The average state pension benefit for newly retired educators with at least 30 years of service was $78,097 in 2024-25, according to data released recently by SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s government transparency website.
To put that figure in perspective: That average was almost five times the 2022 median for Americans over 65 who had retirement other than Social Security. According to Census Bureau data from 2022, only about half of Americans over 65 had any retirement income beyond Social Security and other government benefits. Of those who had such income, the median amount was $17,160.
The average full pension benefit for NYSTRS members retiring in 2024-25 was more than four times that nationwide median.
The state’s newly retired teachers were members of the New York State Teachers’ pension systems (outside New York City) which had five retirees eligible to collect pensions of more than $300,000 last year.
The data collected from the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System (NYSTRS) reports the maximum allowable pension benefits for the state’s retired educators including teachers, superintendents, and other school professionals.
Of the 172,533 retirees, 69 were eligible for pensions of more than $200,000, and 6,322 were eligible for pensions over $100,000. The top five recipients were:
- James Feltman, retired from Commack UFSD in 2010, $328,968;
- Sheldon Karnilow, retired from Half Hollow Hills CSD in 2011, $325,404;
- Carole Hankin, retired from Syosset CSD in 2013, $322,510;
- James Hunderfund, retired from Commack UFSD in 2006, $320,043;
- Louis Wool, retired from Harrison CSD in 2021, $311,966.
The new data show the 2,744 teachers, superintendents, and other school professionals in the state Teachers Retirement System (NYSTRS), who retired in school year 2024-2025 with 30 or more years of service, were eligible for pensions averaging $78,097. More than 15 percent of the new pensioners (431) were eligible for pensions over $100,000.
Among the new retirees, Andrew Verboys from the Scarsdale Union Free School District had the highest eligible annual pension benefit of $164,158.
Reflecting regional salary differences, average pensions among the new career retirees were highest among those retiring from New York City suburban districts. As in previous years, Westchester County had the highest average pension at $98,910 for its 211 new retirees in 2024-25. The Long Island counties of Suffolk and Nassau averaged $97,713 and $96,277 for 363 and 338 retirees. The top 10 new pensions all went to retirees from downstate counties.
The data were obtained from the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System (NYSTRS) thanks to the Empire Center’s years-long effort to litigate and protect the public’s right to know the names of pension recipients which culminated in a landmark 2014 Court of Appeals decision.
The Empire Center, based in Albany, is an independent, not-for-profit, non-partisan think tank dedicated to promoting policies that can make New York a better place to live, work and raise a family.
