Special education teachers

Detailed Occupation

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2020 Workforce

335k

Average Age

43.2

Average Salary

$51,027

Average Male Salary

$53,823

Average Female Salary

$50,567

About

Special education teachers are most often employed by the Elementary & secondary schools industry. The average yearly wage for Special education teachers was $51,027 in 2016. The top 3 most similar occupations to Special education teachers by wage are Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers, Riggers, and Pipelayers.

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, and 7 more.

The top 3 locations that employ the most Special education teachers are Hillsborough County (Northeast) PUMA, FL, New City & Congers PUMA, NY, and Perry Hall, Middle River & Rosedale PUMA, MD. The top 3 locations with a relatively high concentration of Special education teachers are Hempstead Town (Southwest) & Long Beach City PUMA, NY, New City & Congers PUMA, NY, and Perry Hall, Middle River & Rosedale PUMA, MD.

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

Employment

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 Business, technical & trade schools and training. Special education teachers are paid most in Crawford & Warren Counties PUMA, PA but are relatively concentrated in Hempstead Town (Southwest) & Long Beach City PUMA, NY.

Wages

Yearly Wage

$51,027

AVERAGE SALARY

± $1,175

In 2020, Special education teachers earned an average of $51,027, $4,927 less than than the average national salary of $55,954.

Heating, air conditioning, & refrigeration mechanics & installers make somewhat more than Special education teachers while Pipelayers make somewhat less. This chart shows the various occupations closest to Special education teachers as measured by average annual salary in the US.

Wage Distribution

0.29

WAGE GINI

In 2015, Special education teachers had a wage GINI coefficient of 0.29, which is lower than than the national average of 0.478. In other words, wages are distributed more evenly for Special education teachers (shown in red) than for the overall labor force (shown in gray).

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.

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.

Industries

Most Common

The most common industries employing Special education teachers, by number of employees, are Elementary & secondary schools, Child day care services, Other schools & instruction and educational support services, Individual & family services, Outpatient care centers, Colleges, universities & professional schools, including junior colleges, Residential care facilities, except skilled nursing facilities, Business, technical & trade schools and training, Justice, public order, & safety activities , Administration of human resource programs, and Civic, social, advocacy organizations, & grantmaking & giving services.

Highest Paying

The highest paying industries for Special education teachers, by average wage, are Business, technical & trade schools and training, Elementary & secondary schools, and Administration of human resource programs.

Industries by Share

335k

2020 Workforce

± 14,200

14%

1 YEAR GROWTH

± 5.43%

The number of people employed as Special education teachers has been growing at a rate of 14%, from 294,045 people in 2019 to 335,276 people in 2020.

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 96.7%, followed by Child day care services with 0.625% and Other schools & instruction and educational support services with 0.528%.

Diversity

Demographic information on Special education teachers in the US. The average age of male Special education teachers in the workforce is 41.8 and of female Special education teachers is 43.5, and the most common race/ethnicity for Special education teachers is White (Non-Hispanic).

Composition by Sex

47.4k

MALE WORKFORCE

± 5,343

288k

FEMALE WORKFORCE

± 13,161

85.9% of Special education teachers are Female, making them the more common sex in the occupation. This chart shows the sex breakdown of Special education teachers.

Race & Ethnicity

Most Common Race or Ethnicity of Special education teachers

White (Non-Hispanic)
Black (Non-Hispanic)
White (Hispanic)

74.8% of Special education teachers are White (Non-Hispanic), making that the most common race or ethnicity in the occupation. Representing 9.77% of Special education teachers, Black (Non-Hispanic) is the second most common race or ethnicity in this occupation. This chart shows the racial and ethnic breakdown of Special education teachers.

Age by Sex

41.8

AVERAGE MALE AGE

± 1.41

43.5

AVERAGE FEMALE AGE

± 0.571

The median age of Special education teachers is 43.2, and Male employees are generally 1.62 years younger than than their Female counterparts.

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

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 Active Listening. The revealed comparative advantage (RCA) shows that Special education teachers need more than the average amount of Learning Strategies, Instructing, and Service Orientation.