Compare the average teach English online salary and understand how much money you can make teaching English online as an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher from home or around the world.
What are the salaries for teaching English online?
Generally, online English teachers typically make between $10 - $40 USD per hour depending on their level of qualification & experience. If you’re a first-time English teacher with a TEFL certification, you will likely be making $10-$20 per hour to start.
We've conducted comprehensive research on various online teaching platforms, collected feedback from our students currently teaching English online, and examined the global market for online English teaching jobs.
With the worldwide market for online English education expected to grow by $36 billion in the next five years alone, the demand for new online English teachers will undoubtedly continue to grow. Our online English teacher salary guidelines are provided below and outline how much money you can make teaching English online, your three primary options for teaching English online jobs, and the tax implications of online teaching.
Teaching English Online Salary: How Much Can You Earn?
You can make money teaching English online via three different methods:
We'll explore each of these three options below, but first, let's address a couple of questions.
Can You Teach English Online Full-Time?
Teaching English online is very literally what you make it. With most online English companies, you can work as much or as little as you like, which means your online English teaching gig can be anything from a small-time side hustle to a full-time career hustle.
Does Teaching English Online Pay Well?
Teaching English online can pay well, with earnings varying based on a variety of factors:
- The company with which you teach English online
- The number of hours you put in
- Your qualifications and experience
- Your base pay and bonuses
- Your pay in the context of your cost of living. Making $10-$20 an hour may not sound like much, but if you are teaching English online as a Digital Nomad in countries like Peru, Vietnam, or even many European countries, such pay goes much further when it comes to purchasing power.
Some online English teaching companies provide a flat rate of pay per hour, while other platforms allow you to set your hourly rate.
Now that we've covered these three questions, let's take a look at the three options you can make money teaching English online with:
1. Teach with an Online ESL Company ($10-$20 USD per Hour)
Arguably the easiest of the three options, teaching with an online ESL company is ideal for those who want to omit a majority of the legwork. Companies structured in this way such as Lingoda and Open English often provide you with lesson plans and teaching materials that you can base your classes on. They also have a large, global network of students looking for online ESL teachers to take lessons with, which makes securing students less of a challenge for you.
However, companies of this nature do not let you set your hourly rate. When you interview for a teaching job with them, you are assigned an hourly rate based on your experience and qualifications.
How Much Can You Make at an Online ESL Company?
The online teaching salary per hour at an online ESL company varies from anywhere between $10-$20 USD per hour. It will also often have an incentive-based program built into it. Incentives may include bonuses like an extra $1 of pay per class if you teach more than 45 classes per month.
"I teach around 27 hours each week. I spend an additional 1 hour a week prepping and writing feedback for the VIPKID platform and an additional 2 hours a week creating lesson plans and planning activities for my Cambly lessons. I make roughly $1,600 a month from teaching online (before taxes)."
"I teach around 27 hours each week. I spend an additional 1 hour a week prepping and writing feedback for the VIPKID platform and an additional 2 hours a week creating lesson plans and planning activities for my Cambly lessons. I make roughly $1,600 a month from teaching online (before taxes)." If you’re looking at ways to make more money teaching English online with an ESL company beyond the minimum base rate that they offer, you may want to consider:
- Getting your TEFL certification:
You will typically need at least a 120-hour TEFL certification to secure employment with most online ESL companies. This qualification can enhance your teacher profile and potentially lead to a higher starting salary. Explore our in-person and online TEFL certification courses to determine which option suits you best.
- Teaching experience: Like any job, employers value experience. If you’ve taught ESL in person, great, and if you have experience teaching English online, even better! Our International TEFL Academy (ITA) TEFL certification courses require you to complete a practice teaching (practicum) component as part of your course, so at course completion, you’ll already have a minimum of 20 hours of teaching experience under your belt!
- University degree: Do you have a university degree (in any field)? While all online ESL companies do not require a degree, a majority of them require one. Holding a degree usually means you will receive a higher rate of pay.
- Look for companies that offer incentive-based bonuses: Incentive bonuses may include things like an extra $1 of pay per class if you teach more than 45 classes per month; bonuses for the number of positive reviews you receive after each class; attendance bonuses for not skipping or canceling any classes, etc.
