What's the average salary a first year teacher makes?

It really depends on where you are teaching. In New York City, a first year teacher makes about $50,000. However, in other parts of the country they make much less, maybe around $30,000 depending on where you are. Also, you usually get raises every few years and you make more if you have more education (like if you have a masters or a Ph.D.). Salaries are also different at private and public schools. There are also some experiments where they are paying teachers really high salaries - like $100,000 - but this in unusual. There is at least one school in NYC that does this. I guess the main point here is just that it varies!

But compared to other jobs that require similar levels of education, like bankers, nurses, etc., it is thought to be less.

Starting salaries vary across the country for any position so you will want to do your research, but salary is also influenced by the grade level you decide to teach. High school teachers and college professors tend to make a little more than grade school and early education teachers, but you may also want to look at specialties like special education, physical education, art, and so on. Once you decide what age level you would like to teach, you can begin looking on the internet for starting salaries by location.