Substitute Teachers, Short-Term
SOC 25-3031 · 2024-2034
Teach students on a short-term basis as a temporary replacement for a regular classroom teacher, typically using the regular teacher's lesson plan.
How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.
What California expects of this job
- Typical pay in California
- $61,988per year
- Projected openings
- 141,370
- Projected change
- +2.2%
- 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.
- Reading Comprehension
- Speaking
- Active Listening
- Social Perceptiveness
- Monitoring
- Critical Thinking
Pay by region
| Region | Typical pay in California | Projected openings |
|---|---|---|
| Bakersfield-Delano MSA (Kern County) | $69,098 | 6,020 |
| Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties) | $68,571 | 9,680 |
| Napa MSA (Napa County) | $66,643 | 510 |
| San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) | $63,421 | 3,030 |
| Vallejo MSA (Solano County) | $63,315 | 910 |
| Stockton-Lodi MSA (San Joaquin County) | $62,452 | 3,600 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA (San Benito and Santa Clara Counties) | $61,713 | 4,760 |
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA (Santa Cruz County) | $61,692 | 670 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA (Sonoma County) | $61,045 | 1,510 |
| North Valley-Northern Mountains Region (Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity Counties) | $61,004 | 550 |
| Chico MSA (Butte County) | $60,788 | 810 |
| Yuba City MSA (Sutter and Yuba Counties) | $60,706 | 440 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura MSA (Ventura County) | $59,361 | 2,350 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) | $59,309 | 20,320 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties) | $59,248 | 8,650 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County) | $58,870 | 31,670 |
| Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region (Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Inyo, Mariposa, Mono, and Tuolumne Counties) | $58,015 | 250 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County) | $57,255 | 13,100 |
| Hanford-Corcoran MSA (Kings County) | $57,091 | 310 |
| Visalia MSA (Tulare County) | $56,187 | 2,950 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles MSA (San Luis Obispo County) | $54,143 | 1,010 |
| El Centro MSA (Imperial County) | $53,804 | 1,030 |
| Redding MSA (Shasta County) | $53,783 | 260 |
| Fresno MSA (Fresno and Madera Counties) | $53,485 | 8,630 |
| Merced MSA (Merced County) | $52,961 | 2,300 |
| Modesto MSA (Stanislaus County) | $52,961 | 2,380 |
| Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine MD (Orange County) | $52,174 | 11,690 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara MSA (Santa Barbara County) | $50,814 | 1,290 |
| San Rafael MD (Marin County) | Not reported | 340 |
What the pay actually ranges across
- The lowest-paid tenth earn under
- $40,133
- A quarter earn under
- $50,588
- Half earn under
- $61,988
- Three quarters earn under
- $70,191
- The highest-paid tenth earn over
- $80,872
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tutors | $46,362 | 91,790 | +6.8% |
| Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education | $84,861 | 7,710 | -2.8% |
| Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors | $104,886 | 1,700 | -11.8% |
| Special Education Teachers, Secondary School | $103,889 | 7,850 | -1.7% |
| Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education | $102,439 | 96,800 | -1.7% |