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Is it possible to support a family in this area on a teacher's salary?
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Anonymous
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It's totally doable. You just have to rent, not own, and the rental can't be a lavish luxury tower thing in downtown Bethesda with paid parking.
Rent is a dirty 4-letter word in these parts for people over the age of 30. So we often forget about that option for >families< |
Anonymous
In my neighborhood, I guess! We bought a house in MoCo on 45k annual HHI, but we brought a lot of equity with us. |
Anonymous
I agree. Unfortunately, not everyone makes enough money to buy a house. That's what happened to so many people during the whole mortgage mess - people bought houses they couldn't afford and then couldn't make the payments on them. There is nothing wrong with raising a child/children in an apartment - people do it all the time and survive. |
Anonymous
| The whole "American Dream" thing is a crock really. Not everyone should own a house and the banks should be partly to blame for loaning people the money to buy one when they couldn't afford it. |
Anonymous
| If you're further out or if you rent, sure. |
Anonymous
| DC real estate pricing are getting unreasonably high--to the point where I think that we will see more and more wealthy renters, like you find in SF and NYC. This economy and the housing bubble pop have made people re-think the validity of renting. Also, if there are more and more wealthy renters, hopefully rental laws will help to protect long-term renters against unreasonable rent hikes (as is the case in much of Europe). |
Anonymous
| Who is earning $45K in MCPS? MCPS's starting salary for a teacher with just a bachelor's is $46,410. If you're asking whether a brand new teacher, without a master's degree can raise a family on one income -- it would be tight and it probably wouldn't mean owning a home. Luckily most people don't have their kids right out of college. Get a master's degree and work for 5 years before your firstborn comes along and you're making $58,225, which is a much more doable number. |
Anonymous
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I think someone mentioned that there may be an affordable housing type program with Montgomery County for teachers, firefighters, police etc. There may be a waiting list and you are limited in what you can take away as equity, but it could be a way in to buy. My co-workers son qualified for something like that as a firefighter in VA. The income threshold cap wasn't that high so it was one of those things if he moved over to another county/station that paid slightly higher he could no longer qualify for the program.
Not sure if the question is in regards to someone being SAHM or SAHD or if it is a single-parent. Childcare is one of the biggest expenses so if there is family that can help with aftercare or a Stay-at-home parent - that would make a huge difference. I have two kids in preschool now and it's more than my mortgage payment. |
Anonymous
The OP did not specify a school district - just "teacher." Many teachers make 45k -- or less! |
Anonymous
Absolutely true. But the original question is "is it possible to support a family on a teacher's salary", not "can every teacher support a family on their salary". In addition, the post I was replying stated that you can't find housing in Montgomery County on that salary. The only reason I could really see where a teacher would feel like the "have to" live in MC would be if they taught there, so I assume we are talking about MCPS teachers. If you teach in a less expensive area such as PG, Howard etc . . . it would make sense to me to choose to live in that area, rather than commuting from MC. |
Anonymous
Understood, but what about teachers who live in MC? Are they supposed to live in PG, Howard, etc.? I don't think you can rent or buy housing in Montgomery County for a family on a MCPS teacher's starting (or even relatively inexperienced teacher's) salary. |
Anonymous
I agree (assuming not big former equity from buying a house a decade ago like a PP mentioned). BUT, not everyone is lucky enough to be able to afford to have a SAHP. Can a family rent/buy middle class level housing in MC on 2 teacher's salaries or the equivalent - yes, I think that's feasible but of course not in every single neighborhood of MC. |
Anonymous
Agreed, but the original questions was whether it is possible to support a family in this area on "a teacher's salary" - not *two* teachers' salaries. I think the answer to the OP is no, not possible. |
Anonymous
| There is plenty of affordable housing in parts of MoCo -- Poolesville, Damascus, Laytonsville, etc. And now I'm seeing foreclosures for as cheap as $150,000. It's not easy by any means, but it's doable. |
Anonymous
| The answer to the question the OP asked is clearly no, not in what I would consider the DC area. My husband and I rented in NoMoCo and I made slightly more than most starting teachers and we rented the cheapest place we could find, while he was going to school. We lived very, very simply, but it was still hard and we bounced a few checks--something I never did before moving to this area. If you are asking if you could add children to that and live on one salary? Again, definitely no. He's a government attorney now who makes less than most and I still think it would be very difficult to live on just his salary. |