Liz, while living in NYC on $55,000 is damn near impossible, the $36,000/year in North Carolina is very easy to do.

My wife is a teacher, she moved from Ohio to teach in NC. She never needed a roomate, never needed to borrow money, and never maxed out any credit cards to “make it”. And this is in Charlotte, a major metropolitan area. Just comparing rent, average rent in N.C. is a little over $800/month while the average rent in NYC is $2600/month!

So, it’s a fabrication to say “teachers in the U.S. can’t make it.” There are some areas where this may ring true, but if you need to earn $250,000/year to be comfortable somewhere, chances are being a teacher is going to be tough.