Pay · 25-3011
Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors earn $61,540 a year at the midpoint
From about $41,810 at the low end to $98,030 at the top, with $61,540 in the middle — the 2025 survey, published as reported.
National figures for adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors, 25-3011, from the 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.
- Read the spread, not the middle. The median is the midpoint across everyone in the occupation, most of them years into the work. A beginner starts nearer the 10th to 25th percentile, which is why the spread is published alongside it.
- What the figure counts. The figure counts base pay plus tips, commissions and production bonuses. It leaves out the self-employed, unpaid family workers, private household workers, and the value of benefits or profit sharing.
- Where you live moves it more than your resume does. National figures. A state or metro area can sit far from the national number, and that gap is usually larger than any difference a resume makes.
- Not in these numbers. Growth and annual openings are not in this dataset. They come from the separate Employment Projections tables, where an opening is a modelled ten year average and not a posted vacancy.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025. Retrieved through the BLS Public Data API on 2026-08-13. bls.gov/oes “BLS.gov cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov.”
Adult basic education and ESL instructor earnings, from starting pay to the highest 10%
Pick the job, where you work and how long you have done it. The range comes from the published wage percentiles for that job.
The survey has no complete figures for that job — pick the closest title from the list.
An estimate from survey percentiles, not an offer. Employer, industry, shift and credentials move pay within and beyond this range. Full wage page for this job →
Adult basic education and ESL instructor wages in each state
The 43 states where the most people do this work, of 50 with a published figure: their medians range by 2.36 times. Figures are the 2025 survey.
| State | Median a year | Where most start | 10th to 90th | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | $102,030 | $55,930 | $55,930 — $131,510 | 1,660 |
| New Jersey | $81,100 | $41,030 | $41,030 — $104,410 | 1,350 |
| Delaware | $78,600 | $49,360 | $49,360 — $104,630 | 200 |
| New York | $78,010 | $48,930 | $48,930 — $128,900 | 2,810 |
| Minnesota | $76,800 | $50,430 | $50,430 — $100,280 | 2,880 |
| Connecticut | $72,180 | $39,680 | $39,680 — $99,470 | 410 |
| Washington | $69,990 | $48,930 | $48,930 — $98,940 | 1,310 |
| Louisiana | $66,870 | $42,860 | $42,860 — $83,250 | 100 |
| Oregon | $65,700 | $43,330 | $43,330 — $116,910 | 510 |
| West Virginia | $65,050 | $47,840 | $47,840 — $70,790 | 250 |
| Wisconsin | $64,980 | $44,250 | $44,250 — $96,060 | 1,050 |
| Virginia | $64,540 | $47,570 | $47,570 — $104,190 | 700 |
| North Dakota | $63,820 | $47,310 | $47,310 — $85,510 | 180 |
| District of Columbia | $62,940 | $48,670 | $48,670 — $102,810 | 570 |
| South Carolina | $62,940 | $41,600 | $41,600 — $79,380 | 480 |
| Illinois | $62,370 | $47,330 | $47,330 — $98,470 | 1,970 |
| Massachusetts | $62,290 | $48,490 | $48,490 — $98,890 | 1,420 |
| Arizona | $61,750 | $32,570 | $32,570 — $91,670 | 570 |
| Tennessee | $60,340 | $48,960 | $48,960 — $97,920 | 240 |
| Maryland | $59,950 | $43,140 | $43,140 — $65,540 | 450 |
| Michigan | $59,900 | $39,600 | $39,600 — $78,420 | 560 |
| Florida | $58,920 | $47,430 | $47,430 — $77,310 | 3,670 |
| Maine | $58,880 | $54,840 | $54,840 — $76,580 | 330 |
| Indiana | $58,660 | $41,880 | $41,880 — $78,760 | 650 |
| Pennsylvania | $57,230 | $42,990 | $42,990 — $86,320 | 790 |
| Montana | $56,500 | $47,760 | $47,760 — $77,900 | 110 |
| Kansas | $52,030 | $39,290 | $39,290 — $64,080 | 160 |
| Oklahoma | $51,840 | $39,050 | $39,050 — $71,910 | 300 |
| North Carolina | $51,810 | $40,440 | $40,440 — $72,130 | 3,720 |
| Missouri | $51,770 | $37,720 | $37,720 — $80,840 | 620 |
| Colorado | $51,170 | $40,030 | $40,030 — $79,200 | 820 |
| Idaho | $50,040 | $43,740 | $43,740 — $77,260 | 270 |
| Mississippi | $49,900 | $38,020 | $38,020 — $67,360 | 240 |
| Texas | $49,490 | $38,640 | $38,640 — $63,790 | 1,830 |
| New Mexico | $49,170 | $42,070 | $42,070 — $83,490 | 210 |
| Nebraska | $49,040 | $28,080 | $28,080 — $85,680 | 130 |
| Alabama | $48,870 | $37,770 | $37,770 — $63,410 | 470 |
| Iowa | $48,010 | $37,110 | $37,110 — $64,710 | 370 |
| Georgia | $47,540 | $34,460 | $34,460 — $58,880 | 470 |
| Ohio | $47,190 | $36,670 | $36,670 — $76,460 | 750 |
| Kentucky | $44,990 | $38,790 | $38,790 — $61,360 | 350 |
| Hawaii | $44,600 | $38,390 | $38,390 — $68,270 | 300 |
| Arkansas | $43,240 | $30,250 | $30,250 — $66,870 | 230 |
A resume for adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors
Name the job in the builder and the duties, skills and credentials it is screened on are written in for you.
- Observed and evaluated students' work to determine progress and make suggestions for improvement.
- Observed students to determine qualifications, limitations, abilities, interests, and other individual characteristics.
- Established clear objectives for all lessons, units, and projects and communicated those objectives to students.
This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. The owner of tiersi.com has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
Adult basic education and ESL instructor pay rate, from hourly to yearly
Starts at this job’s median. Change the rate or the hours; a full-time year is 40 hours for 52 weeks.
Number 385 of 788 by median pay
Better paid than 51% of the occupations in the survey.
- 383 Pump Operators, Except Wellhead Pumpers $61,770
- 384 Medical Equipment Repairers $61,660
- 385 Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors $61,540
- 386 Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters $61,390
- 387 Refractory Materials Repairers, Except Brickmasons $61,290
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Questions people ask
What is an adult basic education and ESL instructor’s yearly income?
An adult basic education and ESL instructor makes a median of $61,540 a year (2025 survey). The middle half earn between $49,100 and $77,690.
What is an adult basic education and ESL instructor’s hourly pay rate?
The median pay rate is $29.59 an hour; the average is $65,860 a year.
What is the starting pay for an adult basic education and ESL instructor?
Starting pay is usually near the 25th percentile, $49,100 a year, and sometimes as low as the 10th, $41,810.
Which state pays adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors the most?
California, with a median of $102,030 a year.
How many people work as adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors?
About 37,310 in the United States — number 385 of 788 occupations by median pay.
Work that pays roughly the same
Median pay within $250 of what adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors earn — $61,540 a year — but not always the same spread.
- $230 more Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists $61,770median a year 10th percentile: $44,530 90th percentile: $88,740
- $230 more Pump Operators, Except Wellhead Pumpers $61,770median a year 10th percentile: $39,420 90th percentile: $91,820
- $250 less Refractory Materials Repairers, Except Brickmasons $61,290median a year 10th percentile: $40,590 90th percentile: $86,510