Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors Salary

It’s a stretch — at the median salary of $96K, rent takes 58.8% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $3,483/month. The 30% guideline puts the comfortable ceiling at roughly $1,800/month in rent — so roommates or a 1-bedroom would ease the math significantly.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors typically earn — is $84K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $5,020/month. At HUD’s $3,483/month FMR, rent would take 69% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Local pay is 56% above the national median — $96K here vs. $62K nationally. Keep in mind cost of living here is 10% above the national average, which offsets some of that premium.

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara pays $96K median vs. the U.S. average of $62K — that’s +56%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 110.42), the purchasing-power equivalent is $87K — still ahead of the national median.

The median is $96,280 a year, that works out to about $46 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $83,670, and experienced adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors can clear $116,520. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $5,919/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $3,483/month, which eats 58.8% of your paycheck. That's above the 30% rule of thumb, housing will be a stretch at the median salary, though you can manage with roommates or a smaller place.

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara has a Regional Price Parity of 110.42 (100 is the national average). Prices are above average here, so your dollar buys less than the same salary would in a cheaper metro. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors salary is worth about $87,194 in national-average purchasing power.

The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.