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Overview
Instruct preschool-aged students, following curricula or lesson plans, in activities designed to promote social, physical, and intellectual growth.
Highlights
Undergraduate program resulting in the highest median salary ($35K): General Education
Largest undergraduate program (17.8% of workers): General Education
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Titles for this career often contain these words
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Responsibilities and activities
Preschool teachers typically do the following:
- Teach children basic skills such as identifying colors, shapes, numbers, and letters
- Work with children in groups or one on one, depending on the needs of children and on the subject matter
- Plan and carry out a curriculum that focuses on different areas of child development
- Organize activities so children can learn about the world, explore interests, and develop skills
- Develop schedules and routines to ensure children have enough physical activity and rest
- Watch for signs of emotional or developmental problems in each child and bring them to the attention of the child’s parents
- Keep records of the children’s progress, routines, and interests, and inform parents about their child’s development
Young children learn from playing, problem solving, and experimenting. Preschool teachers use play and other instructional techniques to teach children. For example, they use storytelling and rhyming games to teach language and vocabulary. They may help improve children’s social skills by having them work together to build a neighborhood in a sandbox or teach math by having children count when building with blocks.
Preschool teachers work with children from different ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds. Teachers include topics in their lessons that teach children how to respect people of different backgrounds and cultures.
Salary
Median salary: $31,930 annually
Half of those employed in this career earn between $26,220 and $42,350.
Context: Median Salary
How do salaries for this career compare to other jobs' salaries?
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Salary growth for preschool and kindergarten teachers
Is this job likely to reward you for sticking with it through pay raises and promotions? The higher a job’s “experience quotient,” the more you are likely to get as you stay there.
Experience quotient percentile
Take a minute to look at how much you might expect your salary to increase with each five years' experience, as well as how the numbers working at each age change. Does this seem to be a job for the young or the old, or could it be a career offering steady salary growth for many years?
Salary distribution
Number employed
About Preschool Teachers
How do benefits for this career compare to other jobs? The availability of health care, especially employer provided health care, and pension plans can add significantly to the value of compensation you receive in a career. These charts compare how this career compares to other careers with regard to health care and pension plans.
Employee has health insurance
Employer is providing health insurance
Employer-provided pension plan is available
Worker concerns
Some jobs are more stressful than others, and some are just plain dangerous. The following list gives the percentages of preschool teachers who report hazardous or difficult situations typically occurring at least once a week.
- High Conflict Frequency (49%)
- Consequence of Error (48%)
- Unpleasant or Angry People (45%)
- Exposed to Disease or Infections (42%)
- Responsible for Others' Health (38%)
- Time Pressure (34%)
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Personality and skills
Can you see yourself in the ranks of Preschool Teachers? Here are the skills and traits that could lead to success.
Communication skills
Preschool teachers need good writing and speaking skills to talk to parents and colleagues about children’s progress. They must also be able to communicate well with small children.
Creativity
Preschool teachers must plan lessons that engage young children. In addition, they need to adapt their lessons to suit different learning styles.
Interpersonal skills
Preschool teachers must understand children’s emotional needs and be able to develop relationships with parents, children, and coworkers.
Organizational skills
Teachers need to be organized to plan lessons and keep records of the children.
Patience
Working with children may be stressful. Preschool teachers should be able to respond calmly to overwhelming and difficult situations.
Physical stamina
Preschool teachers should have a lot of energy, because working with children can be physically demanding.
Injury and Illness
About 84 preschool teachers become injured or ill for every 10,000 workers, making this job more dangerous than 77% of other careers. The most common specific illnesses or injuries are detailed following.
Soreness and pain
All multiple traumatic injuries
Bruises and contusions
Education pathways to this career
Education attained by preschool teachers
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), preschool teachers typically hold a associate's degree.
Sometimes the typical education identified by the BLS differs a bit from the reality of the how much education current workers actually have. The donut shows the education level held by people currently working as preschool and kindergarten teachers as reported in responses to the American Community Survey.
Details: Education and training recommended for preschool teachers
Preschool teachers typically need at least an associate’s degree.
Preschool teachers in center-based Head Start programs are required to have at least an associate’s degree. However, at least 50 percent of all preschool teachers in Head Start programs nationwide must have a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or a related field. Those with a degree in a related field must have experience teaching preschool-age children.
In public schools, preschool teachers are generally required to have at least a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or a related field. Bachelor’s degree programs include instruction on children’s development, teaching young children, and observing and documenting children’s progress.
Details: Licensing and certification recommended for preschool teachers
Some states require preschool teachers to obtain the Child Development Associate (CDA) credential offered by the Council for Professional Recognition. Obtaining the CDA credential requires coursework, experience in the field, a written exam, and observation of the candidate working with children. The CDA credential must be renewed every 3 years.
In public schools, preschool teachers must be licensed to teach early childhood education, which covers preschool through third grade. Requirements vary by state, but they generally require a bachelor’s degree and passing an exam to demonstrate competency. Most states require teachers to complete continuing education credits in order to maintain their license.
Education level of Preschool and Kindergarten Teachers
Only 44% of preschool and kindergarten teachers have a bachelor's degree or higher.
