Monterey Peninsula Unified School District teacher salaries

Monterey Peninsula Unified School District is a unified school district in Monterey County, with its district office in Monterey. A teacher with a full credential starts at $60,002. The largest group (28%) is on the BA+75+MA column, which climbs to $119,682 by step 26.

Lowest

$59,277

INTERN before a full credential, step 1

Average salary on the teacher schedule¹

$83,859

$14,157 below Monterey County average
$19,693 below California average

Highest

$119,682

BA+75+MA with a credential, step 26

Monterey Peninsula Unified average

AveragesMonterey County $98,016, California $103,552

Full-time equivalents on the schedule: 514
Starting salary: $60,002; BA with a credential, step 1
Median salary: $81,497; Half earn more, half earn less
Average pay rank in California: 580th of 828 reporting; of 828 reporting

Does Monterey Peninsula Unified pay teachers more than the median California district?

Line up all 828 reporting California districts from the lowest average salary to the highest. The one in the middle is the median district: half the districts pay a lower average, half pay a higher one. A median isn't pulled up or down by a few unusually high- or low-paying districts, so it shows what a typical district pays.

Monterey Peninsula Unified's average of $83,859 is below the middle California district's $94,573.

All 828 reporting districts in California

Monterey Peninsula Unified ranks 580th of 828.

Monterey Peninsula Unified

$50k$100k$150k

Middle district: $94,573

The 20 reporting districts in Monterey County

Monterey Peninsula Unified ranks 11th of 20, below the middle district.

Monterey Peninsula Unified

$60k$80k$100k$120k$140k

Middle district: $85,002

Each bar counts the districts whose average salary falls in a $5,000 band. The dashed line marks the median district.

What BA+98, steps and credentials mean

Teacher pay in California is set by a grid. Two things place you on it: how long you've taught and how much college you've done.

Step: Steps go up with years of service. Step 5 on Monterey Peninsula Unified's BA column pays $68,546. Experienced teachers joining Monterey Peninsula Unified can be placed as high as step 26.
Column, such as BA+98: Your bachelor's degree (BA) plus the college semester units you've completed since. BA+98 means a bachelor's plus 98 more units. Monterey Peninsula Unified's columns run from BA to BA+75+MA, 5 in all.
Credentialed: Holds a full California teaching credential, the state license to teach. Monterey Peninsula Unified's credentialed columns start at $60,002.
Without full credential: Teachers who don't yet hold a full credential. Monterey Peninsula Unified pays them on separate columns, starting at $59,277.

How fast does a teacher's salary grow at Monterey Peninsula Unified?

Pick a column and a step to see the salary, and how far it is from the top.

Degree and units (column)Step (roughly years of experience): 10

$85,416

a year at step 10. This column tops out at $119,682 on step 26.

$119,682$59,277

Step 1Step 26

Chosen columnOther columns, same type

Monterey Peninsula Unified's full salary schedule, 2024-25²

Shading shows where teachers actually sit. 33% of Monterey Peninsula Unified's full-time equivalents are on step 15 or higher.

Monterey Peninsula Unified credentialed salary schedule, 2024-25. Annual salary in dollars by step (rows) and column (units past a bachelor's degree).
Step	BA	BA+45 OR BA+30+MA	BA+60 OR BA+45+MA	BA+75 OR BA+60+MA	BA+75+MA
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26

Monterey Peninsula Unified without full credential salary schedule, 2024-25. Annual salary in dollars by step (rows) and column (units past a bachelor's degree).
Step	INTERN
1
2
3 to 26

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Tap any salary to see how many full-time equivalents are paid it and follow it on the chart above.

Full-time equivalents in a cell

Cells with fewer than 5 stay unshaded. Bold figures sit in the three darkest shades.Striped cells: this column has no salary at that step.

Bonuses, health cover and work days at Monterey Peninsula Unified

Bonuses are paid on top of the schedule, in the amounts the district reported.² Teachers are exempt from federal overtime pay.³ Extra pay for coaching, clubs and similar duties isn't part of this report.

Health insurance, family planUp to $11,020paid by the district each year
Master's degree bonusNot reported
Doctorate bonus$50012 full-time equivalents eligible
Bilingual teaching bonus$50029 full-time equivalents eligible
National Board Certification bonus$2,0007 full-time equivalents eligible
Special education bonus$4,000100 full-time equivalents eligible
Summer school pay$60 an hour
Work days a year185 days180 of them with students
Schedule raise on last year0%can also mean not reported
Highest starting step for experienced hiresStep 26

Questions about teacher pay at Monterey Peninsula Unified

How much do Monterey Peninsula Unified teachers make?

The average salary on Monterey Peninsula Unified's teacher schedule is $83,859 a year (2024-25). The salary schedule runs from $59,277 (INTERN before a full credential, step 1) to $119,682 (BA+75+MA with a credential, step 26).

What does a new teacher earn at Monterey Peninsula Unified?

A new teacher with a full credential starts at $60,002 (BA column, step 1). Teachers without a full credential start lower, at $59,277. Teachers who bring experience from another district can start as high as step 26.

How long does it take to reach the top of the Monterey Peninsula Unified pay scale?

On the BA+75+MA column, where 28% of full-time equivalents are paid, pay keeps rising until step 26, where it reaches $119,682. Steps go up with years of service.

Is Monterey Peninsula Unified teacher pay high for California?

Monterey Peninsula Unified's average salary on the teacher schedule ranks 580th of the 828 California school districts and county offices of education that reported and 11th of 20 in Monterey County. Across all of them, the average salary on teacher schedules is $103,552 statewide and $98,016 in Monterey County.

Keep exploring teacher pay in Monterey County

Compare all 20 Monterey County districtsStarting, average and top pay side by side, sortable

Sources for the Monterey Peninsula Unified figures

Salaries are the annual amounts on the district's certificated salary schedule. Following the state's definitions, they leave out extended-year pay, bonuses and extra-curricular pay such as coaching. Counts are full-time equivalents, so two half-time teachers count as one, and they can include counselors, nurses and librarians paid on the same schedule. County averages, ranks and percentages are our own arithmetic on these figures; our statewide average matches the state's published $103,552.

California Department of Education, Selected Certificated Salaries and Related Statistics, 2024-25, Table I: average salary paid, raise on last year, highest starting step. The median salary is our own calculation from source 2.
Monterey Peninsula Unified's report to the California Department of Education, Form J-90 database, 2024-25: salary schedule, full-time equivalents per cell, bonuses, health contributions, work days.
U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet #17D: Exemption for Professional Employees Under the FLSA: teachers are exempt from federal overtime pay.

How we read the data