How to Maximize Your Substitute Teaching Income in 2025

Substitute teaching can be lucrative - if you know how to work the system. The difference between a sub earning $15,000/year and one earning $35,000+? Strategy.

The Income Gap

Low-earning subs (typically):

• Accept whatever jobs they can get
• Work 2-3 days per week
• Take half-days when desperate
• Miss high-paying long-term assignments

High-earning subs (typically):

• Strategic about which jobs they accept
• Work 4-5 days per week consistently
• Prioritize full-days and multi-day assignments
• Land long-term positions

The difference isn't luck. It's systems.

Strategy 1: Full Days Over Half Days

Math: A full day pays roughly 1.5-2x a half day, not 2x.

But here's the secret: Full days are easier to get consistently than trying to piece together two half-days.

Action: Set your Frontline filters to full-day only. You'll see fewer jobs, but accept more of what you see, and earn more per day worked.

Strategy 2: Build Your "Preferred Schools" List

Some schools call subs back repeatedly. Others never do.

Track this data:

• Which schools request you specifically?
• Which schools have good classroom management?
• Which schools you enjoy working at?

Focus your job hunting on these schools. You'll work more consistently and build relationships that lead to long-term assignments.

Pro tip: Sub Hero lets you filter specifically for your preferred schools. One click, and you only see jobs at schools where you're most likely to be requested again.

Strategy 3: The Multi-Day Advantage

A 5-day assignment pays 5x a single day, but requires zero additional job hunting.

The math:

• 5 separate single-day jobs = 5 job searches, 5 acceptances, 5 commutes to new schools
• 1 five-day assignment = 1 job search, 1 acceptance, same school all week

Look for: "Maternity leave," "Extended absence," "Professional development week"

These are your highest ROI opportunities.

Strategy 4: The Early Bird Actually Gets the Worm

Jobs posted between 5-7 AM have 50% less competition than jobs posted during the day.

Why? Most subs aren't checking at 5:30 AM.

Options:

• Wake up early (brutal but effective)
• Use auto-accept technology (Sub Hero Pro does this)
• Check first thing when you wake up naturally

Strategy 5: Speed Wins

When a desirable job posts, you have minutes (sometimes seconds) before it's taken.

Time to accept = Your competitiveness

Slow: Email notification (10-20 min) → Log into Frontline (2 min) → Find job (1 min) → Accept (1 min) = 14-24 minutes total

Fast: Push notification (instant) → One-click accept from phone (30 seconds) = 30 seconds total

The fastest subs get the best jobs. It's that simple.

Strategy 6: Know Your Rate and Stick to It

Calculate your effective hourly rate including:

• Drive time
• Prep time (if any)
• Job hunting time

If a half-day job 45 minutes away pays $80, but costs you 3 hours total (1.5hr driving + 4hr work + hunting time), you're making $26/hour.

A full-day close to home might pay $150 for 8 hours = $18.75/hour base, but with less overhead, you're actually making more per hour of your life.

Strategy 7: Use Dead Time Strategically

Bad: Checking Frontline during lunch, between classes, while driving

Good: Let technology monitor for you, only alert you about jobs worth interrupting your day for

This is where filtering becomes crucial. The subs making $35K+ aren't seeing every job. They're seeing the right jobs.

How Tools Like Sub Hero Can Help to Income Maximization

Here's how Sub Hero users are increasing their substitute teaching income:

Smart Filtering:

• Set preferences: Full-day, preferred schools, specific subjects
• Only get notified about jobs meeting your criteria
• No more wasting time on jobs you'd never take

Auto-Accept (Pro):

• Define your "perfect job" criteria
• Sub Hero accepts them automatically (up to 5/month)
• Land the 5 AM posts while you're sleeping

Speed Advantage:

• Push notifications are instant
• One-click acceptance from your phone
• Beat other subs to every good job

Result: Sub Hero users report working the same days or fewer, but at better schools with better pay and less stress.

Start Maximizing Your Income

The subs earning the most aren't working harder. They're working smarter with better systems.

If this interests you: app.getsubhero.com

Sub Hero is one option for addressing this. It won't solve everything, but many subs find it helpful for reducing time spent on job hunting.

Smart filtering, instant alerts, auto-accept. Plans start at $6.99/month.

Calculate: If Sub Hero helps you land just ONE extra day per month, it pays for itself.