Examples of Online ESL Teacher Salary at Online Companies:
| Online ESL Companies | Salary |
|---|---|
| Beyond English | $14-17 USD per hour taught for U.S. teachers |
| Cambly | $0.17c per minute ($10-$20 per hour) |
| Open English | Up to $15 per hour |
| Engoo | $11 per hour |
| English2Go | $11-$12 USD per hour starting rate |
| FluentBe | $10 per hour |
| VIPKid | $14 per hour |
Looking for more online ESL companies? View our Teach English Online Employer Comparison Chart to compare hourly rates of pay in $USD across a more comprehensive list of online ESL schools.
2. Create a Teaching Profile on an Open Marketplace (Set Your Own Rate)
Open marketplaces are a type of platform that helps connect students looking to learn English with ESL teachers who have a profile listed on the marketplace.
How Much Can You Make on an Open Marketplace?
Unlike structured ESL companies, with an open marketplace, you get to set your rate of pay per class. It is common to begin with a lower rate to attract new students and build up your reputation with positive feedback and reviews before raising your rate.
If your students find value in your lessons and like working with you, they should not have a problem with a small increase in your rates. It is important to remember to not set your rate of pay too high from the get-go. A high rate without any reviews to justify that rate will make it tough to attract students - you will be far more successful easing into it over time. Additionally, you may even consider offering each new student their first lesson free to get them in the door and in turn, have them leave you a review!
On an open marketplace, your teacher profile should highlight your qualifications, experience, and any additional training or certifications you have earned. For example:
Qualifications:
- Include your TEFL Certification course (in-person, online, number of hours, and training school that certified you, etc);
- Your degree (if you have one) and where you obtained it.
Experience:
- Include the practice teaching component you had to complete as part of your TEFL course, including the number of hours completed;
- If you’ve privately tutored in the past, include this;
- Have you taught English online before?
- Have you taught in a classroom here in the USA?
- Have you taught ESL abroad in a classroom before?
Additional Training:
- Did you undergo any specialized training in addition to your TEFL course? For example, at ITA, we offer 2-week Tutoring, Teaching English Online, Teaching English to Young Learners, and Teaching Business English specialty courses that you can take during or after completing your TEFL certification course.
Other ways to sell yourself in your profile:
- Intro Video: You’ll also want to create an attention-grabbing intro video to introduce yourself to prospective students (and their parents). This video will showcase your accent, your abilities, and why you think you are a great ESL teacher. Use this video to sell yourself and your capabilities to attract your first students, gain some solid, positive reviews, and start to build your client base.
3. Start Your Own Online Teaching Business (Set Your Own Rate)
The most challenging of the three options, starting your own online teaching business is ideal if you’re a real go-getter and have the motivation and drive to follow through and ensure success.
Here, not only will you need to hustle to find your students, but you will be running the show from the ground up - this includes creating your website, choosing which video platform you want to use for your classes, deciding what age group/demographic you want to teach and creating your lesson plans based on this, getting your name out there and marketing your business, figuring out your rate of pay and a form of payment that is acceptable across a wide range of countries (PayPal is a popular one, as is Venmo, but it is not globally available), and much more.
How Much Can You Make with Your Own Online Business?
The benefits of running your own online teaching business include:
- You run the show and have complete control from beginning to end;
- You won’t have to pay a commission from your earnings as you do with most open marketplaces;
- You can earn more - while you want to set a rate that is fair enough to attract new students, you will also want to avoid going too low as that might indicate a lack of confidence in your teaching abilities;
- Referrals - your students can refer their friends, family, etc through positive word of mouth to help build your student base and you can even introduce your own referral program where your current students benefit if they bring in new business for you;
- You don’t have any contracts to sign or minimum/maximum hours to commit to (like some online companies have) - you call all the shots!
"My new project is about building an all-encompassing online ESL learning platform (‘English from A to Z’) that can reach students from around the world in a variety of ways. I want to be able to connect qualified teachers such as myself to ESL students in the United States and around the world." Do I Need to Pay Taxes on the Money I Make From Teaching English Online?
Many online English teaching jobs categorize you as independent contractors or self-employed. This means it's your responsibility to report your earnings as self-employed income. This process will differ based on your country of citizenship or the country you teach English online.
For U.S. citizens teaching English online from within the USA but for a non-U.S. based company (e.g. The company you teach English online for is based in China), taxation papers are often not provided, however, you are still expected to report any self-employed income earned. If your income is paid through PayPal and you have:- Earned $20,000 USD in gross payment volume for sales of goods or services in a single year;
- 200 payments for goods or services in the same year.
PayPal will send Form 1099-K to you and the IRS for that year for tax filing purposes.
