A new report from Airbnb shows one-tenth of the company's American hosts is an educator, further highlighting the financial burdens of the industry.
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According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the National Center for Education Statistics and the National Education Society, the average annual salary for K-12 public school teachers hovers between $45,500 and $58,000, often depending on where you live.
In metro Atlanta, teacher pay averages roughly $55,000. And the state boasts one of the widest pay gaps in the nation.
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According to Airbnb's "Celebrating our Community of Teacher Hosts" report, 45,000 teacher hosts in the U.S. earned a total $160 million in 2017, making up nearly one-third of that bundle during the summertime months.
Hosting on Airbnb offered teachers an average $6,500 of supplemental income, according to the report. Hosts said the extra money helped with bills, retirement savings and vacation spending.
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Educators in Wisconsin, Utah and Ohio dominated the report, while city dwellers in New York, Seattle and San Francisco made the highest profits.
Many teachers praised the experience of hosting as a way of meeting people from all over the world and using their teaching skills to share the knowledge.
"But this relationship, even if mutually beneficial, only exists because for so many teachers, their primary career isn't enough to sustain them," The Atlantic's Alia Wong reported.
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According to the NCES, 94 percent of public school teachers in the United States spend their own money on school supplies.
And even when adjusted for inflation, teachers last year earned less than they did in 1990.
With rising housing and living coasts from coast to coast, it’s hardly surprising teachers are opting for supplemental income streams.
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And hosting on Airbnb isn’t the only way teachers have thickened their wallets.
According to the Atlantic, many teachers in recent years have also started driving for rideshare companies during their free time.
Teachers are also five times more likely than the average American full-time employee to have a part-time job, Vox reported in April.
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