1
Median pay
$37,120
Median annual pay for Preschool Teacher.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · 2024
Demand and openings are substantial, but pay is low relative to other education careers, making compensation and retention the defining tradeoffs.
Demand and openings are substantial, but pay is low relative to other education careers, making compensation and retention the defining tradeoffs.
The measurable baseline is $37,120 median pay, 4.1% projected employment change from 2024 to 2034, and about 65,500 annual openings. Those figures establish the national baseline; the occupation-specific evidence on this page is what makes the decision more useful than a generic profile.
The national median-pay figure in the current ChooseField dataset is $37,120. The 2024 self-employed share is 0.6%, which matters because self-employment can make outcomes less uniform across workers. A national median is a benchmark, not a personal forecast: experience, geography, employer type, specialty, credentials, and hours can move actual compensation materially.
BLS data in the ChooseField corpus put 2024 employment at 555,100 and projected 2034 employment at 578,100. That corresponds to 4.1% projected growth over the decade. BLS projects about 65,500 openings per year, including growth and replacement demand. This distinction matters when people ask whether a field is oversaturated: growth measures whether the occupation itself is getting larger, while annual openings also reflect people retiring, changing occupations, or leaving roles that must be refilled.
BLS lists the typical entry education as Associate's degree. Treat this entry path like an investment: compare the time and cost required to enter with the pay, annual openings, and alternatives available at a similar training level.
Pay is the obvious constraint. The headline figure is $37,120. BLS median annual pay in May 2024, below the all-occupation median. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (May 2024).
Preschool teaching has many annual openings, but compensation is the central constraint. The BLS median in this corpus is well below many other published fields, so pay should be treated as a first-order issue.
This field is a stronger fit if the compensation and credential requirements work for you and you value the work enough to accept a market where replacement demand and turnover matter as much as growth.
Before choosing Preschool Teacher, compare it with Elementary School Teacher, High School Teacher, Mental Health Counselor. The purpose is not to find a universal winner; it is to see how pay, training time, annual openings, work setting, and field-specific risks change when you move to an adjacent option.
Demand and openings are substantial, but pay is low relative to other education careers, making compensation and retention the defining tradeoffs. The measurable baseline is $37,120 median pay, 4.1% projected 2024–34 employment change, about 65,500 annual openings, and a typical entry path of Associate's degree.
The national median in the current ChooseField dataset is $37,120. Treat that as a benchmark rather than an expected starting salary; actual compensation varies by experience, location, employer, specialty, credentials, and hours.
Demand and openings are substantial, but pay is low relative to other education careers, making compensation and retention the defining tradeoffs. The measurable baseline is $37,120 median pay, 4.1% projected 2024–34 employment change, about 65,500 annual openings, and a typical entry path of Associate's degree.
Compare Preschool Teacher with Elementary School Teacher, High School Teacher on pay, training time, openings, working conditions, and occupation-specific evidence rather than relying on one score.
National pay and employment projections come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Other sources are linked on their cards.