Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education salary

SOC 25-2011 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$38,140

per year, nationally

Middle half

$34,530–$47,550

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

478,780

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+4.1%

65,500 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$28,990$61,390

10th: $28,990
25th: $34,530
Median: $38,140
75th: $47,550
90th: $61,390

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Associate's degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: None

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where preschool teachers, except special education earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	District of Columbia	$62,150	109.9	2,350	1.09×
2	Vermont	$49,730	98.0	940	1.01×
3	Hawaii	$48,780	110.0	1,410	0.73×
4	New Jersey	$48,220	108.8	16,190	1.23×
5	Kansas	$47,750	90.1	1,330	0.30×
6	California	$47,400	110.7	55,700	0.99×
7	Nebraska	$47,040	90.1	1,630	0.52×
8	New York	$46,520	107.9	23,870	0.80×
9	Alaska	$46,130	102.4	520	0.52×
10	Massachusetts	$45,890	105.8	18,710	1.67×
11	Connecticut	$45,740	103.6	5,230	1.00×
12	Washington	$45,660	107.0	13,210	1.21×
13	Colorado	$45,500	103.1	5,210	0.59×
14	Oregon	$45,140	103.4	6,300	1.04×
15	Maryland	$44,600	105.0	8,020	0.94×
16	South Dakota	$44,500	88.6	1,470	1.05×
17	New Mexico	$44,070	92.2	2,490	0.93×
18	Georgia	$43,920	96.3	16,850	1.12×
19	Maine	$43,890	97.0	1,110	0.56×
20	Minnesota	$43,430	98.6	10,320	1.14×
21	Illinois	$40,910	100.0	22,420	1.19×
22	North Dakota	$39,720	89.0	540	0.41×
23	New Hampshire	$39,350	104.2	2,220	1.06×
24	Nevada	$38,870	100.0	2,360	0.49×
25	Louisiana	$38,020	88.2	3,570	0.60×
26	Virginia	$37,140	101.1	13,570	1.07×
27	Michigan	$37,110	96.2	10,950	0.81×
28	Rhode Island	$36,830	102.3	1,890	1.22×
29	Indiana	$36,650	93.3	7,110	0.72×
30	Montana	$36,540	94.6	960	0.61×
31	Delaware	$36,360	99.8	2,000	1.34×
32	Arizona	$36,300	100.7	9,400	0.94×
33	Mississippi	$36,250	87.0	3,600	1.00×
34	Wisconsin	$36,160	94.1	11,330	1.25×
35	Missouri	$36,090	90.8	5,580	0.62×
36	Pennsylvania	$36,050	97.6	22,760	1.22×
37	Florida	$35,860	103.4	35,740	1.17×
38	North Carolina	$35,710	94.3	18,370	1.21×
39	Ohio	$35,180	92.8	19,840	1.16×
40	Utah	$35,010	98.9	3,670	0.69×
41	South Carolina	$34,500	93.7	4,550	0.64×
42	Tennessee	$34,280	91.9	5,420	0.54×
43	Arkansas	$34,190	86.9	3,270	0.81×
44	Texas	$33,860	97.1	41,200	0.95×
45	Iowa	$33,830	87.8	5,910	1.23×
46	Idaho	$32,800	95.5	1,010	0.38×
47	West Virginia	$32,480	89.5	2,190	1.01×
48	Oklahoma	$31,790	87.8	7,010	1.33×
49	Wyoming	$29,930	92.7	1,040	1.20×
50	Kentucky	$29,780	90.2	8,520	1.38×
51	Alabama	$28,310	88.8	7,910	1.22×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where preschool teachers, except special education wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for preschool teachers, except special education

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Vineland, NJ	$63,340	96.0	330	1.73×
2	Albany, GA	$62,680	87.7	400	2.22×
3	Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ	$59,320	98.9	460	0.88×
4	Brunswick-St. Simons, GA	$58,000	87.7	100	0.68×
5	Fairbanks-College, AK	$57,680	103.2	60	0.57×
6	Visalia, CA	$56,930	99.8	430	0.82×
7	Kahului-Wailuku, HI	$55,340	109.4	160	0.69×
8	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$53,810	115.6	10,280	1.41×
9	Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA	$51,310	85.1	140	0.56×
10	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$51,190	110.4	3,570	1.02×
11	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$50,230	112.6	28,140	0.96×
12	Hinesville, GA	$49,690	93.9	150	2.40×
13	Modesto, CA	$49,500	104.1	640	1.06×
14	Manhattan, KS	$49,160	90.2	70	0.41×
15	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$48,820	106.9	1,500	1.21×
16	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$48,510	102.4	180	1.08×
17	Urban Honolulu, HI	$48,410	111.0	1,070	0.78×
18	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$48,130	108.8	630	1.02×
19	Merced, CA	$48,120	98.3	290	1.18×
20	Wichita, KS	$47,920	88.9	290	0.30×
21	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$47,780	109.9	420	1.39×
22	Salinas, CA	$47,280	109.0	600	1.05×
23	Barnstable Town, MA	$47,190	98.4	270	0.93×
24	Lewiston-Auburn, ME	$47,010	94.7	90	0.61×
25	Vallejo, CA	$46,960	108.5	450	1.01×
26	Rockford, IL	$46,730	92.2	380	0.89×
27	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$46,710	107.8	620	0.98×
28	Burlington-South Burlington, VT	$46,690	100.9	350	0.94×
29	Rapid City, SD	$46,620	89.2	190	0.86×
30	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$46,600	113.6	18,430	0.95×
31	Boulder, CO	$46,530	105.2	390	0.66×
32	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$46,470	105.1	680	0.77×
33	Santa Fe, NM	$46,400	98.8	100	0.55×
34	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$46,380	111.1	8,590	1.34×
35	Sioux Falls, SD-MN	$46,370	90.6	710	1.29×
36	Elmira, NY	$46,320	94.4	60	0.60×
37	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$46,200	108.6	320	0.86×
38	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$46,120	110.5	1,260	1.26×
39	Dalton, GA	$46,090	89.8	150	0.76×
40	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$46,030	108.3	14,500	1.74×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where preschool teachers, except special education wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where preschool teachers, except special education earn the most

Best paying metro areas for preschool teachers, except special education

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