Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education
SOC 25-2012 · 2024-2034
Teach academic and social skills to kindergarten students.
How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.
Shrinking -2.8%
California projects this job will shrink over the next ten years. Fewer openings may mean a harder search.
What California expects of this job
- Typical pay in California
- $84,861per year
- Projected openings
- 7,710
- Projected change
- -2.8%
- Usually needs
- Bachelor'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.
- Instructing
- Social Perceptiveness
- Active Listening
- Monitoring
- Learning Strategies
- Speaking
Pay by region
| Region | Typical pay in California | Projected openings |
|---|---|---|
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura MSA (Ventura County) | $111,593 | 190 |
| Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine MD (Orange County) | $109,343 | 330 |
| Merced MSA (Merced County) | $108,912 | 160 |
| Modesto MSA (Stanislaus County) | $108,912 | 250 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara MSA (Santa Barbara County) | $107,658 | 280 |
| Salinas MSA (Monterey County) | $103,848 | 150 |
| El Centro MSA (Imperial County) | $102,841 | 50 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County) | $101,434 | 1,070 |
| Hanford-Corcoran MSA (Kings County) | $95,322 | 60 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) | $89,180 | 450 |
| Vallejo MSA (Solano County) | $84,804 | 110 |
| Bakersfield-Delano MSA (Kern County) | $84,229 | 230 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA (San Benito and Santa Clara Counties) | $83,838 | 550 |
| Napa MSA (Napa County) | $82,770 | 40 |
| Visalia MSA (Tulare County) | $81,733 | 320 |
| Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties) | $81,546 | 620 |
| North Coast Region (Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino Counties) | $80,993 | 120 |
| Stockton-Lodi MSA (San Joaquin County) | $80,572 | 300 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA (Sonoma County) | $77,634 | 100 |
| Redding MSA (Shasta County) | $77,583 | 60 |
| San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) | $77,455 | 350 |
| Chico MSA (Butte County) | $77,120 | 60 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles MSA (San Luis Obispo County) | $75,662 | 80 |
| North Valley-Northern Mountains Region (Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity Counties) | $74,768 | 70 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County) | $70,875 | 530 |
| San Rafael MD (Marin County) | Not reported | 70 |
What the pay actually ranges across
- The lowest-paid tenth earn under
- $54,700
- A quarter earn under
- $65,894
- Half earn under
- $84,861
- Three quarters earn under
- $110,345
- The highest-paid tenth earn over
- $127,882
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.
| Occupation | Typical pay in California | Projected openings | Projected change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education | $102,439 | 96,800 | -1.7% |
| Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education | $48,727 | 80,570 | +13.1% |
| Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education | $101,720 | 23,240 | -1.7% |
| Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education | $104,208 | 57,820 | -1.5% |
| Special Education Teachers, Secondary School | $103,889 | 7,850 | -1.7% |
| Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors | $104,886 | 1,700 | -11.8% |
Programs that train for this job — 15
Early Childhood Education Certificate
Shasta College · Redding · $2,057
Cert. of Achievement Early Childhood Education: Violence Intervention & Counseling
Contra Costa College · San Pablo · $1,066
AST Early Childhood Education
Contra Costa College · San Pablo · $3,686
Child Development
Maxine Waters Employment Prep Center - LAUSD · Los Angeles · $1,585
Child Development: School-Age Care Certificate of Achievement
City College of San Francisco · San Francisco · $860
Child Development: Pre-Teacher Certificate of Accomplishment
City College of San Francisco · San Francisco · $722
Early Childhood Education Assistant
Westchester-Emerson Community Adult - LAUSD · Los Angeles · $1,805
Multiple Subject Teaching Credential
University of California Merced · Merced · $19,885
Bilingual Authorization - Spanish
University of California Merced · Merced · $1,675
Certificate of Achievement, Early Childhood Education
College of Marin · Greenbrae · $2,979
EARLY CHILDHOOD ED: TEACHER
Diablo Valley College · Pleasant Hill · $3,482
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION: ASSOCIATE in science degree
Diablo Valley College · Pleasant Hill · $4,802
EARLY CHILDHOOD ED: MASTER TEACHER
Diablo Valley College · Pleasant Hill · $3,920
Early Childhood Education: Associate Teacher - Certificate of Achievement
Diablo Valley College · Pleasant Hill · $1,394
Child Development Master Teacher CC
Kern Community College District · Bakersfield · $3,498