Special education teachers

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Total Workforce

260k

Average Age

43.6

Average Salary

$47,414

Average Male Salary

$49,752

Average Female Salary

$47,039

About

Employment

Diversity

Education

Skills

About

Special education teachers are most often employed by the Elementary & secondary schools industry. The average yearly wage for Special education teachers was $47,414 in 2016. The top 3 most similar occupations to Special education teachers by wage are Clinical laboratory technologists & technicians, Electronic home entertainment equipment installers & repairers, and Postal service mail sorters, processors, & processing machine operators.

Special education teachers are part of the Education, Training, & Library Occupations, along with Postsecondary teachers, Preschool & kindergarten teachers, Elementary & middle school teachers, Secondary school teachers, Special education teachers, Other teachers & instructors, Archivists, curators, & museum technicians, Librarians, Library technicians, Teacher assistants, and Other education, training, & library workers

The top 3 locations that employ the most Special education teachers are LA City (Northwest/Encino & Tarzana) PUMA, CA, New City & Congers PUMA, NY, and St. Louis County (Central West) PUMA, MO. The top 3 locations with a relatively high concentration of Special education teachers are New City & Congers PUMA, NY, St. Louis County (Central West) PUMA, MO, and LA City (Northwest/Encino & Tarzana) PUMA, CA.

Photo by Alex Proimos

Management, business, science, & arts occupations Education, legal, community service, arts, & media occupations Education, Training, & Library Occupations

Information on the businesses and industries that employ Special education teachers and on wages and locations for those in the field. Elementary & secondary schools is the industry that employs the most Special education teachers, both by share and by number, though the highest paid industry for Special education teachers, by average wage, is Elementary & secondary schools. Special education teachers are paid most in Westchester County (Northeast) PUMA, NY but are relatively concentrated in New City & Congers PUMA, NY.

Wages

Yearly Wage

$47,414

AVERAGE SALARY

± $1,248

In 2017, Special education teachers earned an average of $47,414, $4,651 less than than the average national salary of $52,065.

Clinical laboratory technologists & technicians make somewhat more than Special education teachers while Electronic home entertainment equipment installers & repairers make somewhat less. This chart shows the various occupations closest to Special education teachers as measured by average annual salary in the US.

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Wage Distribution

0.275

WAGE GINI

In 2017, Special education teachers had a wage GINI coefficient of 0.275, which is lower than than the national average of 0.479. In other words, wages are distributed more evenly for Special education teachers (shown in red) than for the overall labor force (shown in gray).

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Wage by Location

HIGHEST PAYING PUMAS

This map shows the Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) in the United States shaded by average annual wage for Special education teachers.

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Spatial Concentration

PUMAs with a Relatively High Concentration of Special education teachers

This map displays which Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) in the United States have a relatively high population of Special education teachers.

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Industries

Most Common

The most common industries employing Special education teachers, by number of employees, are Elementary & secondary schools, Individual & family services, and Other schools & instruction and educational support services.

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Highest Paying

The highest paying industries for Special education teachers, by average wage, are Elementary & secondary schools, Residential care facilities, except skilled nursing facilities, and Colleges, universities & professional schools, including junior colleges.

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Industries by Share

260k

2017 Workforce

± 12,511

-2.93%

1 YEAR GROWTH

± 6.96%

The number of people employed as Special education teachers has been declining at a rate of -2.93%, from 267,995 people in 2016 to 260,133 people in 2017.

This graphic shows the share of Special education teachers employed by various industries. Elementary & secondary schools employs the largest share of Special education teachers at 96.3%, followed by Individual & family services with 0.785% and Other schools & instruction and educational support services with 0.564%.

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Diversity

Demographic information on Special education teachers in the US. The average age of male Special education teachers in the workforce is 41.5 and of female Special education teachers is 44, and the most common race/ethnicity for Special education teachers is White.

Gender Composition

35.9k

MALE WORKFORCE

± 4,654

224k

FEMALE WORKFORCE

± 11,616

86.2% of Special education teachers are Female, making them the more common gender in the occupation. This chart shows the gender breakdown of Special education teachers.

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Race & Ethnicity

Most Common Race or Ethnicity of Special education teachers

White
Black
Asian

80.9% of Special education teachers are White, making that the most common race or ethnicity in the occupation. Representing 10% of Special education teachers, Black is the second most common race or ethnicity in this occupation. This chart shows the racial and ethnic breakdown of Special education teachers.

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Age by Gender

41.5

AVERAGE MALE AGE

± 1.59

AVERAGE FEMALE AGE

± 0.66

The median age of Special education teachers is 43.6, and Male employees are generally 2.47 years younger than than their Female counterparts.

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Education

Data on higher education choices for Special education teachers from The Department of Education and Census Bureau. The most common major for Special education teachers is Education but a relatively high number of Special education teachers hold a major in Education.

Majors

ACS PUMS data only shows the major for bachelor's degrees. However, we can filter the data based on highest degree obtained.

MOST COMMON MAJORS

MOST SPECIALIZED MAJORS

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Skills

Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for Special education teachers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Special education teachers need many skills, but most especially Social Perceptiveness. The revealed comparative advantage (RCA) shows that Special education teachers need more than the average amount of Learning Strategies, Instructing, and Social Perceptiveness.