The gist
Every defined-benefit teacher pension is years of service x a multiplier x a final average salary. The multiplier runs from about 1.6% (Florida) to 2.5% (some Pennsylvania classes), and the salary average covers three to eight years depending on the system and your tier.Key facts
- The formula shape is the same in every state: years x multiplier x salary average
- The multiplier is set by law and often changes by tier or class
- Final average salary is a top-years average, not your last paycheck
The formula every teacher pension shares
TRS stands for Teacher Retirement System (or Teachers' Retirement System). Whatever the state, and whether it is called TRS, STRS, PSERS or FRS, a defined-benefit teacher pension is built from the same three parts multiplied together:
years of service credit x a multiplier x your final average salary.
Years of service credit is how much time the system counts, including purchased and part-time service. The multiplier (also called the accrual rate, benefit factor or age factor) is a percentage set by law. Final average salary — abbreviated FAS, AFC or final compensation — is an average of your highest-paid years, not your last paycheck and not your whole-career average.
So a teacher with 30 years, a 2.0% multiplier and an $80,000 salary average has an annual pension of 30 x 2.0% x $80,000 = $48,000, or $4,000 a month, before any early-retirement reduction or survivor option.
The multiplier by state
The multiplier is where states differ most. Some use one flat rate for every member. Others change the rate by membership tier or class, or by your age at retirement. A few — California and the New York systems — do not use a flat rate at all.
| System | Multiplier per year of service | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Texas TRS | 2.3% | Flat for all tiers |
| CalSTRS | 1.1% to 2.4% (age factor) | Rises with retirement age; +0.2% career factor at 30 years under 2% at 60 |
| Illinois TRS | 2.2% | Capped at 75% of the salary average (about 34 years) |
| NYSTRS (New York State) | About 2.0% at 20+ years | Tier 6: 1.67% under 20 years, 35% at 20, then +2% per year |
| NYC TRS | About 2.0% at 20-30 years | Tier 6 (63/5): 1.67% under 20 years, 35% at 20, then +2% per year |
| Florida FRS | 1.60% (Regular Class) | Higher class percentages for Special Risk and other classes |
| STRS Ohio | 2.2% | Flat; an older 35-year enhanced rate was phased out |
| PA PSERS | 2.5% (T-D, T-F); 2.0% (T-C, T-E); 1.25% (T-G); 1.0% (T-H) | Set by membership class; T-G and T-H add a separate savings account |
Final average salary: which years get averaged
The second big difference between systems is how many years go into the salary average. A shorter window (three years) usually produces a higher average and a bigger pension, because it captures only your top-earning years. A longer window (five or eight years) pulls in earlier, lower-paid years and lowers the average.
Reforms have generally moved newer members to longer windows. New York, going the other way, shortened its Tier 6 window from five years to three in a 2024 law.
| System | Years averaged | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Texas TRS | 3 or 5 highest years | 3 years for grandfathered tiers (1, 4, 6); 5 years otherwise |
| CalSTRS | 3 years (1 year with 25+ years under 2% at 60) | Highest average 36 consecutive months |
| Illinois TRS | 4 or 8 highest years in the last 10 | Normally consecutive; qualifying retirements on/after June 1, 2021 using 2020–21 in the average may use nonconsecutive years |
| NYSTRS / NYC TRS | 3 highest consecutive years | Tier 6 moved from 5 to 3 years in 2024; anti-spiking cap applies |
| Florida FRS | 5 or 8 highest years | 5 years if enrolled before July 1, 2011; 8 years if on/after |
| STRS Ohio | 5 highest years | Five highest years of earnings |
| PA PSERS | 3 or 5 highest years | 3 years for classes T-C to T-F; 5 years for T-G and T-H |
Tiers and classes: the rule that changes everything
Almost every system splits members into tiers (or, in Pennsylvania, classes) based on when you were first hired. Your tier is fixed for your whole career and decides your multiplier, your salary-averaging window, your vesting requirement, and the age at which you can retire without a reduction.
This is why a pension estimate from a colleague who started ten years before you can be misleading — you may be in a different tier with a later retirement age and a longer salary average. Always confirm your tier on your annual member statement before planning a retirement date.
