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Pay · 25-2052

Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School earn $65,120 a year at the midpoint

Starting pay is close to the middle here: the 25th percentile is $59,710 against a median of $65,120, so the first years are not a long climb.

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$65,120median a year · United States
—an hour $72,650average 260,870people
Nine in ten people in this work earn between the two ends. The shaded part is the middle half — where most people are.
$59,71025th $65,120median $80,28075th
$49,35010th percentile $103,01090th percentile
$59,710a year at the 25th percentile, nearer a first job
$97,910best-paying state · District of Columbia
$50,380lowest-paying state · West Virginia
+50%top state against the national median
  • 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.”

Paid by the yearThe survey publishes no hourly figure for this occupation — it is typically salaried, often on a school or contract year.
A short climbThe 25th percentile, $59,710, is within 8% of the median.
State matters a lotThe same job pays $97,910 in District of Columbia and $50,380 in West Virginia — a gap of $47,530 a year.

Kindergarten and elementary special education teacher earnings, from starting pay to the top 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.

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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 →

Kindergarten and elementary special education teacher wages, state by state

Across 51 states the median ranges by 1.94 times. Figures are the 2025 survey.

State Median a year Where most start 10th to 90th Employed
District of Columbia $97,910 $65,450 $65,450 — $128,370 1,070
California $97,170 $63,180 $63,180 — $123,590 23,280
Washington $95,040 $65,950 $65,950 — $126,570 3,450
Massachusetts $91,350 $61,200 $61,200 — $127,210 7,220
Rhode Island $84,300 $60,420 $60,420 — $98,170 1,070
Connecticut $82,950 $58,560 $58,560 — $107,040 2,810
New York $81,260 $59,460 $59,460 — $133,280 21,130
Alaska $80,230 $58,690 $58,690 — $97,820 320
Maryland $78,850 $60,720 $60,720 — $121,310 2,760
Illinois $77,960 $49,790 $49,790 — $104,490 14,040
Oregon $77,700 $58,620 $58,620 — $105,820 1,520
New Jersey $76,660 $61,710 $61,710 — $103,680 11,610
New Mexico $76,420 $58,110 $58,110 — $100,460 880
Michigan $74,600 $48,720 $48,720 — $100,370 4,010
Colorado $74,290 $50,700 $50,700 — $98,480 4,010
Vermont $74,200 $49,730 $49,730 — $97,620 770
Ohio $73,970 $46,870 $46,870 — $99,490 9,550
Georgia $72,880 $49,510 $49,510 — $98,750 9,370
Pennsylvania $72,680 $51,730 $51,730 — $98,170 7,640
Virginia $67,740 $50,830 $50,830 — $101,120 7,440
Minnesota $67,620 $49,050 $49,050 — $96,240 3,960
Delaware $65,990 $51,350 $51,350 — $95,500 1,070
New Hampshire $65,160 $44,620 $44,620 — $89,080 1,110
Nevada $65,110 $47,810 $47,810 — $93,550 430
Alabama $64,520 $50,510 $50,510 — $77,150 870
Idaho $63,610 $48,670 $48,670 — $86,370 620
Tennessee $62,560 $49,860 $49,860 — $79,360 3,910
Nebraska $62,420 $47,430 $47,430 — $79,470 1,900
South Carolina $62,360 $49,540 $49,540 — $79,150 2,950
Texas $62,330 $50,030 $50,030 — $74,240 56,760
Maine $61,880 $45,620 $45,620 — $79,390 1,320
Wisconsin $61,520 $47,940 $47,940 — $79,210 4,280
Utah $61,290 $37,970 $37,970 — $100,280 1,890
Hawaii $60,940 $58,730 $58,730 — $78,760 1,270
Wyoming $60,930 $52,200 $52,200 — $77,070 650
Iowa $60,440 $47,490 $47,490 — $77,260 2,560
Kentucky $60,060 $46,070 $46,070 — $75,560 3,710
Kansas $59,970 $48,830 $48,830 — $75,940 1,610
Florida $58,850 $51,730 $51,730 — $74,160 8,740
Louisiana $58,800 $46,690 $46,690 — $71,620 4,000
Indiana $58,760 $46,730 $46,730 — $78,490 3,640
North Carolina $58,260 $44,720 $44,720 — $73,990 4,430
North Dakota $57,950 $47,060 $47,060 — $77,150 590
Montana $57,630 $42,890 $42,890 — $78,930 560
Missouri $57,260 $43,880 $43,880 — $83,330 2,860
Arizona $56,030 $46,400 $46,400 — $75,420 2,450
Arkansas $54,290 $49,890 $49,890 — $63,630 1,430
South Dakota $51,090 $47,300 $47,300 — $61,740 790
Oklahoma $50,630 $43,870 $43,870 — $73,990 2,360
Mississippi $50,570 $46,600 $46,600 — $60,900 2,530
West Virginia $50,380 $42,890 $42,890 — $63,460 1,690

