Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School vs High School Teacher: $65K vs $72K Median Pay

Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School vs High School Teacher: 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 High School Teacher if you would rather teach one or more 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).

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School and High School Teacher. 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

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

High School Teacher

National median pay (2025): $72,040
Route into the job: Bachelor's degree
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
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: Prepare students for later grades by encouraging them to explore learning opportunities and to persevere with challenging tasks.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 63,500

Know before you choose

BLS projects employment to shrink 0.2% from 2025 to 2035. Openings can still occur when existing workers leave.

See the full High School Teacher brief

How the national numbers differ

High School Teacher has the edge on annual openings

High School Teacher is at 63,500 annual openings, compared with 1,000 annual openings for Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School.

High School Teacher has the edge on median pay

High School Teacher is at $72,040, compared with $65,030 for Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School.

High School Teacher has the edge on projected growth

High School Teacher is at -0.2% projected growth, compared with -0.5% projected growth for Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School.

32.9/ 100

Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School

56.5/ 100

High School Teacher

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 High School Teacher

Dimension	Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School	High School Teacher
Median pay (2025)	$65,030	$72,040
Pay percentile	56.9 percentile	61.7 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)	-0.5%	-0.2%
Annual openings (2025–2035)	1,000	63,500
2025 employment	16,600	1,087,500
How you qualify	Bachelor's degree; Prior related experience: less than 5 years	Bachelor's degree
O*NET preparation group	Job Zone 4	Job Zone 4
Related work experience	Prior related experience: less than 5 years.	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
On-the-job training	BLS 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 brief Read High School Teacher brief

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

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School

High School Teacher

How the national numbers differ

High School Teacher has the edge on annual openings

High School Teacher has the edge on median pay

High School Teacher has the edge on projected growth

Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School vs High School Teacher

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