One benefit of online teaching (if you pay your taxes) is that the U.S. and Canada will allow you to write off a portion of your home or apartment as a home office. You can also write off expenses like your computer/laptop, Internet, webcam, microphone, headset, teaching supplies, etc.
For U.S. citizens living abroad and teaching English online from anywhere other than the USA (i.e. You are a U.S. citizen living in Japan and teaching English online from Japan), you are not expected to pay U.S. taxes on the first $80,000 that you earn each year.
For more, read:
Is Teaching English Online Worth It?
Teaching English online provides great opportunities to earn a good ESL teacher salary on either a part-time or full-time basis. While it isn't the most lucrative profession, it does offer great flexibility and convenience, including the ability to make money from home while impacting the lives of others.
Want more information in addition to learning how much online ESL teachers make? Read more:
How to Travel the World as a Digital Nomad Teaching English Online
Are you looking for a viable way to get paid while traveling the world as a digital nomad in countries like Spain, Costa Rica and Vietnam? Because you only need decent equipment and a strong internet connection to teach English online, so you can take your job with your as you travel from country to country.If this sounds appealing to you, then the exclusive Digital Nomad TEFL Package from ITA could be your passport to a lifestyle of travel and flexibility. Thanks to the digital revolution and the surge in online education, you can now make teaching English your mobile career, opening doors to endless adventures virtually anywhere in the world.
Opt for ITA's Digital Nomad TEFL Package, and you'll be equipped with an unparalleled mix of top-quality training, support, and tools essential for thriving as an international English teacher and digital nomad in destinations such as Vietnam, Mexico, and Spain. And guess what? You don't need prior teaching experience or even a college degree to travel the world as a digital nomad!
Helpful Tips To Earn More Salary Teaching English Online
Here are some key tips to help you make the most of your experience teaching English abroad.
Earn Your Accredited TEFL Certification
While having prior teaching experience and a college degree can certainly be beneficial, they are not always mandatory for teaching English online or abroad. However, enrolling in an accredited TEFL certification course (TEFL stands for Teaching English as a Foreign Language) is highly recommended.
This certification equips you with the essential skills and qualifications that are crucial for securing a teaching position. It covers a wide range of topics, including lesson planning, classroom management, and effective teaching strategies designed to enhance your teaching capabilities. Most reputable employers will not employ you to teach English online without a quality TEFL certification.
By completing a TEFL certification, you increase your employability and ensure that you can deliver a high-quality educational experience to your students. This certification serves as a testament to your commitment to professional development and your dedication to providing students with an enriching and effective learning environment.
Boost Your Online Teaching Skills Set & Marketability with Advanced TEO Training
By taking ITA's two-week, 30-hour Teaching English Online Specialty Course, you can enhance your teaching skills and make yourself more marketable in an increasingly competitive job market.
HOT TIP! Learn How To Teach English Online & Travel the World with ITA's new Digital Nomad TEFL Program.
Be Flexible & Ready to Work at More Than One Company
Teaching English online is not a field where you should expect to sign a full-time contract with one company immediately. Typically, you will get hired by the hour, and it is extremely common for first-time teachers, in particular, to teach English online at multiple online companies and take private students online as an independent contractor. By working at multiple schools on multiple platforms, you can familiarize yourself with multiple approaches to teaching English online. If you like one company better than another, you can eventually transition to full-time work at just a single company.
Teaching English online is not a field where you should expect to sign a full-time contract with one company immediately.
Teach Students Studying For Standardized English Language Proficiency Exams
To boost your earnings as an online English teacher, consider specializing in Test Preparation for Standardized English Proficiency Exams. These exams, such as the TOEFL, IELTS, and TOEIC, are critical for individuals who aspire to attend English-speaking universities or secure employment in positions that demand English proficiency. Over 2.3 million individuals take the TOEFL exam each year, and millions more enroll in preparatory courses for these exams. This creates a substantial demand for skilled educators who can provide targeted instruction and guidance.
By focusing on this niche, you can tap into a lucrative market where individuals are willing to pay premium rates for specialized training or tutoring. This is because the stakes are high for those taking these exams; success can open doors to academic and professional opportunities worldwide. As a result, qualified English teachers who offer expertise in test preparation can command hourly rates ranging from $35 to $55, significantly higher than the typical $10 to $25 per hour earned through most online tutoring sessions. This specialization not only enhances your earning potential but also positions you as an expert in a challenging and rewarding field, offering the chance to make a meaningful impact on your students' futures.
To prepare for this teaching path, we strongly recommend taking ITA's custom-designed Teaching Test Prep Skills TEFL Specialty Course.
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