High School Teacher vs Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education: $72K vs $64K Median Pay

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

Consider High School Teacher if you want to teach one or more subjects to students at the secondary school level. Consider Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education if you would rather teach one or more subjects to students at the middle, intermediate, or junior high school level. Both list bachelor's degree; compare training and prior experience separately.

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

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

Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

National median pay (2025): $64,370
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 materials and classrooms for class activities.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 38,800

Know before you choose

BLS projects employment to shrink 0.4% from 2025 to 2035. Openings can still occur when existing workers leave.

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

How the national numbers differ

High School Teacher has the edge on median pay

High School Teacher is at $72,040, compared with $64,370 for Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education.

High School Teacher has the edge on annual openings

High School Teacher is at 63,500 annual openings, compared with 38,800 annual openings for Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education.

High School Teacher has the edge on projected growth

High School Teacher is at -0.2% projected growth, compared with -0.4% projected growth for Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education.

56.5/ 100

High School Teacher

52.7/ 100

Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

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

High School Teacher vs Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

Dimension	High School Teacher	Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education
Median pay (2025)	$72,040	$64,370
Pay percentile	61.7 percentile	55.8 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)	-0.2%	-0.4%
Annual openings (2025–2035)	63,500	38,800
2025 employment	1,087,500	630,100
How you qualify	Bachelor's degree	Bachelor's degree
O*NET preparation group	Job Zone 4	Job Zone 4
Related work experience	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.	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 High School Teacher brief Read Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education brief

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

The facts most likely to affect your decision

High School Teacher

Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

How the national numbers differ

High School Teacher has the edge on median pay

High School Teacher has the edge on annual openings

High School Teacher has the edge on projected growth

High School Teacher vs Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

Try another comparison

High School Teacher vs Elementary School Teacher

High School Teacher vs Preschool Teacher

Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education vs Elementary School Teacher

Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education vs Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education