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California training programs, and what happened to the people who took them

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Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education

SOC 25-2011 · 2024-2034

Instruct preschool-aged students, following curricula or lesson plans, in activities designed to promote social, physical, and intellectual growth.

How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.

What California expects of this job

Typical pay in California
$48,727per year
Projected openings
80,570
Projected change
+13.1%
Usually needs
Associate's degree

Skills this work uses most

O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, rates how important each of these is to this work, and they are listed in that order, most important first. The ratings themselves are not shown, because the data carries the number without the scale it was measured on. The names are as published, in English.

  1. Instructing
  2. Speaking
  3. Learning Strategies
  4. Active Listening
  5. Coordination
  6. Critical Thinking

Pay by region

RegionTypical pay in CaliforniaProjected openings
Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties)$50,5296,120
San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties)$50,5294,770
San Rafael MD (Marin County)$50,529680
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA (San Benito and Santa Clara Counties)$49,5304,640
Napa MSA (Napa County)$48,123240
Vallejo MSA (Solano County)$47,846510
Salinas MSA (Monterey County)$47,815580
Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA (Sonoma County)$47,240640
North Valley-Northern Mountains Region (Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity Counties)$46,613410
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County)$46,6035,740
Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region (Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Inyo, Mariposa, Mono, and Tuolumne Counties)$46,552140
Merced MSA (Merced County)$46,552250
Modesto MSA (Stanislaus County)$46,5521,000
Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA (Santa Cruz County)$46,480490
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara MSA (Santa Barbara County)$46,418700
Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine MD (Orange County)$46,1195,530
North Coast Region (Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino Counties)$45,853380
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County)$45,79414,860
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles MSA (San Luis Obispo County)$45,514380
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties)$44,9084,660
Bakersfield-Delano MSA (Kern County)$44,8881,260
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura MSA (Ventura County)$44,8771,340
Stockton-Lodi MSA (San Joaquin County)$44,7751,000
Chico MSA (Butte County)$44,662380
Visalia MSA (Tulare County)$44,569430
Fresno MSA (Fresno and Madera Counties)$44,3121,690
El Centro MSA (Imperial County)$43,891130
Yuba City MSA (Sutter and Yuba Counties)$43,809190
Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties)$43,3983,810
Hanford-Corcoran MSA (Kings County)$43,316160
Redding MSA (Shasta County)$39,444270

What the pay actually ranges across

The lowest-paid tenth earn under
$38,930
A quarter earn under
$45,139
Half earn under
$48,727
Three quarters earn under
$60,806
The highest-paid tenth earn over
$67,179

A median is one point. These are the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2026 figures for California, and they say how far apart the people doing this job actually are. Read them as the spread across everyone already in the work — not as a starting wage and not as a promise about where anyone lands.

Similar work

O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, names these as occupations involving work similar to this one — its own reading of the job, not a grouping by code. They keep O*NET's order, and only those California publishes a projection for are shown.

OccupationTypical pay in CaliforniaProjected openingsProjected change
Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education$84,8617,710-2.8%
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education$102,43996,800-1.7%
Special Education Teachers, Preschool$61,2171,7500%
Special Education Teachers, Secondary School$103,8897,850-1.7%
Childcare Workers$41,034135,490+1.5%
Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education$101,72023,240-1.7%

Programs that train for this job — 46