Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education salary

SOC 25-2012 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$62,680

per year, nationally

Middle half

$52,180–$79,910

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

108,870

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-1.6%

12,800 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.

$46,990$101,830

10th: $46,990
25th: $52,180
Median: $62,680
75th: $79,910
90th: $101,830

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Bachelor'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 kindergarten 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	Washington	$99,960	107.0	5,270	2.12×
2	Connecticut	$90,030	103.6	1,420	1.20×
3	Rhode Island	$85,470	102.3	360	1.02×
4	Massachusetts	$84,100	105.8	1,980	0.78×
5	California	$82,550	110.7	7,430	0.58×
6	District of Columbia	$81,500	109.9	180	0.37×
7	New York	$77,630	107.9	6,950	1.02×
8	Maryland	$75,910	105.0	1,560	0.80×
9	Minnesota	$75,500	98.6	2,840	1.38×
10	New Mexico	$74,380	92.2	950	1.56×
11	New Jersey	$74,210	108.8	5,370	1.79×
12	Delaware	$74,030	99.8	70	0.21×
13	Ohio	$72,570	92.8	3,290	0.85×
14	Oregon	$68,580	103.4	1,330	0.96×
15	Georgia	$65,680	96.3	4,530	1.32×
16	Nevada	$64,930	100.0	1,400	1.29×
17	Pennsylvania	$64,430	97.6	2,510	0.59×
18	Illinois	$64,020	100.0	4,660	1.09×
19	Virginia	$63,920	101.1	3,740	1.30×
20	Texas	$63,780	97.1	3,820	0.39×
21	Michigan	$63,300	96.2	1,890	0.61×
22	Vermont	$63,280	98.0	250	1.16×
23	Utah	$63,190	98.9	530	0.44×
24	Colorado	$62,870	103.1	3,260	1.62×
25	Idaho	$62,240	95.5	460	0.77×
26	Nebraska	$62,200	90.1	1,120	1.57×
27	Wyoming	$60,990	92.7	360	1.86×
28	South Carolina	$60,890	93.7	1,540	0.96×
29	Kentucky	$60,280	90.2	2,450	1.75×
30	New Hampshire	$60,240	104.2	520	1.09×
31	North Dakota	$59,420	89.0	600	1.99×
32	Wisconsin	$59,350	94.1	1,510	0.73×
33	West Virginia	$58,790	89.5	730	1.48×
34	Iowa	$58,420	87.8	1,160	1.06×
35	Indiana	$58,250	93.3	2,120	0.95×
36	Florida	$58,100	103.4	8,810	1.27×
37	Tennessee	$58,070	91.9	2,740	1.19×
38	Kansas	$56,670	90.1	1,300	1.29×
39	Missouri	$56,590	90.8	2,300	1.12×
40	North Carolina	$53,180	94.3	2,250	0.65×
41	Hawaii	$53,160	110.0	90	0.21×
42	Louisiana	$53,130	88.2	3,730	2.76×
43	Arizona	$52,830	100.7	3,020	1.33×
44	Maine	$52,660	97.0	570	1.28×
45	Arkansas	$52,060	86.9	1,490	1.63×
46	Alabama	$50,900	88.8	310	0.21×
47	South Dakota	$49,410	88.6	610	1.90×
48	Mississippi	$48,880	87.0	1,350	1.66×
49	Oklahoma	$47,860	87.8	1,690	1.41×
50	Montana	$47,590	94.6	400	1.11×

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 kindergarten teachers, except special education wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for kindergarten 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	El Centro, CA	$111,880	95.2	50	1.00×
2	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$106,000	106.7	740	0.98×
3	Modesto, CA	$103,790	104.1	160	1.15×
4	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$103,610	103.7	240	2.58×
5	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$102,450	108.8	290	2.10×
6	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$101,780	110.5	130	0.56×
7	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$101,580	111.1	2,530	1.73×
8	Walla Walla, WA	$99,770	98.5	40	1.99×
9	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$99,660	106.9	440	1.55×
10	Bellingham, WA	$98,460	103.3	170	2.58×
11	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$97,830	102.4	90	2.44×
12	Kingston, NY	$97,110	100.7	50	1.30×
13	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$97,070	105.6	150	2.30×
14	Hanford-Corcoran, CA	$96,980	101.6	60	1.66×
15	Yuba City, CA	$96,570	104.2	60	1.66×
16	Merced, CA	$96,430	98.3	140	2.43×
17	Visalia, CA	$96,380	99.8	240	1.97×
18	Barnstable Town, MA	$95,540	98.4	80	1.29×
19	Napa, CA	$94,500	112.6	50	0.83×
20	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$93,040	102.7	440	1.05×
21	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$92,910	107.8	130	0.94×
22	Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT	$91,670	100.4	100	1.09×
23	Vallejo, CA	$91,640	108.5	100	0.97×
24	Worcester, MA	$89,770	102.5	200	0.80×
25	Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA	$89,740	103.9	80	2.18×
26	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$89,710	100.3	440	2.43×
27	Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY	$89,330	109.4	230	1.24×
28	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$86,420	100.1	270	2.97×
29	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$85,470	101.8	480	0.96×
30	Yakima, WA	$84,700	95.5	260	3.87×
31	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$84,620	110.4	430	0.54×
32	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$82,550	106.4	750	0.62×
33	Chico, CA	$82,170	101.2	70	1.27×
34	Cleveland, OH	$82,080	93.9	570	0.79×
35	Waterbury-Shelton, CT	$81,770	99.8	190	1.67×
36	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$81,700	108.3	1,500	0.79×
37	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$81,090	105.4	900	1.06×
38	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$80,780	104.8	1,900	1.39×
39	York-Hanover, PA	$80,710	96.0	190	1.50×
40	Longview-Kelso, WA	$80,660	97.5	100	3.35×

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 kindergarten 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.

Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where kindergarten teachers, except special education earn the most

Best paying metro areas for kindergarten teachers, except special education

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