Occupation salary profile

Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education

SOC 25-2021 BLS OEWS May 2025 H-1B LCAs, last 12 months

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

National median · BLS
$63,970
▲ +2.61% YoY
H-1B sponsor median
$61,943
▲ +4.51% YoY · 2,343 LCAs
Average salary · BLS
$72,650
Mean annual wage
U.S. employment
1,388,390
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 Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education

Annual base pay at each percentile. BLS covers all U.S. workers in this occupation; H-1B covers 2,343 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$47,960$47,115
25th$57,710$53,482
Median (50th)$63,970$61,943
75th$81,450$71,957
90th — top pay$104,340$82,389
H-1B sponsors pay a median of $61,943 for Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education — 3.2% below the BLS national median of $63,970.

Hourly ⇄ annual pay

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

Job outlook for Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education

BLS projects employment of elementary school teachers, except special education to decline 0.4% from 2025 to 2035, while employment across all occupations grows 3.5%. About 87,500 openings are projected each year, on average, from new jobs and from replacing workers who retire or move to other occupations.

Jobs 2025 → 2035
1,419,300 → 1,413,400
-5,800 jobs
Projected change
-0.4%
All occupations: +3.5%
Openings per year
87,500
Average, 2025–2035
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
No related experience required
Self-employed
0.3% 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 $61,943
Change vs prior year +4.51%
After inflation (CPI-U) +1.34%
Wage level LCAs Share P25 Median P75
Level I 929 39.7% $48,590 $55,550 $64,038
Level II 621 26.5% $58,903 $66,500 $74,270
Level III 106 4.5% $58,280 $65,610 $69,292
Level IV 108 4.6% $58,991 $69,565 $79,697
H-1B job titles

Salaries by job title in Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education

The 26 most-filed job titles inside SOC 25-2021, from 2,343 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
Elementary School Teacher 444 18.95% $52,662 $59,774 $67,022 +2.93%
Elementary Bilingual Teacher 297 12.68% $66,500 $74,000 $76,270 +11.71%
Teacher 287 12.25% $47,369 $53,600 $59,395 +0.41%
Elementary Teacher 227 9.69% $53,868 $62,745 $65,000 +8.71%
Ela-S Elementary Teacher 60 2.56% $55,257 $72,914 $84,676 -5.5%
Public School Teacher 59 2.52% $47,000 $53,000 $61,000 +12.77%
Elementary Dual Language Immersion Teacher 44 1.88% $63,818 $78,040 $86,025 +14.3%
Bilingual Elementary Teacher 38 1.62% $57,213 $57,213 $57,357 -0.25%
Spanish Immersion Teacher 34 1.45% $49,141 $57,896 $70,554 +17.82%
Certified Teacher 28 1.2% $67,145 $80,431 $89,126 +35.2%
Bilingual Teacher 27 1.15% $58,069 $62,750 $64,613 +1.41%
Dual Immersion Teacher 27 1.15% $69,818 $78,000 $85,817 +8.79%
Teacher, Elementary 18 0.77% $63,599 $75,622 $88,652 -2.61%
Dual Language Teacher 17 0.73% $42,256 $45,491 $67,100 -21.12%
ESL Teacher 16 0.68% $49,753 $54,218 $59,514 +0.31%
World Language Teacher 16 0.68% $56,839 $64,534 $67,626 +14.55%
Music Teacher 15 0.64% $51,635 $63,750 $71,942 +15.91%
Elementary Spanish Immersion Teacher 15 0.64% $48,590 $55,317 $56,362 -13.64%
French Immersion Teacher 13 0.55% $60,657 $62,273 $64,590 +22.1%
Physical Education Teacher 13 0.55% $54,386 $54,386 $60,810 -6.06%
Spanish Teacher 12 0.51% $49,994 $66,000 $71,251 +25.07%
Classroom Teacher 12 0.51% $51,562 $66,850 $69,808 +9.14%
Fifth Grade Teacher 11 0.47% $52,967 $55,550 $59,563 -5.25%
First Grade Teacher 11 0.47% $54,258 $58,497 $69,563 +0%
Bilingual Elementary School Teacher 10 0.43% $54,436 $60,700 $75,165 -3.03%
Chinese Immersion Classroom Teacher 10 0.43% $45,280 $46,000 $47,462 -1.08%

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 Elementary School 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
  • Instructing4.3
  • Learning Strategies4.3
  • Speaking4.1
  • Active Listening4.0
  • Critical Thinking4.0
  • Monitoring4.0
  • Social Perceptiveness4.0
  • Coordination3.9
  • Reading Comprehension3.9
  • Service Orientation3.9
Top knowledge areas
  • English Language4.9
  • Education and Training4.8
  • Mathematics3.9
  • Customer and Personal Service3.9
  • Psychology3.7
  • Therapy and Counseling3.3
  • Computers and Electronics3.2
  • Public Safety and Security3.2
Software and technology used
Google DocsMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft Office softwareMicrosoft OutlookMicrosoft PowerPointMicrosoft SharePointMicrosoft WordBlackboard softwareChildren's educational softwareClassDojoClassTagCommon CurriculumEasyCBMEdpuzzleEmail softwareFlipgridGoogle ClassroomGoogle Drive

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 elementary school teachers, except special education do

  • Instruct students individually and in groups, using teaching methods such as lectures, discussions, and demonstrations.
  • Establish and enforce rules for behavior and procedures for maintaining order among the students.
  • Guide and counsel students with adjustment or academic problems or with special academic interests.
  • Adapt teaching methods and instructional materials to meet students' varying needs and interests.
  • Plan and conduct activities for a balanced program of instruction, demonstration, and work time that provides students with opportunities to observe, question, and investigate.
  • Prepare materials and classrooms for class activities.
  • Read books to entire classes or small groups.
  • Observe and evaluate students' performance, behavior, social development, and physical health.
Also called
Classroom TeacherElementary School TeacherElementary TeacherTeacherArt TeacherElementary Classroom TeacherMath Teacher (Mathematics Teacher)Music TeacherPrimary TeacherReading Teacher
More job titles for this occupation (30)
Art EducatorArt InstructorBand TeacherBilingual InstructorBilingual TeacherChoir TeacherEducatorElementary Art TeacherElementary Education TeacherElementary EducatorElementary PE Teacher (Elementary Physical Education Teacher)Elementary School Band DirectorESL Teacher (English as a Second Language Teacher)General Education TeacherGrade School TeacherGym TeacherHome TeacherLanguage Arts TeacherLanguage InstructorMontessori TeacherMusic EducatorMusic InstructorOrchestra TeacherPE Teacher (Physical Education Teacher)Physical Fitness TeacherReading SpecialistResource TeacherSocial Studies TeacherStudent TeacherUpper Elementary 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.