What is the most common level of education earned by secondary school special education teachers?

Teach academic, social, and life skills to secondary 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. Excludes �Substitute Teachers, Short-Term� (25-3031).

National estimates for Special Education Teachers, Secondary School
Industry profile for Special Education Teachers, Secondary School
Geographic profile for Special Education Teachers, Secondary School

National estimates for Special Education Teachers, Secondary School:

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for Special Education Teachers, Secondary School:

Employment (1)	Employment RSE (3)	Mean hourly wage	Mean annual wage (2)	Mean wage RSE (3)
145,690	1.7 %	(4)	$ 70,100	0.7 %

Percentile wage estimates for Special Education Teachers, Secondary School:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Annual Wage (2)	$ 47,230	$ 49,850	$ 62,120	$ 79,030	$ 100,310

(4)

Industry profile for Special Education Teachers, Secondary School:

Industries with the highest published employment and wages for Special Education Teachers, Secondary School are provided. For a list of all industries with employment in Special Education Teachers, Secondary School, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Industries with the highest levels of employment in Special Education Teachers, Secondary School:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Elementary and Secondary Schools	140,720	1.74	(4)	$ 70,530
Educational Support Services	1,740	0.89	(4)	$ 52,420
State Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OEWS Designation)	1,210	0.06	(4)	$ 69,460
Residential Intellectual and Developmental Disability, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse Facilities	440	0.07	(4)	$ 51,450
Local Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OEWS Designation)	410	0.01	(4)	$ 65,350

Industries with the highest concentration of employment in Special Education Teachers, Secondary School:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Elementary and Secondary Schools	140,720	1.74	(4)	$ 70,530
Educational Support Services	1,740	0.89	(4)	$ 52,420
Other Residential Care Facilities	190	0.12	(4)	$ 58,330
Residential Intellectual and Developmental Disability, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse Facilities	440	0.07	(4)	$ 51,450
State Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OEWS Designation)	1,210	0.06	(4)	$ 69,460

Top paying industries for Special Education Teachers, Secondary School:

Geographic profile for Special Education Teachers, Secondary School:

States and areas with the highest published employment, location quotients, and wages for Special Education Teachers, Secondary School are provided. For a list of all areas with employment in Special Education Teachers, Secondary School, see the Create Customized Tables function.

States with the highest employment level in Special Education Teachers, Secondary School:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
New York	17,080	1.97	1.91	(4)	$ 87,520
Texas	12,620	1.03	1.00	(4)	$ 61,430
Pennsylvania	10,680	1.91	1.85	(4)	$ 67,870
California	8,840	0.54	0.52	(4)	$ 99,200
Ohio	8,670	1.67	1.61	(4)	$ 64,890

States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Special Education Teachers, Secondary School:

Top paying states for Special Education Teachers, Secondary School:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
California	8,840	0.54	0.52	(4)	$ 99,200
New York	17,080	1.97	1.91	(4)	$ 87,520
Connecticut	1,230	0.78	0.75	(4)	$ 84,450
Washington	2,210	0.69	0.67	(4)	$ 83,990
Massachusetts	3,580	1.05	1.02	(4)	$ 83,160

Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in Special Education Teachers, Secondary School:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	14,700	1.69	1.64	(4)	$ 93,110
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	5,590	2.11	2.04	(4)	$ 70,320
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	5,010	1.18	1.15	(4)	$ 77,590
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	3,320	0.93	0.90	(4)	$ 62,490
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	3,260	1.11	1.08	(4)	$ 91,480
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	2,820	1.54	1.49	(4)	$ 67,940
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX	2,760	0.95	0.92	(4)	$ 64,220
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	2,520	1.03	0.99	(4)	$ 79,210
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	2,450	0.43	0.41	(4)	$ 103,540
Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH	2,260	0.87	0.84	(4)	$ 84,990

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Special Education Teachers, Secondary School:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Pittsfield, MA	190	5.16	4.99	(4)	$ 67,250
Lawton, OK	180	4.41	4.27	(4)	$ 76,580
Bloomington, IL	320	3.80	3.68	(4)	$ 59,640
Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, NY	1,760	3.52	3.41	(4)	$ 67,020
Watertown-Fort Drum, NY	130	3.51	3.39	(4)	$ 65,600
Kingston, NY	190	3.46	3.34	(4)	$ 88,830
Gettysburg, PA	110	3.35	3.24	(4)	$ 64,080
Dover, DE	190	3.06	2.96	(4)	$ 64,660
Mansfield, OH	140	2.87	2.77	(4)	$ 61,790
Rochester, NY	1,310	2.78	2.69	(4)	$ 66,200

Top paying metropolitan areas for Special Education Teachers, Secondary School:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
San Diego-Carlsbad, CA	690	0.49	0.48	(4)	$ 110,320
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	1,510	0.98	0.95	(4)	$ 106,590
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	2,450	0.43	0.41	(4)	$ 103,540
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	370	0.35	0.34	(4)	$ 102,480
Fresno, CA	300	0.79	0.77	(4)	$ 99,540
Merced, CA	100	1.43	1.38	(4)	$ 99,120
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles-Arroyo Grande, CA	40	0.38	0.37	(4)	$ 97,700
El Centro, CA	70	1.25	1.21	(4)	$ 97,670
Vallejo-Fairfield, CA	80	0.65	0.63	(4)	$ 96,910
Salinas, CA	100	0.61	0.59	(4)	$ 96,250

Nonmetropolitan areas with the highest employment in Special Education Teachers, Secondary School:

Nonmetropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Special Education Teachers, Secondary School:

Top paying nonmetropolitan areas for Special Education Teachers, Secondary School:

About May 2021 National, State, Metropolitan, and Nonmetropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

These estimates are calculated with data collected from employers in all industry sectors, all metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas, and all states and the District of Columbia. The top employment and wage figures are provided above. The complete list is available in the downloadable XLS files.

The percentile wage estimate is the value of a wage below which a certain percent of workers fall. The median wage is the 50th percentile wage estimate—50 percent of workers earn less than the median and 50 percent of workers earn more than the median. More about percentile wages.

(1) Estimates for detailed occupations do not sum to the totals because the totals include occupations not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers.

(2) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a "year-round, full-time" hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data.

(3) The relative standard error (RSE) is a measure of the reliability of a survey statistic. The smaller the relative standard error, the more precise the estimate.

(4) Wages for some occupations that do not generally work year-round, full time, are reported either as hourly wages or annual salaries depending on how they are typically paid.

(7) The value is less than .005 percent of industry employment.

(8) Estimate not released.

(9) The location quotient is the ratio of the area concentration of occupational employment to the national average concentration. A location quotient greater than one indicates the occupation has a higher share of employment than average, and a location quotient less than one indicates the occupation is less prevalent in the area than average.

Other OEWS estimates and related information:

May 2021 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2021 State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2021 Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2021 National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2021 Occupation Profiles

Technical Notes

Last Modified Date: March 31, 2022