Education attained by preschool and kindergarten teachers
None
High School
Some College
Associate's Degree
Bachelor's Degree
Master's Degree
Professional Degree
Doctorate
Top college degrees
Here are the top college degrees held by the 43% of people in this job who have at least a bachelor's degree. Some of degrees may link to multiple programs due to the way Census classifies college majors. Click on a program to learn more about career opportunities for people who major in that field.
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College majors held by preschool and kindergarten teachers
This table shows the college majors held by people working as preschool and kindergarten teachers. If you see "**" before the name of a degree/program, that means this field is one that the Department of Education believes is preparatory for this career. However, you can see from this list that those recommendations are far from your only path to this job!
Major
Select any title to learn more about that degree
Salary comparison for bachelor's only
Higher
Similar
Lower
Career salary (tail) versus Career/Major salary (dot)
Does the bachelor's-only salary rise or fall with this major?
Salary for bachelor's-only
For people with this career and major
Median
Middle 50%
Middle 80%
Salary for all workers
For people with this career and major
Median
Middle 50%
Middle 80%
Education for Career and Major
Bachelor's
Master's
Professional
Doctorate
Workers with this career/major
Percentage in this career with this major
Programs recommended by the Department of Education
The Department of Education recommends the following college degree programs as preparation for this career. You can click a program row to learn more about the program and explore a list of schools that offer the program.
Program
Bilingual and Multilingual Education
Child Care and Support Services Management
Child Development
Early Childhood Education
Kindergarten and Preschool Education
Montessori Teacher Education
Specialized Teaching English or French as a Second or Foreign Language
Teacher Education, Multiple Levels
Teaching English as a Second/Foreign Language Instructor
Teaching French as a Second or Foreign Language
Not so much?
The link between degrees and this career
With the following sankey diagram, you can follow the top ten bachelor's degrees held by people working as preschool and kindergarten teachers, and then, in turn, you can see the 10 occupations that hire the most of each degree's graduates. We hope this provides ideas for similar jobs and similar fields of study.
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Where are the jobs
State-by-state employment numbers
Some careers tend to be centered in specific parts of the country. For example, most jobs in fashion are in New York or California. Let's see if your dream job is easy to find in your dream location! We have a few choices for viewing the data that can help you get a full employment picture.
Select a state to see local area details
Number of Preschool and Kindergarten Teachers per 1,000 workers (ACS)
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Job density versus job count
Which states hire the most preschool teachers? We wonder if that's a fair question since states come in all sizes, so instead let's start with the question of which states have the highest density of people working as preschool teachers. You can choose to view the number of jobs per state if you prefer.
Salaries by state
Let's get a feel for where preschool teachers earn the highest salaries. There are several choices for which data we consider and how we view that data, and each can lead to different conclusions, so please read on...
Median salary versus state ratio
We use two methods to compare salaries across states:
- In-state comparisons: the ratio of median (middle) salaries for preschool and kindergarten teachers compared to the median salary for all people working in each state, or
- Median salary: the unaltered median salaries for preschool and kindergarten teachers.
The darkest shading corresponds to states in which preschool and kindergarten teachers earn the highest salary when compared to other jobs in the state. We think this figure might be a better indicator than the actual salary for your buying power as a state resident.
Select a state to see local area details
Location-adjusted median salary for Preschool and Kindergarten Teachers (ACS for all specialties)
Employment
28% of Preschool and kindergarten teachers are working part time.
We’ve found that some jobs have a huge number of part-time workers, and typically that is because they are unable to find full-time work or the job itself can’t provide full-time hours. With 28% part-time workers, this occupation has a higher percentage of part-time workers than 81% of careers.
Employer types
This donut shares the break-down of workers by employer type, giving us a picture of what employers most typically hire for this career.
Employers of undefined (ACS)
Private for-profit
Private not-for-profit
Local government
State government
Federal government
Self-employed incorporated
Self-employed not incorporated
Working without pay
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Distribution: Salaries of preschool and kindergarten teachers by type of employer
Here are the salary distributions based on employer type.
Gender
Preschool and kindergarten teachers and gender
With 98% women, this occupation has a higher percentage of women than 100% of careers.
Gender of Preschool and kindergarten teachers
Men (2%)
Women (98%)
Distribution: salaries by gender
Does gender greatly influence your salary in this career? The closer the bars are, the less discrepancy there is.
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
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Context: Women in the workforce
How does this career compare to other careers with regard to the percentage of women in the career.
Context: Salary inequity
The median salary for all full-time male workers in the
US exceeds the full-time median salary for women
by 19%.
The situation is a little better for preschool and kindergarten teachers, with the
median salary for men 13%
higher than the median salary for women.
Race/Origin
Race and origin of Preschool and kindergarten teachers
This donut shows the distribution of race and origin among those employed as Preschool and kindergarten teachers.
Race/origin of preschool and kindergarten teachers
White (70% )
Black (19% )
Other (4% )
Asian (3% )
Multiracial (2% )
American Indian (1% )
Hispanic (1% )
Pacific Islander (0% )
Distribution: salaries by race/origin
Some careers might have a pay disparity based on race or origin, the closer the below bars are the less of a discrepancy is present.
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
