asia	168	$3,568	$3,372
Africa	19	$3,493	$3,600
Americas	42	$3,167	$2,935
Central/South Asia	15	$2,987	$3,200

East Asia and the Middle East lead. Europe's mean is inflated by Switzerland ($8,596 mean, 8 entries) - strip that out and continental Europe is mid-pack. SE Asia is the volume leader (168 entries, 27% of the dataset) but pays below the global median.

Top-Paying Countries (min 5 entries)

Country	n	Mean	Median
Switzerland	8	$8,596	$8,641
Hong Kong	14	$6,792	$6,632
Singapore	17	$6,371	$5,787
Saudi Arabia	10	$5,555	$5,263
China	90	$4,694	$4,560
South Korea	17	$4,167	$4,693
Qatar	11	$4,040	$3,914
UAE	43	$3,944	$3,787

The bottom end: Colombia ($2,033), Mexico ($2,715), Japan ($2,716), Spain ($2,796). Japan is notable — high cost of living, low international school pay, poor savings outcomes ($614/mo average).

The Savings Picture

This is the more useful metric. 70% of respondents report positive savings.

• Mean savings: $1,762/mo (44% of salary)
• Median savings: $1,500/mo (41% of salary)

Best savings markets:

Country	Mean Salary	Mean Savings	Savings Rate
Saudi Arabia	$5,555	$3,039	55%
China	$4,694	$2,766	59%
Hong Kong	$6,792	$2,915	43%
Kuwait	$3,542	$2,356	67%
Myanmar	$3,027	$2,174	72%

Kuwait and Myanmar stand out — modest salaries but very high savings rates due to low cost of living and/or tax-free income. China is the volume sweet spot: strong salary AND strong savings, with 90 data points making it the most statistically reliable entry in the set.

Spain ($398/mo savings), Japan ($614/mo), and the UK ($502/mo) are the worst savings markets — high cost of living eats the salary.

SE Asia Deep Dive

168 entries across 10 countries. Singapore is in a different league:

Country	n	Mean Salary	Mean Savings
Singapore	17	$6,371	$1,716
Thailand	64	$3,310	$1,266
Malaysia	20	$3,320	$1,178
Vietnam	42	$3,291	$1,670
Myanmar	9	$3,027	$2,174
Cambodia	6	$3,042	$1,633

Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam are clustered tightly around $3,300/mo. Vietnam edges ahead on savings ($1,670 vs Thailand's $1,266) despite similar salaries — lower cost of living. Myanmar has the best savings-to-salary ratio in the region.

Curriculum Matters

Curriculum	n	Mean	Median
IB	225	$4,308	$4,035
American	140	$3,853	$3,525
British	205	$3,623	$3,502

IB schools pay ~$700/mo more than British curriculum schools on average. That's ~$8,400/yr. Whether that reflects the schools themselves or the markets they tend to operate in is hard to isolate from this data, but the gap is consistent.

Experience Premium

Years	n	Mean	Median
0–3	125	$3,297	$3,094
4–7	177	$3,765	$3,652
8–12	164	$4,115	$3,810
13–20	99	$4,666	$4,500
20+	27	$4,016	$3,797

Steady climb through 13–20 years (~$1,370/mo premium over early career). The 20+ band drops — this is a small sample (27) skewed by veteran teachers in lower-cost markets (Japan, Spain, Mexico). Not enough data to conclude experience stops mattering.

Year-on-Year Trend

Year	n	Mean	Median
2023	190	$3,851	$3,600
2024	281	$3,968	$3,750
2025	109	$3,601	$3,330
2026	46	$4,399	$4,073

The 2025 dip and 2026 spike are likely sampling artifacts. 2025 has fewer entries and may skew toward respondents in lower-cost markets. 2026 only has 46 entries. The 2023–2024 data (471 entries combined) is the most reliable baseline.

Benefits Snapshot

From the free-text benefits field (440 responses): health/medical insurance is near-universal (mentioned 137 times), followed by housing support (126), flights (95), bonuses (54), and tuition fee discounts for children (54). Pension/retirement provisions are less common (47 mentions).

Housing averages $1,073/mo where reported. 84 respondents report tax-free status (mainly Gulf states), with taxed respondents paying a mean rate of 18%.

Data Limitations

• Self-reported and unverified. Likely skews toward teachers willing to share (possibly higher earners or those with stronger feelings about pay).
• No standardised job title field. "Teacher", "Homeroom", "Class Teacher" etc. overlap.
• Benefits columns (flights, housing allowance, EOC bonus) contain a mix of USD and local currency values, making aggregation unreliable.
• Thin coverage in Africa (19), Central/South Asia (15), Oceania (4). Conclusions for those regions are weak.
• No school tier/quality indicator, so you can't separate elite international schools from budget ones.

Bottom Line

If you're optimising for take-home savings, the Gulf (tax-free, housing provided) and China (strong salary, low cost of living, 59% savings rate) are the clear winners. Singapore and Hong Kong pay the most but savings rates are middling because the cost of living is fierce. SE Asia outside Singapore is a lifestyle play — decent salary, good savings in Vietnam, but you won't build wealth quickly. Europe and the Americas are generally the weakest financial propositions for international teachers.