What People Make

John Stanley is a college graduate, an experienced businessman, and now a teacher at Barron Collier High School in Naples. His base salary is just over $38,000, and the Stanley family is barely getting by.

"[The money] doesn't go far; it's paycheck to paycheck," says Stanley, 40, who left a career as a travel agent to pursue his dream of teaching. "I can't complain. I chose this profession, so I knew what I was getting into."

Still, raising seven children between the ages of four and 15, Stanley has to supplement his income. He works at an afterschool program and officiates at youth football and basketball games. Together, these activities add another $10,000 or so to his salary-while eating away precious family time.

"I am never at home, so that adds to the stress," he says.

A teacher's salary looks pretty good to Julee Carlson, 32. She makes $30,000 as a case manager for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwest Florida and supplements it by selling The Body Shop at Home products. Family members have helped her afford a home.

"I will have to go back to teaching in the fall because I love what I do, but I can't survive on this salary," she says. "It's hard enough on a beginning teacher's salary."

Predicaments like Stanley's and Carlson's are nothing unusual in Southwest Florida. Despite a reputation for wealth and the good life, it's no secret that salaries have not kept up with the area's skyrocketing cost of living.

"Wages have increased a great deal over the last three or four years, but still lag behind national [figures] and even those from other parts of Florida," says Jim Wall, a manager with the Southwest Florida Workforce Development Board.