Should I do Master or PhD to teach in community college?

I currently have Bachelors in Economics and Math, and I'm doing full-time research in Economics right now.

My initial plan was to do PhD in Economics and work in academia, but after doing research, I realized that I'm not very interested in doing research in Economics, but rather I'm interested in teaching Economics at a post-secondary level.

However, I do know that professors in major universities are usually very researched-driven, so I was considering teaching in community college level (or PUIs, as commented by @NMJD). However, even to teach at community college level, at least Master in Economics is required, if not PhD.

While I'm open to the idea of doing Master in Economics, I feel that it doesn't have much value, other than the certificate of graduation itself, because Masters in Applied Economics is very similar to advanced undergrad Economics that I've taken (at least when I looked at their courses). I've already taken multiple PhD courses as undergraduate, and doing research in Economics in my workplace is generally considered equivalent to completing Masters. Financial burden of enrolling in Masters program is undesirable as well.

My question is: Should I pursue Masters in Economics, knowing that I'll repeat many courses that I've taken as undergraduate while putting myself in a debt? Or should I go to PhD, even though I understand that PhD is a very research-intensive degree?

NOTE: I've read similar article Can you teach at a community college with a master's degree?.

Although it is similar, it doesn't not quite answer my question, as my question is Economics-specific, and I'm comparing the option of doing Masters or PhD to teach in community college.

Answer

A large portion of the community college workforce is part-time. When there are full time job openings, they are quite competitive. I will assume you are looking for full time work. I have observed that many community college job advertisements say that a PhD is desirable, and I think that the applicant pool will typically contain many PhDs. So I would suggest getting a PhD.

Be sure that during your PhD, you demonstrate that you know how to teach. You can find quite a bit of information about how to obtain a job at a community college in columns on Inside Higher Ed. If you earn a masters in the course of earning your PhD, teaching part-time at a community college during your PhD could be a good strategy.