ChooseField
Quick answer · Balanced priorities

Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School vs Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School: what changes?

Consider Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School if you want to teach occupational, vocational, career, or technical subjects to students at the middle, intermediate, or junior high school level. Consider Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School if you would rather teach occupational, vocational, career, or technical subjects to students at the secondary school level. Both list bachelor's degree; compare training and prior experience separately. Prior experience in a related occupation is typically needed for Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School (less than 5 years) and Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School (less than 5 years).

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School and Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

Compare the practical differences
What this means in practice

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Start with earnings, the route into the job, training, available openings, and a day-to-day reality.

Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School

National median pay (2025)
$65,030
Route into the job
Bachelor's degree; Prior related experience: less than 5 years
Prior related experience
Prior related experience: less than 5 years.
Training and licensing
BLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.
Work to investigate
Instruct students individually and in groups, using various teaching methods, such as lectures, discussions, and demonstrations.
Annual openings (2025–2035)
1,000
Know before you choose

BLS lists less than 5 years of related experience. This is normally reached through feeder roles, not directly from school.

See the full Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School brief

Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School

National median pay (2025)
$66,270
Route into the job
Bachelor's degree; Prior related experience: less than 5 years
Prior related experience
Prior related experience: less than 5 years.
Training and licensing
BLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.
Work to investigate
Instruct students individually and in groups, using various teaching methods, such as lectures, discussions, and demonstrations.
Annual openings (2025–2035)
6,400
Know before you choose

BLS lists less than 5 years of related experience. This is normally reached through feeder roles, not directly from school.

See the full Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School brief
See scores, detailed data, and how the comparison works

How the national numbers differ

1

Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School has the edge on annual openings

Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School is at 6,400 annual openings, compared with 1,000 annual openings for Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School.

2

National pay benchmarks are very similar.

Compare actual offers, expected paid hours, schedule, and benefits before treating either career as the higher-paying option.

3

Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School has the edge on projected growth

Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School is at -0.4% projected growth, compared with -0.5% projected growth for Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School.

32.9/ 100

Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School

vs
44.8/ 100

Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

Detailed evidence

Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School vs Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School

DimensionCareer/Technical Education Teachers, Middle SchoolCareer/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School
Median pay (2025)$65,030$66,270
Pay percentile56.9 percentile58.2 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)-0.5%-0.4%
Annual openings (2025–2035)1,0006,400
2025 employment16,600110,500
How you qualifyBachelor's degree; Prior related experience: less than 5 yearsBachelor's degree; Prior related experience: less than 5 years
O*NET preparation groupJob Zone 4Job Zone 4
Related work experiencePrior related experience: less than 5 years.Prior related experience: less than 5 years.
On-the-job trainingBLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.BLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.

The table reports national benchmarks and reviewed work descriptions. It does not rate personal suitability, job security, or physical safety.

Read Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School briefRead Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School brief

Try another comparison

Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School vs Career/Technical Education Teachers, Postsecondary

Compare pay, growth, education, and the tradeoffs that affect the decision.

Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School
$65,030 · -0.5% growth
Career/Technical Education Teachers, Postsecondary
$63,820 · -0.3% growth
Compare careers →

Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School vs Career/Technical Education Teachers, Postsecondary

Compare pay, growth, education, and the tradeoffs that affect the decision.

Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School
$66,270 · -0.4% growth
Career/Technical Education Teachers, Postsecondary
$63,820 · -0.3% growth
Compare careers →
ChooseField compares fields using public labor-market and professional sources.