A Sequoia Union High School District teacher’s starting salary of $86,466 is considered low-income in the Bay Area and makes purchasing a nearby home impossible during their first few years on the job.
Towering living costs in areas nearby M-A give way to long staff commutes, as teachers are forced to live in more affordable areas-especially when they want to buy a house for themself. According to the California Association of Realtors, the 2023 median home price in San Mateo County was $1,960,000, while the statewide median was $813,980, and the national median was $394,600. The 54 teachers responded to an M-A Chronicle survey about how close they live to campus.
According to the data collected, 78% of teachers live more than five miles from M-A, and only 30% live within SUHSD boundaries. 39% of teachers have at least a thirty-minute commute*, with the average being roughly 27 minutes.
Teachers are often affected considerably by their lengthy commutes. AS English II teacher Anton Gerth wakes up at 4:00 in the morning. Gerth lives in Santa Cruz, a decision he made based on how affordable the housing was.
Located in the tech-concentrated Silicon Valley, specifically in the country’s wealthiest zip code, M-A is not in an ideal location for low-income teachers. The median sale price for Menlo Park houses in December 2024 was $2 million, which is around 66 times the amount a beginning SUHSD teacher makes. In nearby Redwood City, the median sale price was $1.5 million, which is still a lofty price to afford with a teaching salary. With most financial advisors suggesting you should not spend more than 25% to 28% of an individual’s monthly income on housing, beginning teachers are left with roughly $7,200 a year to save up for a home.
Teachers who aspire to own property are often forced to buy homes far from district boundaries. “We had an opportunity to buy property, and we wanted to stay in the Bay Area. Half Moon Bay was the only place with nice neighborhoods where I could buy a condo,” English III teacher Elisa Nocedal said. Nocedal’s daily commute is around 40 minutes each way.
“I need to wake up significantly earlier. I have a hard time picking up my child and taking her to after-school activities because a lot of those things start early, and I can’t get there early. It also prevents me from being able to exercise more because it’s an hour and a half every day,” she added.
Biology and AP Environmental Science teacher Erica Woll lives in Pacifica. “When I started working at M-A, I actually lived in San Mateo, and then we wanted to buy a home, and it was more affordable in Pacifica,” Woll, who has a 45-minute commute, said. “I wish there was convenient public transportation for me because if I took CalTrain it’s more downtime and less money,” she said. Pacifica’s significant distance from fast public transportation means Woll is forced to drive to school.
Though the construction of nearby affordable housing may aid teachers in simply affording to live in-district, those planning to buy homes will not find that their difficulty finding nearby housing is subject to change.
*Based on Google Maps average commute time for 7:30 am on a Monday.
