Teach English Online Salary
In 2016 I made $65,000. Around $2000 came from other earnings such as Google AdSense and affiliate marketing, the majority of my earnings came from teaching ESL online. If you research the teach English online salary ZipRecruiter says it’s $39,536 per year with 20% of people earning $41,000-43,000. However, how many of those people are working full-time? A lot of people do this as a part-time job so I’m not sure how accurate this data is.
The reason I think ZipRecruiter’s data is inaccurate is because they do not factor in top earners who are making six-figures. With this being such a new industry, it might be harder to get all the data, especially if people are filing taxes as a small business.

WHY I LOVE TEACHING ENGLISH ONLINE
I worked as a public school teacher from 2005-2016 and switched to teaching online because it offers more freedom and creativity. Not only that, but I also get to impact students globally by teaching them a life-long skill. My third year in this industry I surpassed my public school teaching salary. If you do work in a brick and mortar setting and are wondering if you should quit teaching, check out my post here.
teach online and earn money
To understand how to teach online and earn money you need to know the ins and outs of the online ESL teaching industry. In my guidebook, I explain all the steps to success in the industry:
- Choosing the right school
- Be the best teacher
- Learn the system
- Learn the culture
- Get noticed
- Networking
- Recruit
- A breakdown of pay
If you want to learn more about making money teaching online you visit this blog post as well.
highest paying online english teaching jobs
The highest paying online English teaching jobs are leadership positions and recruiting. Recruiting usually pays around $100 give or take depending on the school. Leadership positions pay $30-$60 an hour and upwards of $300 depending on the work and projects you do.
Generally speaking, hourly pay is $12-$25 an hour for the majority of online ESL schools.
teach english online to japanese students
If you choose to teach English online to Japanese students, expect lower pay. The majority of these schools pay $10 an hour. CafeTalk allows you to choose your pay, with $25 being the highest rate you can charge. ECommunication pays $20 an hour.
teach english online to korean students
After searching for an hour to find schools to teach English online to Korean students I only found one that I personally would apply to.
It’s AmazingTalker, but it’s similar to iTalki in that you create a profile and your own price and students find you. The company takes a cut of the pay.
The other websites that I found either didn’t offer high enough pay or the website was all in Korean which tells me they aren’t communicating clearly with foreigners.
teach english online to chinese students
At this time I only refer people to teach English online to Chinese students. If you’ve been following me for awhile, you know that I refer people to iTutorGroup, Gogokid, VIPKID and Palfish.
Find out a little information about each school here.
I also have a little synopsis of each school in the video below.
teaching conversational english
Most online ESL schools provide materials with a detailed lesson. Some schools create the materials in a way where you are supposed to do one minute per slide, other schools you have to extend 2 to 3 minutes per slide.
I have worked at one school that did free talk, but I don’t work there anymore because they had financial problems.
One of the schools I currently work at, iTutorGroup, incorporates a lot of discussion questions and allows for free talk at the end of class. At iTutorGroup you can work with students of all ages, from zero to retired. Yes, people sometimes teach babies! In that case, you really have to be good at putting on a show, doing a lot of repetition, smiling, and so on.

teach english online to adults
I absolutely love teaching adults because it’s like having a cup of coffee with a friend, only I’m helping students with grammar and vocabulary along the way. If you’re feeling intimidated at the prospect of teaching adults, don’t be! It’s so much fun and a very nice change of pace after working with young learners who require a lot of your high energy.
can you make teaching online a full-time career?
Ultimately, you can make teaching online a full-time career and the potential to earn six-figures is there if you are dedicated to applying to leadership opportunities, recruiting, or building your own online business.
If you’re interested in this career, don’t forget to grab my guidebook.
Leave a Reply