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Median pay
$62,970
Median annual pay for Elementary School Teacher.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · 2024
Projected employment is declining, yet replacement openings remain substantial; retention and certification explain why a declining occupation can coexist with shortages.
Projected employment is declining, yet replacement openings remain substantial; retention and certification explain why a declining occupation can coexist with shortages.
The measurable baseline is $62,970 median pay, -2% projected employment change from 2024 to 2034, and about 40,500 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 $62,970. 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 633,700 and projected 2034 employment at 621,300. That corresponds to 2% projected decline over the decade. BLS projects about 40,500 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 Bachelor'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.
Replacement demand dominates. The headline figure is 40,500/yr. BLS projects substantial annual openings despite declining employment. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2024–2034).
Elementary teaching makes the replacement-demand effect especially clear: projected employment declines, yet BLS still projects tens of thousands of annual openings. That does not make the field high-growth; it shows why openings and growth answer different questions.
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 Elementary School Teacher, compare it with High School Teacher, Preschool 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.
Projected employment is declining, yet replacement openings remain substantial; retention and certification explain why a declining occupation can coexist with shortages. The measurable baseline is $62,970 median pay, -2% projected 2024–34 employment change, about 40,500 annual openings, and a typical entry path of Bachelor's degree.
The national median in the current ChooseField dataset is $62,970. Treat that as a benchmark rather than an expected starting salary; actual compensation varies by experience, location, employer, specialty, credentials, and hours.
BLS projects -2% employment change from 2024 to 2034 and about 40,500 openings per year. Growth and openings are different signals, so the field-specific evidence on this page should also be considered.
Compare Elementary School Teacher with High School Teacher, Preschool 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.