SalariesWhat the occupation covers
Teach occupational, vocational, career, or technical subjects to students at the secondary school level. Excludes “Special Education Teachers” (25-2050), and “Substitute Teachers, Short-Term” (25-3031).
Official definition from the Standard Occupational Classification, code 25-2032.
The pay range
Pay differs a lot inside one occupation, with experience, employer and place. The table shows where the lines fall.
| Share of workers | A year | A month* | A week* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lowest 10% earn less than | $50,040 | $4,170 | $962 |
| Lowest 25% earn less than | $60,590 | $5,049 | $1,165 |
| Median (half earn less, half more) | $66,270 | $5,522 | $1,274 |
| Top 25% earn more than | $80,060 | $6,672 | $1,540 |
| Top 10% earn more than | $101,340 | $8,445 | $1,949 |
* Month and week are the yearly figure divided by 12 and by 52, worked out here for convenience. BLS publishes the yearly and hourly figures.
BLS publishes only yearly pay for this occupation, because many of these workers are paid by the year and work fewer than 2,080 hours in it.
How it compares
The median for all occupations in the United States was $50,980 a year. The median for Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School is $66,270, which is 30% higher. Among the 64 occupations of the field Educational Instruction and Library, it ranks number 43 by median pay. With 111,420 jobs, it makes up about 7.2 of every 10,000 jobs in the country.
Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School pay by state
The highest median pay was in Washington ($101,180), Connecticut ($100,810) and Massachusetts ($98,020). The lowest was in Puerto Rico ($53,160), Montana ($55,190) and South Dakota ($56,070). The most jobs were in Texas (32,250), New York (7,610) and Florida (6,820). The occupation is most concentrated in Texas, where its share of all jobs is 3.2 times the national share.
No state matches.
| State | Jobs | Median a year | Average a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | 3,460 | $101,180 | $98,310 |
| Connecticut | 1,910 | $100,810 | $96,750 |
| Massachusetts | 3,130 | $98,020 | $93,230 |
| New Jersey | 2,320 | $83,770 | $86,430 |
| Rhode Island | 90 | $81,820 | $82,630 |
| California | 3,260 | $80,620 | $89,160 |
| New York | 7,610 | $79,820 | $87,100 |
| Delaware | 560 | $79,230 | $78,570 |
| Ohio | 5,130 | $79,230 | $79,000 |
| Vermont | 220 | $79,220 | $79,560 |
| Georgia | 1,680 | $78,760 | $77,190 |
| Oregon | 750 | $78,380 | $75,840 |
| Maryland | 690 | $78,320 | $84,450 |
| Alaska | 170 | $78,130 | $78,420 |
| Maine | 170 | $78,050 | $73,670 |
| Illinois | 2,780 | $77,950 | $85,750 |
| Michigan | 1,800 | $77,400 | $74,710 |
| New Hampshire | 450 | $76,320 | $73,010 |
| Pennsylvania | 4,840 | $75,760 | $74,810 |
| Virginia | 3,500 | $75,580 | $75,850 |
| Wisconsin | 1,420 | $74,310 | $71,990 |
| Colorado | 1,250 | $72,750 | $72,880 |
| Utah | 730 | $72,380 | $70,410 |
| South Carolina | 1,150 | $72,120 | $73,760 |
| Minnesota | 880 | $71,650 | $72,460 |
| New Mexico | 100 | $66,750 | $67,290 |
| Texas | 32,250 | $64,610 | $66,370 |
| Nevada | 150 | $64,510 | $67,990 |
| Nebraska | 1,310 | $63,180 | $64,990 |
| Arizona | 660 | $62,980 | $69,120 |
| Wyoming | 210 | $62,570 | $66,120 |
| Florida | 6,820 | $62,140 | $64,760 |
| Arkansas | 1,000 | $61,780 | $63,110 |
| Tennessee | 2,940 | $61,700 | $62,030 |
| North Dakota | 640 | $61,500 | $62,660 |
| Louisiana | 1,530 | $61,300 | $63,650 |
| Kentucky | 330 | $61,130 | $63,870 |
| Idaho | 1,140 | $60,510 | $64,350 |
| Alabama | not published | $59,470 | $60,110 |
| Missouri | 2,000 | $59,300 | $61,890 |
| Oklahoma | 1,170 | $58,800 | $61,940 |
| North Carolina | 2,650 | $58,600 | $57,540 |
| Kansas | 1,050 | $58,300 | $57,650 |
| Mississippi | 1,770 | $57,910 | $57,060 |
| West Virginia | 1,000 | $57,760 | $58,540 |
| Iowa | 640 | $57,660 | $58,090 |
| Indiana | 1,310 | $56,390 | $58,480 |
| South Dakota | 360 | $56,070 | $55,040 |
| Montana | 260 | $55,190 | $61,610 |
| Puerto Rico | 1,110 | $53,160 | $55,440 |
Sorted by median pay, highest first. "Not published" means BLS did not release that figure for the state, usually because too few employers were surveyed. "$239,200 or more" is the highest value BLS reports in the state tables.
Similar occupations by pay
- Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education$72,040 a year
- Librarians and Media Collections Specialists$68,270 a year
- Special Education Teachers, Middle School$66,810 a year
- Teachers and Instructors, All Other$66,140 a year
- Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School$65,120 a year
- Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School$65,030 a year
Common questions
How much do Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School earn in the United States?
The median pay was $66,270 a year in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The lowest-paid 10% earned less than $50,040 and the highest-paid 10% more than $101,340.
How many people work as Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School?
About 111,420 jobs in the United States in May 2025, not counting the self-employed.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Checked in November 2026. Figures are for employees, before tax, and leave out overtime pay and benefits. They are official statistics, not advice or a pay offer; see bls.gov/oes for the original tables.