Education and Childcare Administrators, Preschool and Daycare
US occupation · SOC 11-9031
Job titles people report: Child Care Center Director, Child Care Director, Childcare Director, Day Care Director, Early Childhood Program Supervisor (ECP Supervisor), Early Childhood Services Director, Education Coordinator, Education Director, Education Site Manager, Preschool Program Director
Pay and outlook
- Median annual wage, May 2025
- $59,300
- Half earn more, half earn less
- Middle half earn
- $47,040 – $75,500
- 25th to 75th percentile
- People employed, May 2025
- 73,660
- Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)
- Projected change, 2025–35
- -3.1%
- Shrinking (below 0%)
- Openings a year (projected)
- 5,200
- New jobs plus replacing people who leave
- Typical education to enter
- Bachelor's degree
- BLS
- All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
- Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
- Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.
What the work involves
Plan, direct, or coordinate academic or nonacademic activities of preschools or childcare centers and programs, including before- and after-school care.
Main tasks
- Recruit, hire, train, and evaluate primary and supplemental staff and recommend personnel actions for programs and services.
- Confer with parents and staff to discuss educational activities and policies and students' behavioral or learning problems.
- Teach classes or courses or provide direct care to children.
- Determine allocations of funds for staff, supplies, materials, and equipment and authorize purchases.
- Direct and coordinate activities of teachers or administrators at daycare centers, schools, public agencies, or institutions.
- Monitor students' progress and provide students and teachers with assistance in resolving any problems.
- Determine the scope of educational program offerings and prepare drafts of program schedules and descriptions to estimate staffing and facility requirements.
- Review and evaluate new and current programs to determine their efficiency, effectiveness, and compliance with state, local, and federal regulations and recommend any necessary modifications.
Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.
Getting in
- Typical education to enter (BLS)
- Bachelor's degree
- Work experience in a related job: less than 5 years
- O*NET Job Zone 4
- Considerable preparation
- Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
Interests it suits
The strongest of the six O*NET interest types for this occupation, highest first. The short glosses are ours.
- Social: helping, teaching and caring for people
- Enterprising: leading, persuading and making business decisions
- Conventional: organising information, records and procedures
Fields of study that lead here
From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 5 programmes to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.
Education
- Educational Leadership and Administration, General
- Educational, Instructional, and Curriculum Supervision
- Superintendency and Educational System Administration
- International School Administration/Leadership
- Early Childhood Program Administration
Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Education at the Major step.
Where many students take education
- Western Governors UniversitySalt Lake City, UT · 19% of degrees · 155,088 undergraduates
- Grand Canyon UniversityPhoenix, AZ · 11% of degrees · 73,371 undergraduates
- Liberty UniversityLynchburg, VA · 8% of degrees · 50,012 undergraduates
- Illinois State UniversityNormal, IL · 18% of degrees · 19,057 undergraduates
- Arizona State University Campus ImmersionTempe, AZ · 5% of degrees · 64,674 undergraduates
- University of Nevada-Las VegasLas Vegas, NV · 11% of degrees · 24,622 undergraduates
Ordered by the field's share of degrees awarded times undergraduate enrolment (College Scorecard), among colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online universities are included. It's a rough measure of how big the programme is. It says nothing about quality. The share counts every programme in the field, not only the ones linked to this career.
Related careers
Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.
- Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary
$105,870 median · -0.3% projected
- Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education
$38,140 median · +4.5% projected
- Social and Community Service Managers
$80,390 median · +7.2% projected
- Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten
$65,120 median · -0.4% projected
- Special Education Teachers, Secondary School
$74,260 median · -0.2% projected
- Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education
$62,680 median · -0.3% projected
Sources
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. CollegeMatcher has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET 31.0 Database · CC BY 4.0
Changes: we show the core tasks in the O*NET database with the highest importance ratings (up to eight, in that order), the top three O*NET interest types by score, and shortened Job Zone names. Titles, descriptions and task text are unchanged.
Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Projections, typical entry education and training: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–35. Fields of study: NCES and BLS CIP 2020–SOC 2018 Crosswalk. All public domain. OEWS · Employment Projections · CIP–SOC crosswalk