Lake Elsinore Unified School District teacher salaries

Lake Elsinore Unified School District is a unified school district in Riverside County, with its district office in Lake Elsinore. A teacher with a full credential starts at $64,085. The largest group (67%) is on the BA+75+MA OR MA+30 column, which climbs to $139,342 by step 26.

Lowest

$57,705

INTERN before a full credential, step 1

Average salary on the teacher schedule1

$113,406

  • about the same as the Riverside County average
  • $9,854 above California average

Highest

$139,342

BA+75+MA OR MA+30 with a credential, step 26

Lake Elsinore Unified average

AveragesCalifornia $103,552, Riverside County $112,963

Full-time equivalents on the schedule
1,012
Starting salary
$64,085
BA with a credential, step 1
Median salary
$118,181
Half earn more, half earn less
Average pay rank in California
98th of 828 reporting
of 828 reporting

Does Lake Elsinore 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.

Yes

Lake Elsinore Unified's average of $113,406 is above the middle California district's $94,573.

All 828 reporting districts in California

Lake Elsinore Unified ranks 98th of 828.

Lake Elsinore Unified
$50k$100k$150k

Middle district: $94,573

The 23 reporting districts in Riverside County

Lake Elsinore Unified ranks 10th of 23, above the middle district.

Lake Elsinore Unified
$80k$100k$120k

Middle district: $112,200

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 Lake Elsinore Unified's BA column pays $74,625. Experienced teachers joining Lake Elsinore Unified can be placed as high as step 13.
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. Lake Elsinore Unified's columns run from BA to BA+75+MA OR MA+30, 5 in all.
Credentialed
Holds a full California teaching credential, the state license to teach. Lake Elsinore Unified's credentialed columns start at $64,085.
Without full credential
Teachers who don't yet hold a full credential. Lake Elsinore Unified pays them on separate columns, starting at $57,705.

How fast does a teacher's salary grow at Lake Elsinore Unified?

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

$110,334

a year at step 10. This column tops out at $139,342 on step 26.

$139,342$57,705
Step 1Step 26
Chosen columnOther columns, same type

Lake Elsinore Unified's full salary schedule, 2024-252

Shading shows where teachers actually sit. 46% of Lake Elsinore Unified's full-time equivalents are on step 15 or higher.

StepBABA+30BA+45 OR MABA+60+MA OR MA+15BA+75+MA OR MA+30
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

Only BA+75+MA OR MA+30 continues past step 11.

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
  1. 5+
  5. 171
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 Lake Elsinore 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.

Questions about teacher pay at Lake Elsinore Unified

How much do Lake Elsinore Unified teachers make?

The average salary on Lake Elsinore Unified's teacher schedule is $113,406 a year (2024-25). The salary schedule runs from $57,705 (INTERN before a full credential, step 1) to $139,342 (BA+75+MA OR MA+30 with a credential, step 26).

What does a new teacher earn at Lake Elsinore Unified?

A new teacher with a full credential starts at $64,085 (BA column, step 1). Teachers without a full credential start lower, at $57,705. Teachers who bring experience from another district can start as high as step 13.

How long does it take to reach the top of the Lake Elsinore Unified pay scale?

On the BA+75+MA OR MA+30 column, where 67% of full-time equivalents are paid, pay keeps rising until step 26, where it reaches $139,342. Steps go up with years of service.

Is Lake Elsinore Unified teacher pay high for California?

Lake Elsinore Unified's average salary on the teacher schedule ranks 98th of the 828 California school districts and county offices of education that reported and 10th of 23 in Riverside County. Across all of them, the average salary on teacher schedules is $103,552 statewide and $112,963 in Riverside County.

Keep exploring teacher pay in Riverside County

Sources for the Lake Elsinore 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.

  1. 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.
  2. Lake Elsinore 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.
  3. 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