Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School salary

SOC 25-2052 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$65,120

per year, nationally

Middle half

$59,710–$80,280

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

260,870

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-1.8%

15,400 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.

$49,350$103,010

10th: $49,350
25th: $59,710
Median: $65,120
75th: $80,280
90th: $103,010

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, kindergarten and elementary school 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	$97,910	109.9	1,070	0.91×
2	California	$97,170	110.7	23,280	0.76×
3	Washington	$95,040	107.0	3,450	0.58×
4	Massachusetts	$91,350	105.8	7,220	1.18×
5	Rhode Island	$84,300	102.3	1,070	1.28×
6	Connecticut	$82,950	103.6	2,810	0.99×
7	New York	$81,260	107.9	21,130	1.30×
8	Alaska	$80,230	102.4	320	0.58×
9	Maryland	$78,850	105.0	2,760	0.60×
10	Illinois	$77,960	100.0	14,040	1.37×
11	Oregon	$77,700	103.4	1,520	0.46×
12	New Jersey	$76,660	108.8	11,610	1.61×
13	New Mexico	$76,420	92.2	880	0.60×
14	Michigan	$74,600	96.2	4,010	0.54×
15	Colorado	$74,290	103.1	4,010	0.83×
16	Vermont	$74,200	98.0	770	1.51×
17	Ohio	$73,970	92.8	9,550	1.03×
18	Georgia	$72,880	96.3	9,370	1.14×
19	Pennsylvania	$72,680	97.6	7,640	0.75×
20	Virginia	$67,740	101.1	7,440	1.08×
21	Minnesota	$67,620	98.6	3,960	0.80×
22	Delaware	$65,990	99.8	1,070	1.31×
23	New Hampshire	$65,160	104.2	1,110	0.97×
24	Nevada	$65,110	100.0	430	0.16×
25	Alabama	$64,520	88.8	870	0.24×
26	Idaho	$63,610	95.5	620	0.43×
27	Tennessee	$62,560	91.9	3,910	0.71×
28	Nebraska	$62,420	90.1	1,900	1.11×
29	South Carolina	$62,360	93.7	2,950	0.76×
30	Texas	$62,330	97.1	56,760	2.40×
31	Maine	$61,880	97.0	1,320	1.23×
32	Wisconsin	$61,520	94.1	4,280	0.87×
33	Utah	$61,290	98.9	1,890	0.65×
34	Hawaii	$60,940	110.0	1,270	1.20×
35	Wyoming	$60,930	92.7	650	1.38×
36	Iowa	$60,440	87.8	2,560	0.98×
37	Kentucky	$60,060	90.2	3,710	1.10×
38	Kansas	$59,970	90.1	1,610	0.67×
39	Florida	$58,850	103.4	8,740	0.52×
40	Louisiana	$58,800	88.2	4,000	1.23×
41	Indiana	$58,760	93.3	3,640	0.68×
42	North Carolina	$58,260	94.3	4,430	0.53×
43	North Dakota	$57,950	89.0	590	0.83×
44	Montana	$57,630	94.6	560	0.65×
45	Missouri	$57,260	90.8	2,860	0.58×
46	Arizona	$56,030	100.7	2,450	0.45×
47	Arkansas	$54,290	86.9	1,430	0.65×
48	South Dakota	$51,090	88.6	790	1.04×
49	Oklahoma	$50,630	87.8	2,360	0.82×
50	Mississippi	$50,570	87.0	2,530	1.30×
51	West Virginia	$50,380	89.5	1,690	1.43×

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, kindergarten and elementary school wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school

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	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$105,290	115.6	3,440	0.86×
2	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$104,810	110.5	490	0.89×
3	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$100,150	111.1	1,740	0.50×
4	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$99,840	102.4	60	0.66×
5	El Centro, CA	$99,020	95.2	180	1.60×
6	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$98,940	108.8	300	0.89×
7	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$98,640	110.4	790	0.42×
8	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$98,330	106.7	1,700	0.94×
9	Vallejo, CA	$98,260	108.5	210	0.88×
10	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$97,860	111.9	1,970	0.76×
11	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$97,410	108.3	4,980	1.10×
12	Merced, CA	$97,340	98.3	160	1.23×
13	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$97,260	108.6	130	0.65×
14	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$96,970	113.6	6,410	0.61×
15	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$96,290	106.9	770	1.14×
16	Fresno, CA	$95,950	102.2	700	0.88×
17	Bellingham, WA	$95,610	103.3	110	0.72×
18	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$95,040	105.6	130	0.84×
19	Yuba City, CA	$94,260	104.2	130	1.57×
20	Napa, CA	$92,970	112.6	60	0.45×
21	Redding, CA	$92,820	100.7	170	1.41×
22	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$91,840	106.4	3,140	1.09×
23	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$91,610	112.6	22,270	1.40×
24	Chico, CA	$91,510	101.2	160	1.21×
25	Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT	$87,550	100.4	260	1.24×
26	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$85,330	101.8	1,590	1.33×
27	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$85,000	100.1	170	0.80×
28	Amherst Town-Northampton, MA	$84,730	100.2	90	0.83×
29	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$83,140	105.4	890	0.44×
30	Yakima, WA	$82,790	95.5	140	0.88×
31	Santa Fe, NM	$82,590	98.8	50	0.44×
32	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$82,180	102.7	930	0.93×
33	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$81,910	107.8	250	0.71×
34	Hanford-Corcoran, CA	$81,750	101.6	150	1.84×
35	Kingston, NY	$81,540	100.7	170	1.73×
36	Worcester, MA	$81,330	102.5	960	1.63×
37	Barnstable Town, MA	$81,250	98.4	160	1.02×
38	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$81,150	103.7	140	0.64×
39	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$81,140	104.5	1,360	0.60×
40	Bend, OR	$81,050	103.6	80	0.41×

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, kindergarten and elementary school 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, Kindergarten and Elementary School salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school earn the most

Best paying metro areas for special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school

Similar occupations

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