Special Education Teachers, Middle School
SOC 25-2057 · 2024-2034
Teach academic, social, and life skills to middle school students with learning, emotional, or physical disabilities. Includes teachers who specialize and work with students who are blind or have visual impairments; students who are deaf or have hearing impairments; and students with intellectual disabilities.
How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.
Shrinking -2.1%
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
- $104,372per year
- Projected openings
- 3,120
- Projected change
- -2.1%
- 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.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Speaking
- Active Listening
- Learning Strategies
- Instructing
- Active Learning
Pay by region
| Region | Typical pay in California | Projected openings |
|---|---|---|
| El Centro MSA (Imperial County) | $113,061 | 40 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) | $110,021 | 610 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties) | $109,590 | 410 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA (San Benito and Santa Clara Counties) | $107,432 | 410 |
| Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties) | $106,754 | 400 |
| San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) | $106,282 | 150 |
| Modesto MSA (Stanislaus County) | $102,913 | 40 |
| Salinas MSA (Monterey County) | $101,228 | 80 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County) | $100,530 | 160 |
| Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine MD (Orange County) | $99,671 | 370 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County) | $99,671 | 1,560 |
| North Valley-Northern Mountains Region (Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity Counties) | $83,355 | 50 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles MSA (San Luis Obispo County) | $82,154 | 40 |
| Yuba City MSA (Sutter and Yuba Counties) | $81,198 | 40 |
| Chico MSA (Butte County) | $80,551 | 30 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA (Sonoma County) | $79,555 | 30 |
| Stockton-Lodi MSA (San Joaquin County) | $79,267 | 160 |
| San Rafael MD (Marin County) | Not reported | 40 |
What the pay actually ranges across
- The lowest-paid tenth earn under
- $70,017
- A quarter earn under
- $82,805
- Half earn under
- $104,372
- Three quarters earn under
- $123,925
- The highest-paid tenth earn over
- $131,295
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Special Education Teachers, Secondary School | $103,889 | 7,850 | -1.7% |
| Special Education Teachers, Preschool | $61,217 | 1,750 | 0% |
| Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors | $104,886 | 1,700 | -11.8% |
| Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education | $102,439 | 96,800 | -1.7% |
| Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education | $101,720 | 23,240 | -1.7% |
Programs that train for this job — 2
Professional Certificate in Educational Therapy (online)
UCR University Extension · Riverside · $4,525
SPECIAL EDUCATION paraeducator/instructional asstistant AA degree
Diablo Valley College · Pleasant Hill · $4,902