A worked example, step by step
Take a teacher retiring with exactly 28 years of service credit and a final average salary of $82,000, at an age that carries no early-retirement reduction.
Step 1 — replacement percentage: 28 years x the multiplier. At Texas TRS (2.3%) that is 64.4%. At STRS Ohio or Illinois TRS (2.2%) it is 61.6%. At Florida FRS Regular Class (1.60%) it is 44.8%.
Step 2 — annual pension: replacement percentage x $82,000. Texas: $52,808. Ohio/Illinois: $50,512. Florida: $36,736.
Step 3 — monthly: divide by 12. Texas: about $4,400. Ohio/Illinois: about $4,209. Florida: about $3,061.
The same career produces very different pensions purely because of the multiplier. Then early-retirement reductions, survivor options, and the salary-averaging window move the number again. Use your system's calculator with your real tier and service record.
Why your official estimate will differ from any quick formula
A back-of-envelope formula gets you close, but the retirement system has details you do not: your exact service credit (including partial years and purchased time), your verified tier or class, which specific years fall inside the averaging window, and any anti-spiking limit on a high final year.
It also applies the pieces a simple multiplication leaves out — the early-retirement reduction if you go before your unreduced age, the reduction for choosing a survivor payment option, and any benefit cap (Illinois caps the pension at 75% of the salary average; several systems cap at 100%).
Treat the formula as a planning tool and the official estimate as the answer. Request estimates for more than one retirement date, and keep them with your records because legislative changes can alter future rules.
The Social Security question
In about fifteen states, teachers do not pay into Social Security and do not earn a Social Security benefit from their teaching work. In those states the pension formula is the whole retirement plan, which raises the stakes on the multiplier and the salary average.
Among the systems above, teachers in Texas, California, Illinois, and Ohio are generally outside Social Security. Teachers in the New York systems, Florida, and Pennsylvania generally do pay into Social Security alongside the pension.
The federal Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset — rules that used to cut the Social Security benefits of people with a non-covered pension — were repealed by the Social Security Fairness Act in January 2025. If you have both a teaching pension and Social Security-covered work, that repeal changed your numbers.
Before you act on this
- Confirm your tier or class on your latest member statement.
- Find your exact multiplier for that tier.
- Check how many years your system averages for final salary.
- Run your system's official calculator with your real service record.
- Request an official estimate for more than one retirement date.
Frequently asked questions
What is the TRS retirement formula?
Years of service credit multiplied by a multiplier (a percentage set by law) multiplied by your final average salary. For example, 30 years x 2.0% x $80,000 = $48,000 a year, before any early-retirement reduction.
What is a good pension multiplier?
Most teacher systems use 2.0% to 2.5% per year of service. Texas TRS and Ohio STRS use 2.2%-2.3%. Florida FRS Regular Class is lower at 1.60%. California and the New York systems do not use a flat rate.
Is final average salary my last year's pay?
No. It is an average of your highest-paid years — three years in most systems, but four to eight years in others. A shorter averaging window generally produces a higher pension.
Why is my pension estimate different from the formula?
The system uses your verified service credit and tier, the exact years in your averaging window, anti-spiking limits, and reductions for early retirement or a survivor option. A quick formula leaves those out.
Where this comes from
Sources were reviewed on October 9, 2026. Rules and member records maintained by the retirement system control.
TRS Texas — Understand your benefitsOfficial source ↗CalSTRS — Understanding the formulaOfficial source ↗Illinois TRS — Tier 1 retirement benefitsOfficial source ↗Illinois TRS — Salary Increase Calculator (final-average-salary rule)Official source ↗NYSTRS — Service retirementOfficial source ↗TRS NYC — Benefits in briefOfficial source ↗MyFRS — Understanding your benefits under the FRS Pension Plan (PDF)Official source ↗STRS Ohio — Eligibility and benefit calculationOfficial source ↗PSERS — New to PSERS / class electionOfficial source ↗General educational information only — this is not a formal benefit determination, nor financial, tax, or legal advice. Verify anything account-specific with the retirement system itself.