Teachers are universally loved, but often don't get the appreciation they deserve for the work they do to educate the next generation of leaders and workers. But in a city like Austin, both K-12 teachers and postsecondary educators are earning some of the most supportive salaries in the nation, according to a new study by financial advisors MoneyGeek.

The report analyzed 178 U.S. metro areas to discover the places that offer the best "real" income for teachers after taxes and adjusted for the cost of living.

Austin-Round Rock ranked No. 6 in the overall analysis, with teachers making an average annual salary of $80,805 pre-tax; That amounts to $61,229 in post-tax earnings. When adjusted for the cost of living for comparison across the U.S., Austin-area educators are taking home the equivalent of $61,973 a year. (That's a nice imaginary boost.)

When broken down into K-12 and postsecondary education (beyond high school), postsecondary educators come out on top with the No. 12 highest adjusted salaries in the nation. Professors and postsecondary faculty in Austin-Round Rock earn about $93,531 annually pre-tax, which amounts to $70,944 in take-home pay after adjustments.

Raising teacher pay has been an ongoing hot topic throughout the state year after year, especially when Texas teachers in 2022 had the highest out-of-pocket costs to furnish their classrooms with necessary school supplies. That totaled nearly $804 per teacher, adding up to an estimated $298 million for the 2022-23 academic year. And don't forget: A teacher can only deduct $300 in classroom expenses on their federal tax returns, according to TurboTax.

So it goes without saying that K-12 teachers are taking the biggest hit in pay. The report states K-12 teachers in Austin are earning an average annual salary of $61,238, which is reduced down to $48,040 after adjustments.

"According to an Economic Policy Institute report, teachers made 26.4 percent less than other similarly educated professions in 2022 — the lowest level since 1960," the report said. "With taxes and basic living costs to consider, teacher salaries can go a long way or do the opposite, depending on where an educator lives."

Texas metros dominated the top 10 nationally, but the U.S. metro area where teacher pay goes furthest is McAllen-Edinburg-Mission in South Texas. Teachers in the Rio Grande Valley are earning an average salary of $73,153, which drops to $68,271 post-tax and adjustments. The report found McAllen's living expenses are 18 percent lower than the national average.

Similarly, although New Yorkers were paid vastly more than others in the top 15 (more than $100,000), it is so expensive to live there that after tax and adjustments, they only had $57,781.

The top 10 metro areas with the best average salaries for teachers in the U.S. are:

• No. 1 – McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas
• No. 2 – Auburn-Opelika, Alabama
• No. 3 – El Paso, Texas
• No. 4 – Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas
• No. 5 – San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas
• No. 6 – Austin-Round Rock, Texas
• No. 7 – Knoxville, Tennessee
• No. 8 – St. Louis, Missouri-Illinois
• No. 9 – Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minnesota-Wisconsin
• No. 10 – Kalamazoo-Portage, Michigan