Occupation salary profile

Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education

SOC 25-2012 BLS OEWS May 2025 H-1B LCAs, last 12 months

Teach academic and social skills to kindergarten students. Excludes “Special Education Teachers” (25-2050) and “Substitute Teachers, Short-Term” (25-3031).

National median · BLS
$62,680
▲ +2.03% YoY
H-1B sponsor median
$58,180
▲ +2.1% YoY · 154 LCAs
Average salary · BLS
$69,370
Mean annual wage
U.S. employment
108,870
Jobs (BLS)
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Enter your pay and a location to see where you stand against BLS and H-1B pay, your estimated take-home pay, and your purchasing power.

Pay range for Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education

Annual base pay at each percentile. BLS covers all U.S. workers in this occupation; H-1B covers 154 certified Labor Condition Applications filed by sponsoring employers in the last 12 months.

Percentile All U.S. workers (BLS) H-1B sponsored
10th — entry pay$46,990$47,951
25th$52,180$53,642
Median (50th)$62,680$58,180
75th$79,910$66,390
90th — top pay$101,830$75,000
H-1B sponsors pay a median of $58,180 for Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education — 7.2% below the BLS national median of $62,680.

Hourly ⇄ annual pay

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Based on hrs/week × weeks/year = 2,080 hrs
Projections 2025–2035

Job outlook for Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education

BLS projects employment of kindergarten teachers, except special education to decline 0.3% from 2025 to 2035, while employment across all occupations grows 3.5%. About 11,900 openings are projected each year, on average, from new jobs and from replacing workers who retire or move to other occupations.

Jobs 2025 → 2035
111,200 → 110,900
-300 jobs
Projected change
-0.3%
All occupations: +3.5%
Openings per year
11,900
Average, 2025–2035
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
No related experience required
Self-employed
0.2% of workers (2025)
Preparation needed (O*NET Job Zone 4)
Considerable Preparation Needed. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
Fastest-declining jobs → Best-paying jobs that need a bachelor's degree →

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–2035 · BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook →

H-1B sponsored pay

Pay by H-1B wage level

Employers assign every H-1B filing a Department of Labor prevailing-wage level, from Level I (entry) to Level IV (fully competent). Pay rises steeply with level.

H-1B median $58,180
Change vs prior year +2.1%
After inflation (CPI-U) -1%
Wage level LCAs Share P25 Median P75
Level I 92 59.7% $53,157 $56,750 $64,340
Level II 34 22.1% $54,234 $61,407 $69,625
H-1B job titles

Salaries by job title in Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education

The 2 most-filed job titles inside SOC 25-2012, from 154 H-1B filings. Seniority words and level numbers are grouped (“Senior Data Engineer II” counts as Data Engineer). Tap a title for its full range, wage levels and the exact titles employers used.

Job title LCAs Share P25 Median P75 YoY
Kindergarten Teacher 45 29.22% $51,150 $57,000 $67,175 -2.56%
Teacher 16 10.39% $47,050 $53,269 $64,040 +13.58%

Titles are cleaned from the employer's own LCA text (codes and typos removed, nothing invented). Rows need 10+ filings in this SOC.

Skills & tools

Skills needed for Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education

How important each skill and knowledge area is for this job, rated by O*NET on a 1–5 scale from surveys of workers and occupational analysts.

Top skills
  • Instructing4.1
  • Social Perceptiveness4.1
  • Active Listening4.0
  • Learning Strategies4.0
  • Monitoring4.0
  • Speaking4.0
  • Coordination3.9
  • Reading Comprehension3.9
  • Time Management3.8
  • Service Orientation3.6
Top knowledge areas
  • Education and Training4.7
  • English Language4.6
  • Psychology4.0
  • Mathematics3.9
  • Customer and Personal Service3.5
  • Sociology and Anthropology3.3
  • Public Safety and Security3.3
  • Administrative3.3
Software and technology used
Microsoft ExcelMicrosoft Office softwareMicrosoft OutlookMicrosoft PowerPointMicrosoft WordBloomzChildren's educational softwarePadletSeesaw

Highlighted = in demand: frequently listed in employer job postings for this occupation (O*NET).

Source: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.

About the job

What kindergarten teachers, except special education do

  • Establish and enforce rules for behavior and policies and procedures to maintain order among students.
  • Prepare children for later grades by encouraging them to explore learning opportunities and to persevere with challenging tasks.
  • Instruct students individually and in groups, adapting teaching methods to meet students' varying needs and interests.
  • Teach basic skills, such as color, shape, number and letter recognition, personal hygiene, and social skills.
  • Demonstrate activities to children.
  • Read books to entire classes or to small groups.
  • Guide and counsel students with adjustment or academic problems or special academic interests.
  • Observe and evaluate children's performance, behavior, social development, and physical health.
Also called
Bilingual Kindergarten TeacherClassroom TeacherKinder TeacherTeacherEducatorInstructorKindergarten Classroom TeacherTitle One Kindergarten TeacherTransitional Kindergarten Teacher
More job titles for this occupation (8)
Art TeacherBilingual Education TeacherEarly Childhood TeacherLong Term Substitute Kindergarten TeacherMontessori TeacherPhysical Education Teacher (PE Teacher)Physical Fitness TeacherPrivate Kindergarten Teacher

Source: O*NET 31.0 (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0). These are general job titles, not H-1B filings; for titles employers actually filed, see “Job titles” above.