Special Education Teachers, Preschool salary

SOC 25-2051 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$64,830

per year, nationally

Middle half

$52,210–$91,660

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

29,510

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+1.4%

2,100 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.

$45,620$130,040

10th: $45,620
25th: $52,210
Median: $64,830
75th: $91,660
90th: $130,040

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 special education teachers, preschool 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	Massachusetts	$99,070	105.8	710	1.03×
2	New Jersey	$92,060	108.8	1,720	2.12×
3	Connecticut	$87,960	103.6	380	1.19×
4	Washington	$86,580	107.0	820	1.22×
5	Maryland	$85,010	105.0	70	0.14×
6	Pennsylvania	$83,510	97.6	490	0.43×
7	Alaska	$80,390	102.4	110	1.80×
8	Vermont	$79,000	98.0	70	1.21×
9	Colorado	$78,040	103.1	810	1.49×
10	Virginia	$77,570	101.1	650	0.84×
11	Oregon	$77,490	103.4	400	1.07×
12	Minnesota	$75,880	98.6	1,250	2.24×
13	Michigan	$75,860	96.2	430	0.52×
14	Hawaii	$75,120	110.0	230	1.93×
15	Georgia	$72,310	96.3	380	0.41×
16	New York	$68,180	107.9	6,220	3.38×
17	New Mexico	$66,010	92.2	270	1.61×
18	Texas	$65,680	97.1	2,010	0.75×
19	Iowa	$63,540	87.8	—	—
20	Nebraska	$62,760	90.1	80	0.39×
21	Illinois	$62,580	100.0	1,080	0.93×
22	Missouri	$62,250	90.8	940	1.68×
23	New Hampshire	$61,720	104.2	80	0.63×
24	Wisconsin	$60,870	94.1	240	0.44×
25	Ohio	$60,700	92.8	1,150	1.10×
26	Maine	$60,680	97.0	40	0.31×
27	North Carolina	$60,180	94.3	640	0.68×
28	Arizona	$60,130	100.7	330	0.53×
29	North Dakota	$60,060	89.0	50	0.67×
30	South Carolina	$59,800	93.7	170	0.39×
31	Tennessee	$59,550	91.9	330	0.52×
32	California	$59,550	110.7	2,510	0.73×
33	Rhode Island	$59,310	102.3	120	1.24×
34	Delaware	$59,250	99.8	100	1.13×
35	Kansas	$59,220	90.1	350	1.29×
36	Florida	$58,240	103.4	1,370	0.73×
37	Utah	$58,230	98.9	110	0.33×
38	Louisiana	$56,890	88.2	960	2.61×
39	Kentucky	$54,220	90.2	—	—
40	Mississippi	$52,420	87.0	110	0.50×
41	Wyoming	$52,100	92.7	80	1.43×
42	Oklahoma	$49,720	87.8	60	0.17×
43	Idaho	$49,610	95.5	180	1.09×
44	Indiana	$48,680	93.3	380	0.62×
45	Arkansas	$35,580	86.9	510	2.08×

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

Best paying metro areas for special education teachers, preschool

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	Kansas City, MO-KS	$119,560	92.5	380	1.83×
2	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$117,200	111.9	240	0.82×
3	Akron, OH	$100,650	93.4	60	0.91×
4	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$99,440	108.3	610	1.18×
5	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$94,240	111.1	470	1.19×
6	Fresno, CA	$93,800	102.2	120	1.37×
7	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$92,660	106.9	80	1.07×
8	New Haven, CT	$90,440	104.6	50	0.99×
9	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$89,180	102.7	130	1.11×
10	Naples-Marco Island, FL	$86,120	103.2	40	1.33×
11	McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX	$85,200	85.9	60	1.11×
12	Worcester, MA	$84,040	102.5	50	0.76×
13	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$82,760	108.9	440	0.74×
14	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$82,600	103.7	50	1.99×
15	Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ	$82,390	98.9	40	1.18×
16	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$82,280	115.6	—	—
17	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$81,210	112.6	6,110	3.39×
18	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$80,950	105.8	350	1.14×
19	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$80,700	104.8	760	2.06×
20	Anchorage, AK	$80,390	105.4	90	2.73×
21	Boulder, CO	$80,230	105.2	90	2.45×
22	Waterbury-Shelton, CT	$79,940	99.8	50	1.80×
23	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$79,840	100.1	40	1.66×
24	Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI	$79,650	95.5	80	0.68×
25	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$79,560	102.6	510	0.92×
26	Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH	$79,370	92.7	80	1.08×
27	Muskegon-Norton Shores, MI	$78,860	92.5	30	2.78×
28	Rockford, IL	$78,600	92.2	30	1.15×
29	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$78,090	100.1	140	0.25×
30	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$77,540	105.4	270	1.16×
31	Mankato, MN	$77,310	91.0	30	3.25×
32	Rochester, MN	$76,710	90.8	70	2.85×
33	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$75,420	103.2	50	1.06×
34	Duluth, MN-WI	$75,330	88.8	50	2.07×
35	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$75,160	100.3	40	0.89×
36	Vallejo, CA	$75,140	108.5	50	1.69×
37	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$74,810	100.3	110	0.31×
38	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$74,110	103.1	750	0.97×
39	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$73,220	95.4	200	0.95×
40	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$72,390	106.7	—	—

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

Similar occupations

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

Special Education Teachers, Preschool salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where special education teachers, preschool earn the most

Best paying metro areas for special education teachers, preschool

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