OverviewSalaryAboutEducationWhere are the jobsEmploymentGenderRace/Origin
Overview
Plan, direct, or coordinate academic or nonacademic activities of preschools or childcare centers and programs, including before- and after-school care.
This career appears to require experience.
Highlights
Undergraduate program resulting in the highest median salary ($75K): Accounting
Largest undergraduate program (11.8% of workers): General Education
Explore Pathways
Titles for this career often contain these words
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Responsibilities and activities
Preschool and childcare center directors typically do the following:
- Supervise preschool teachers and childcare workers
- Hire and train new staff members
- Provide professional development opportunities for staff
- Establish policies and communicate them to staff and parents
- Develop educational programs and standards
- Maintain instructional excellence
- Assist staff in communicating with parents and children
- Meet with parents and staff to discuss students’ progress
- Prepare budgets and allocate program funds
- Ensure that facilities are maintained and cleaned according to state regulations
Some preschools and childcare centers are independently owned and operated. In these facilities, directors must follow the instructions and guidelines of the owner. Sometimes, the directors are the owners, so they decide how to operate them.
Other preschools and childcare centers are part of a national chain or franchise. The director of a chain or franchise must ensure that the facility meets the parent organization’s standards and regulations.
In addition, some preschools and childcare centers, such as Head Start programs, receive state and federal funding. Directors need to follow the requirements set by Department of Health and Human Services for program, staff, and facilities.
Salary
Median salary: $49,160 annually
Half of those employed in this career earn between $38,000 and $63,520.
Context: Median Salary
How do salaries for this career compare to other jobs' salaries?
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Salary growth for education and childcare administrators
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 and Daycare Education Administrators
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 and daycare education administrators who report hazardous or difficult situations typically occurring at least once a week.
- Responsible for Others' Health (90%)
- Consequence of Error (67%)
- Time Pressure (66%)
- High Conflict Frequency (48%)
- Exposed to Disease or Infections (39%)
- Unpleasant or Angry People (31%)
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Personality and skills
Can you see yourself in the ranks of Preschool and Daycare Education Administrators? Here are the skills and traits that could lead to success.
Business skills
Preschool and childcare center directors manage childcare centers and need to be able to operate the business effectively.
Communication skills
Directors inform parents and staff about the children’s progress. They need good writing and speaking skills to convey this information.
Interpersonal skills
Preschool and childcare center directors must be able to develop relationships with parents, children, and staff.
Leadership skills
Preschool and childcare center directors need leadership skills to supervise staff and inspire diligence. They also must enforce rules and regulations.
Organizational skills
Directors need to maintain clear records about children and staff. In addition, they must be able to multitask when several people or situations require their attention.
Injury and Illness
About 77 preschool and daycare education administrators become injured or ill for every 10,000 workers, making this job more dangerous than 75% of other careers. The most common specific illnesses or injuries are detailed following.
Soreness and pain
Fractures
Sprains, strains, tears
Education pathways to this career
Education attained by preschool and daycare education administrators
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), preschool and daycare education administrators typically hold a bachelor'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 education and childcare administrators as reported in responses to the American Community Survey.
Details: Education and training recommended for preschool and daycare education administrators
Most states require preschool and childcare center directors to have at least a bachelor’s degree, but educational requirements vary by state. Employers may prefer candidates who have a degree, or at least some postsecondary coursework, in early childhood education. These programs teach child development, provide strategies for instructing young children, and show how to observe and document children’s progress.
Details: Licensing and certification recommended for preschool and daycare education administrators
States may require childcare centers, including those in private homes, to be licensed. To qualify for licensure, staff must pass a background check and meet a minimum training requirement. Some states have more requirements, such as requiring staff to have certifications in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and first aid.
Some employers have additional requirements, such as the CDA credential offered by the Council for Professional Recognition. Candidates need to pay a fee, take coursework, obtain experience in the field, and be observed while working with children. This credential needs to be renewed every 3 years.
Education level of Education and childcare administrators
About 58% of education and childcare administrators have a graduate-level education, and 83% have at least a bachelor's degree.
Education attained by education and childcare administrators
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 78% 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 education and childcare administrators
This table shows the college majors held by people working as education and childcare administrators . 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
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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
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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
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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 education and childcare administrators , 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 Education and childcare administrators per 1,000 workers (ACS)
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Job density versus job count
Which states hire the most preschool and daycare education administrators? 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 and daycare education administrators. 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 and daycare education administrators 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 education and childcare administrators compared to the median salary for all people working in each state, or
- Median salary: the unaltered median salaries for education and childcare administrators .
The darkest shading corresponds to states in which education and childcare administrators 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 Education and childcare administrators (ACS for all specialties)
Employment
10% of Education and childcare administrators 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 10% part-time workers, this occupation has a lower percentage of part-time workers than 55% 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 education and childcare administrators by type of employer
Here are the salary distributions based on employer type.
Gender
Education and childcare administrators and gender
With 64% women, this occupation has a higher percentage of women than 76% of careers.
Gender of Education and childcare administrators
Men (36%)
Women (64%)
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 (middle) salary for all full-time male workers
in the US exceeds the full-time median salary for women
by 19%, and the difference
for education and childcare administrators tops that, with the median salary for
men 26% higher than the median
salary for women.
Race/Origin
Race and origin of Education and childcare administrators
This donut shows the distribution of race and origin among those employed as Education and childcare administrators.
Race/origin of education and childcare administrators
White (78% )
Black (13% )
Asian (3% )
Multiracial (2% )
Other (2% )
Hispanic (1% )
American Indian (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.
