Special education teachers

Detailed Occupation

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2024 Workforce

440k

Average Age

43.1

Average Salary

$61,911

Average Male Salary

$64,880

Average Female Salary

$61,385

About

Special education teachers are most often employed by the Elementary & secondary schools industry. The average yearly wage for Special education teachers was $61,911 in 2024.

The locations that employ the most Special education teachers are Nassau County (Southwest)--Hempstead Town (Southwest) & Long Beach City PUMA, NY, Middlesex County--Woburn, Melrose & Reading PUMA, MA, and Polk County (East)--Ankeny & Altoona Cities PUMA, IA. The locations with a relatively high concentration of Special education teachers are Nassau County (Southwest)--Hempstead Town (Southwest) & Long Beach City PUMA, NY, Suffolk County (Southwest)--Islip Town (South) PUMA, NY, and Hillsborough County (Northeast) PUMA, FL.

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

Employment

Employment and salary information for the Special education teachers workforce. Special education teachers workforce in 2024 was 440,271 people, of which 85% were women and 15% were men.

Special education teachers are paid most in San Diego County (Central)--El Cajon & Santee Cities PUMA, CA but are relatively concentrated in Nassau County (Southwest)--Hempstead Town (Southwest) & Long Beach City PUMA, NY.

Employment Over Time

Metric

Grouping

66,212

Male Workforce

± 6.32k

374,059

Female Workforce

± 15k

The Special education teachers workforce in 2024 was 440,271 people (85% women and 15% men). This implies an average annual growth of 74.7% between 2014 (252,081) and 2024 (440,271).

Employment by Location

Level

Metric

This map shows the states in the United States shaded by average wage for Special education teachers.

During 2024, the states that concentrated the best average annual wage were Washington ($76,968), New York ($76,815), and New Jersey ($75,132).

Yearly Wage Ranking

$61,911

AVERAGE WAGE

#225 in the ranking (2014)

$69,878

NATIONAL AVERAGE WAGE

For all occupations across the US

In 2024, Special education teachers earned an average of $61,911, $7,967 less than the average national salary of $69,878

The graph shows the ranking of Special education teachers in relation to all Detailed Occupation in 2014.

In 2024, Special education teachers had a wage GINI coefficient of 0.267, which is lower than the national average of 0.474. In other words, wages are distributed more evenly for Special education teachers (shown in red) than for the overall labor force (shown in gray).

The graphic shows the distribution of average salaries by buckets for Special education teachers compared to the entire workforce in the country.

Industry

Information on the industries that employ Special education teachers and on wages 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 Business, technical & trade schools and training ($75,208).

Occupations by Industries

Metric

Value

440k

2024 Workforce

± 16,267

0.761%

1 YEAR GROWTH

± 5.2%

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 98.5%, followed by Child day care services with 0.806% and Individual & family services with 0.347%.

Diversity

Demographic information on Special education teachers in the US. The workforce of Special education teachers in 2024 was 440,271 people, with 85% woman, and 15% men. The average age of male Special education teachers in the workforce is 42.5 and of female Special education teachers is 43.2, and the most common race/ethnicity for Special education teachers is White.

Gender and Age

Metric

The workforce of Special education teachers in 2024 was 440,271 people, with 85% woman, and 15% men.

The age ranges that concentrated the largest workforce were 40 to 44 years (59,988 people), 35 to 39 years (56,878 people), and 30 to 34 years (54,920 people). Among them they concentrated 39% of the total workforce.

Ethnicity

Gender

In 2024, 11.5% of Special education teachers workers were Hispanic and 88.5% non-Hispanic.

The treemap shows the distribution of Hispanic workers according to their origin, highlighting Mexican (52.9%), Puerto Rican (17.7)%, and All Other Spanish/Hispanic/Latino (4.27)%

You can review this information by gender using the selectors above.

Races

In 2024, 76.1% of the Special education teachers workforce were White, of which 85.6% were women and 14.4% men. Other races that concentrated a significant number of workers were Black (8.56%) and Two or More Races (8.34%).

Education & Skills

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 the most specialized major according to RCA in 2024 were Education.

Among the necessary skills for Special education teachers, Active Listening stands, but the revealed comparative advantage (RCA) shows that Special education teachers need more than the average amount of Learning Strategies.

Majors

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

Type of Majors

Degree

The most common majors achieved by Special education teachers in 2024 (counting all academic degrees) were Education (210,114 people), Psychology (29,814 people), and Business (24,368 people).

You can review this information for different academic grades by modifying the option selected in the selector above.

Education Levels

Metric

The main educational levels achieved by the Special education teachers workers were Graduate Degree (231,375 people), Bachelors Degree (159,967 people), and Some college (17,573 people).

The graphic shows the Special education teachers workforce by gender and educational level.

Skills

Chart

Value

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 Active Listening, Social Perceptiveness, Speaking.