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We examined 2019-20 teacher pay in a dozen larger Dayton-area school districts — Dayton, Centerville, Kettering, Springboro, Huber Heights, Miamisburg, Northmont, Troy, Xenia, Mad River, Fairborn and West Carrollton. Beavercreek was not included because the district is still negotiating its 2019-20 contract.
We studied three salary levels — how much do districts pay a first-year teacher who holds a bachelor’s degree? What do they pay a 10th year teacher with a master’s degree? And what’s the highest possible teacher salary in the district, for someone who has maxed-out both education level and years of experience?
Starting salary
This is how much a district pays a first-year teacher with a bachelor’s degree. It’s important, as new college graduates may have multiple job offers to choose from, with student loans to pay off right away.
For 2019-20, Dayton’s tentative deal tops this list, at $44,671, with Fairborn lowest at $36,103:
Dayton — $44,671
Mad River—$43,989
Huber Heights — $42,950
Centerville — $42,600
Xenia — $40,880
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West Carrollton — $40,717
Kettering — $40,651
Northmont — $40,620
Miamisburg — $40,559
Springboro — $40,091
Troy — $39,357
Fairborn — $36,103
Mid-career salary
For Ohio teachers, switching school districts after a certain point doesn’t make financial sense. Even if a teacher has been teaching for 20 years, in most districts, an incoming teacher can’t start higher than the 7- or 10-year “step” on the salary scale, limiting their starting salary in the new district.
This mid-career list shows how much schools pay a 10th year teacher with a master’s degree, in this case, assuming those 10 years have all been served in that district. For 2019-20, Huber Heights tops this list, at $70,223, with Fairborn again lowest at $56,502:
Huber Heights — $70,223
Centerville — $70,077
Kettering — $68,700
Mad River — $67,642
Miamisburg — $65,260
2016 DATA: See how every teacher salary chart looked locally
Troy — $64,427
Northmont — $63,632
Springboro — $63,444
Dayton — $63,146
West Carrollton — $63,088
Xenia — $62,445
Fairborn — $56,502
Top possible salary
If you want to be a teacher for 35 years — which, within a few years will be Ohio’s standard to receive a full retirement benefit — it’s good to know what the very peak of the salary scale is after 35 years. In four of these districts, getting to that peak requires a Ph.D. But the most common requirement is a master’s degree plus at least 30 extra semester hours.
In Centerville, it requires 34 years of service (most districts stop raises after 28 or 30 years), and those late-career raises are based on number of years in Centerville schools, not just number of years teaching in general.
For 2019-20, Centerville tops this list, at $110,738, with Fairborn again lowest at $82,134. In some smaller districts not on this list, the top salary is around $75,000, creating a $35,000 difference between the top and bottom districts:
Centerville — $110,738
Kettering — $104,067**
Huber Heights — $93,846**
Springboro — $92,711
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Mad River — $92,667
Xenia — $89,119
Troy — $89,104
Miamisburg — $88,947
Northmont — $88,484**
West Carrollton — $85,491
Dayton — $82,480**
Fairborn — $82,134
** — Requires Ph.D.
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