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Salary data from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, And English As A Second Language Instructors Salary: Portland-South Portland, ME vs San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA

Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, And English As A Second Language Instructors earn a median of $62,660 in Portland-South Portland, ME and $103,080 in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA. That is a nominal gap of $40,420 (-39.2%), with San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA paying more before any cost-of-living adjustment.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2024 estimates. Cost-of-living adjustment uses BEA Regional Price Parities, most recent release.

$62,660
Portland-South Portland, ME median
$61,517 after COL
$103,080
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA median
$92,129 after COL
-39.2%
Nominal gap
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA leads
-33.2%
Adjusted gap
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA leads after COL

The story behind the numbers

On raw wages, San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA pays $40,420 more per year than Portland-South Portland, ME for adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors, a gap of +39.2%.

After adjusting for cost of living, San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA still comes out ahead, with roughly $30,612 of extra purchasing power (+33.2% real gap). Local prices do not reverse the nominal advantage.

Full breakdown by location

Detailed wage, employment, and cost-of-living figures for adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors in each location. Click through to the full local salary page for percentiles, outlook, and peer areas.

Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, And English As A Second Language Instructors

Portland-South Portland, ME

Median salary
$62,660
Mean salary
$61,280
Employment
80
Location quotient
1.19
Jobs per 1,000
0.3
COL-adjusted median
$61,517
Regional Price Parity
101.9%

Exact metro RPP match.

Full Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, And English As A Second Language Instructors page for Portland-South Portland, ME →

Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, And English As A Second Language Instructors

San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA

Median salary
$103,080
Mean salary
$97,180
Employment
180
Location quotient
0.49
Jobs per 1,000
0.1
COL-adjusted median
$92,129
Regional Price Parity
111.9%

Exact metro RPP match.

Full Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, And English As A Second Language Instructors page for San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA →

Related pages

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Common questions about this comparison

What does the cost-of-living adjustment actually do? +

It divides each location's nominal median wage by its Regional Price Parity (RPP), which measures how local prices compare to the national average (100 = national). A wage of $100,000 in an area with RPP 120 has the same purchasing power as roughly $83,000 nationally.

Why would the nominal and adjusted winners disagree? +

High-cost metros often pay higher salaries, but not by enough to fully offset the higher cost of housing, goods, and services. When that happens, the location with the lower nominal wage actually offers more real purchasing power.

What is a location quotient? +

The location quotient measures how concentrated an occupation is in a given area versus the national average. A value of 2.0 means the occupation is twice as common there as nationally. It is a signal of what a metro specializes in.