How Much Do Child Care Professionals Make?
Having a clear understanding of earnings potential is important, especially if you are researching career paths or considering changing jobs. If you're one of those people, and you're curious what kind of salary child care professionals make, you've come to the right place.
Using data from Lightcast,™ the Best Adult Colleges and Careers Guide has compiled rich information about salary for child care professionals and related jobs, including details about average compensation, salary trends and job growth. We've also gathered advertised salaries from actual job postings to provide insight into what employers of child care professionals are offering as compensation.
Keep reading to learn more about how much child care professionals can expect to make in the United States.
At a Glance: Salary & Jobs for Child Care Professionals
According to data from 2023, there were about 75,758 positions for child care professionals in the United States. In terms of salary, the national median salary for child care professionals was reported to be $54,288. Additionally, when examining job demand, employers across the country posted 32,533 job postings related to positions for child care professionals.
How Much Money Do Child Care Professionals Make?
Median salary is just one data point. To build a better understanding of how much money child care professionals and related positions can expect to make in the United States, it can be helpful to look at the full range of compensation for those jobs.
Let's look more deeply at data that was reported to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for detail into the lowest and highest salary earnings for child care professionals.
Annual Salary for Child Care Professionals
According to the BLS, the lowest earners for child care professionals and related professions earned about $36,546 per year in 2023. Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum, the highest earners made about $94,890 annually.
As mentioned previously, the median salary for child care professionals in the United States in 2023 was $54,288.
Annual Salary Range For Child Care Professionals In 2023
Hourly Salary for Child Care Professionals
The BLS also breaks down compensation for child care professionals by hourly salary, and the median average hourly pay for child care professionals in 2023 was $26. Lowest hourly earners took home $18 while the highest reported hourly salaries for child care professionals was $46.
Hourly Salary Range For Child Care Professionals In 2023
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Advertised Compensation for Child Care Professionals
Data from the BLS is one way to dig into compensation for child care professionals, but another way to build a more real-time understanding of salary is to look at actual job postings and see what compensation organizations are currently providing to fill open positions for child care professionals.
Keep in mind that salary data is not included in every job posting, so the information compiled here is reflective of the data available through Lightcast.™
Annual Salary from Job Postings for Child Care Professionals
Advertised Annual Salary
During a review of 18,693 job postings related to child care professionals, advertised salary was included in 9,124 of them, which was 49%. Based on those postings, the median advertised salary for child care professionals was $48,512 per year.
Hourly Salary from Job Postings for Child Care Professionals
Advertised Hourly Salary
A similar analysis of job postings provides insight into advertised hourly salary for child care professionals. Based on 28% of postings with advertised compensation, the median hourly salary for open positions for child care professionals in the United States is about $23.
Salary Trend for Child Care Professionals
If you're thinking about pursuing a career in the field, you may want to understand how compensation has changed over time for child care professionals. The chart below provides a snapshot of advertised salaries over the past three years.
Based on compensation data that was included in job postings for child care professionals dating back to September 2020, advertised salaries for child care professionals have increased 31%.
Advertised Wage Trend For Child Care Professionals
What's the Job Growth for Child Care Professionals?
Another data point that someone thinking about a career path should consider is whether or not jobs are expected to see growth in the future. The chart below looks at projected employment for child care professionals over the next 10 years.
According to the data obtained through Lightcast,™ there were 75,748 jobs for child care professionals in the United States in 2023. By 2033, it is expected that about 2,174 jobs will be added. That's a 2.9% increase over the next 10-year period.
Employment Projections For Child Care Professionals
Additional Links
Ready to dig deeper into career information about child care professionals? Visit our other pages focused on salary and education for child care professionals.
What do child care professionals do?
Child Care Professionals: How do you become one?
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