Kindergarten and elementary special education teacher pay rate, 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.

$65,125a year

Related work, and what it pays

Occupations in the same group of the federal classification — the usual next steps, or the ones beside this one.

Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School$65,120
Secondary school teachers$72,040+$6,920 Special Education Teachers, Middle School$66,810+$1,690 Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School$65,030−$90 Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education$64,370−$750 Elementary school teachers$63,970−$1,150 Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education$62,680−$2,440

Resumes for special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school

Name the job in the builder and the duties, skills and credentials it is screened on are written in for you.

Children's educational softwareScreen magnification softwareScreen reader softwareEasyCBMVoice activated softwareAmerican Sign Language BrowserIndividualized Educational Program IEP softwareRethink Ed
  • Instructed students with disabilities in academic subjects, using a variety of techniques, such as phonetics, multisensory learning, or repetition to reinforce learning and meet students' varying needs.
  • Prepared objectives, outlines, or other materials for courses of study, following curriculum guidelines or school or state requirements.
  • Developed or implemented strategies to meet the needs of students with a variety of disabilities.

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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.

Examples

Resumes made for this kind of work.

Real sheets, filled in end to end — for this job and the ones beside it.

All templates →

  • Elementary Special Education Teacher Resume Template Education
  • Special Education Preschool Teacher Resume Template Education
  • Middle School Special Education Teacher Resume Template Education
  • High School Special Education Teacher Resume Template Education
  • Special Education Teacher Resume Template Education
  • CTE High School Teacher Resume Template Education
  • High School Teacher Resume Template Education
  • CTE Middle School Teacher Resume Template Education
  • Middle School Teacher Resume Template Education
  • Elementary Teacher Resume Template Education
  • Kindergarten Teacher Resume Template Education
  • Preschool Teacher Resume Template Education

No. 332 of 788 by median pay

Better paid than 58% of the occupations in the survey.

  1. 330 Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems Assemblers $65,380
  2. 331 Hearing Aid Specialists $65,160
  3. 332 Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School $65,120
  4. 333 Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School $65,030
  5. 334 Civil Engineering Technologists and Technicians $64,950

Questions people ask

What is a kindergarten and elementary special education teacher’s yearly income?

A kindergarten and elementary special education teacher makes a median of $65,120 a year (2025 survey). The middle half earn between $59,710 and $80,280.

What is the starting pay for a kindergarten and elementary special education teacher?

Starting pay is usually near the 25th percentile, $59,710 a year, and sometimes as low as the 10th, $49,350.

Which state pays special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school the most?

District of Columbia, with a median of $97,910 a year.

How many people work as special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school?

About 260,870 in the United States — number 332 of 788 occupations by median pay.

Jobs that pay about the same

Median pay within $580 of what special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school earn — $65,120 a year — but not always the same spread.

See all 788 occupations