Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education
US occupation · SOC 25-2022
Job titles people report: Art Teacher, English Teacher, Language Arts Teacher (LA Teacher), Math Teacher (Mathematics Teacher), Middle School Teacher, Music Teacher, PE Teacher (Physical Education Teacher), Science Teacher, Social Studies Teacher, Teacher
Pay and outlook
- Median annual wage, May 2025
- $64,370
- Half earn more, half earn less
- Middle half earn
- $58,530 – $80,490
- 25th to 75th percentile
- People employed, May 2025
- 620,090
- Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)
- Projected change, 2025–35
- -0.4%
- Shrinking (below 0%)
- Openings a year (projected)
- 38,800
- 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
Teach one or more subjects to students at the middle, intermediate, or junior high school level.
Main tasks
- Prepare materials and classrooms for class activities.
- Observe and evaluate students' performance, behavior, social development, and physical health.
- Instruct through lectures, discussions, and demonstrations in one or more subjects, such as English, mathematics, or social studies.
- Prepare, administer, and grade tests and assignments to evaluate students' progress.
- Establish and enforce rules for behavior and procedures for maintaining order among students.
- Establish clear objectives for all lessons, units, and projects, and communicate these objectives to students.
- Assign lessons and correct homework.
- Assist students who need extra help, such as by tutoring and preparing and implementing remedial programs.
Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.
Getting in
- Typical education to enter (BLS)
- Bachelor's degree
- 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
- Artistic: creating, designing and self-expression
- Conventional: organising information, records and procedures
Fields of study that lead here
From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 40 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.
Social Sciences
- Social Sciences, Other
Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Social Sciences at the Major step.
Where many students take social sciences
- University of California-Los AngelesLos Angeles, CA · 25% of degrees · 33,475 undergraduates
- University of California-Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara, CA · 27% of degrees · 23,113 undergraduates
- University of California-BerkeleyBerkeley, CA · 17% of degrees · 33,068 undergraduates
- University of California-IrvineIrvine, CA · 15% of degrees · 30,197 undergraduates
- Arizona State University Digital ImmersionScottsdale, AZ · 8% of degrees · 53,782 undergraduates
- University of California-DavisDavis, CA · 13% of degrees · 32,253 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.
Education
- Bilingual and Multilingual Education
- Junior High/Intermediate/Middle School Education and Teaching
- Teacher Education, Multiple Levels
- Montessori Teacher Education
- Waldorf/Steiner Teacher Education
- Online Educator/Online Teaching
- International Teaching and Learning
- Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Educational Methods
31 more programmes
- Art Teacher Education
- English/Language Arts Teacher Education
- Foreign Language Teacher Education
- Health Teacher Education
- Family and Consumer Sciences/Home Economics Teacher Education
- Technology Teacher Education/Industrial Arts Teacher Education
- Mathematics Teacher Education
- Music Teacher Education
- Physical Education Teaching and Coaching
- Reading Teacher Education
- Science Teacher Education/General Science Teacher Education
- Social Science Teacher Education
- Social Studies Teacher Education
- Computer Teacher Education
- Biology Teacher Education
- Chemistry Teacher Education
- Drama and Dance Teacher Education
- French Language Teacher Education
- German Language Teacher Education
- Health Occupations Teacher Education
- History Teacher Education
- Spanish Language Teacher Education
- Speech Teacher Education
- Geography Teacher Education
- Latin Teacher Education
- Earth Science Teacher Education
- Environmental Education
- Communication Arts and Literature Teacher Education
- Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language/ESL Language Instructor
- Teaching French as a Second or Foreign Language
- Teaching English or French as a Second or Foreign Language, Other
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.
- Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education
$72,040 median · -0.2% projected
- Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education
$63,970 median · -0.4% projected
- Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors
$61,540 median · -13.9% projected
- Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education
$62,680 median · -0.3% projected
- Special Education Teachers, Middle School
$66,810 median · -0.4% projected
- Special Education Teachers, Secondary School
$74,260 median · -0.2% 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