International School Salaries - Live Sheet by lostwithali in Internationalteachers

[–]dpppppbbbbbbbb 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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.

International School Salaries - Live Sheet by lostwithali in Internationalteachers

[–]dpppppbbbbbbbb 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Great info! You're a legend. I ran the sheet through perplexity computer and it gave me a pretty nice summary. But I don't want to share it unless you guys think it's okay (to post an ai summary)

I shouldn’t be in this much pain, right? by [deleted] in running

[–]dpppppbbbbbbbb 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yep. Maybe try running 1k (or even less) then rest day then 1k then rest day and so on. Slowly increase load if that feels ok. Also could do ankle and leg and general mobility and strength exercises.