CalSTRS Benefit Payments Boost Rural Economies

Ten rural California counties' economies are the most profoundly affected by the CalSTRS benefit payments made to the counties’ retired educators. As the payments are spent they create a ripple effect through salaries paid, business profits and taxes collected in the counties generating an overall annual economic benefit in these areas ranging from $1.35 million in Sierra County to $40 million in Nevada County.

Key Economic Impacts from CalSTRS Benefit Payments:

• Stability of payments cushions local economies in unstable times
• In Sierra County, CalSTRS benefit payments accounted for 1.57 percent of the county's nearly $86 million economy
• In Nevada County, the 268 jobs generated paid nearly $6 million in wages and benefits
• 60,867 jobs generated statewide resulting in $2.11 billion in paid wages
• In 2006, $6.03 billion in payments to CalSTRS members resulted in a ripple effect of $9.22 billion to the state's economy

Policy Report and Full Study Results

• CalSTRS Payments Fuel State and Local Economies (June 2007) (PDF - 41 KB)
  CalSTRS Policy Report
• The Annual Economic Impacts of CalSTRS Benefit Payments (April 2007)

News Releases

• Statewide, Retired Educators Benefit Rural Counties Most
• CalPERS-CalSTRS Retirees Boost California Regional Economies