Teaching in US Colleges/Universities?

Question

I hope to complete my literature degree in the next year or so, and my wife and i are considering moving to the US, I would like to undergo a career change at the same time, and have two queries, the first, how difficult is it to get a job teaching in US Colleges/ Universities, and secondly, considering the cultural earning differences (tax, insurance etc) what is a comfortable amount to earn in the US? My wife and i do quite well in the UK (manage to comfortably afford the mortgage on a nice house and pay all the bills, with a little left over to spoil the kids) and would like to have the same kind of life wherever we end up. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Most US universities require that you have a Ph.D or at least a master's degree to teach college.  Equivalency between US and foreign degrees varies by school--some schools will accept a foreign degree, others may require that you obtain a US equivalent.  

How much you earn and how well it works for you depends on where you live in the US, for example, in California, a $60,000/year salary is not sufficient to have a nice house and live comfortably, but in TExas or Montana, it is.  

Answer 2

It depends on where you want to live in the U.S. and what you are qualified to teach. Literature teachers aren't as much in demand as those who can teach math or science.  I live in a small town with two colleges and many of the teachers at the colleges only have nine month contracts, so they either have to stretch their salary over the summer or have a summer job.  Salaries here are much smaller here than what they would be in a large city or metropolitan area, but our cost of living is also much smaller.