Special Education Teachers, Elementary School

Pay and outlook

Median annual wage, May 2025

$65,120

Half earn more, half earn less

Middle half earn

$59,710 – $80,280

25th to 75th percentile

People employed, May 2025

260,870

Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)

Projected change, 2025–35

-0.4%

Shrinking (below 0%)

Openings a year (projected)

16,400

New jobs plus replacing people who leave

Typical education to enter

Bachelor's degree

BLS

BLS publishes one wage and employment figure for special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school combined (code 25-2052). The pay and employment figures above are for that whole group, not for special education teachers, elementary school alone. So is the projection.

• 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 academic, social, and life skills to elementary school students with learning, emotional, or physical disabilities. Includes teachers who specialize and work with students who are blind or have visual impairments; students who are deaf or have hearing impairments; and students with intellectual disabilities.

Main tasks

• Instruct 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.
• Develop or implement strategies to meet the needs of students with a variety of disabilities.
• Teach socially acceptable behavior, employing techniques such as behavior modification or positive reinforcement.
• Modify the general elementary education curriculum for students with disabilities.
• Maintain accurate and complete student records as required by laws, district policies, or administrative regulations.
• Prepare classrooms with a variety of materials or resources for children to explore, manipulate, or use in learning activities or imaginative play.
• Establish and enforce rules for behavior and procedures for maintaining order among students.
• Provide assistive devices, supportive technology, or assistance accessing facilities, such as restrooms.

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.

Fields of study that lead here

From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 13 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.

Related careers

Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.

• Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten

  $65,120 median · -0.4% projected

• Special Education Teachers, Secondary School

  $74,260 median · -0.2% projected

• Special Education Teachers, Middle School

  $66,810 median · -0.4% projected

• Special Education Teachers, Preschool

  $64,830 median · +2.4% 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