How Much Do Early Childhood Specialists 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 early childhood specialists 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 early childhood specialists 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 early childhood specialists are offering as compensation.

Keep reading to learn more about how much early childhood specialists can expect to make in the United States.

At a Glance: Salary & Jobs for Early Childhood Specialists

According to data from 2023, there were about 75,758 positions for early childhood specialists in the United States. In terms of salary, the national median salary for early childhood specialists was reported to be $54,288. Additionally, when examining job demand, employers across the country posted 32,533 job postings related to positions for early childhood specialists.

How Much Money Do Early Childhood Specialists Make?

Median salary is just one data point. To build a better understanding of how much money early childhood specialists 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 early childhood specialists.

Annual Salary for Early Childhood Specialists

According to the BLS, the lowest earners for early childhood specialists 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 early childhood specialists in the United States in 2023 was $54,288.

Hourly Salary for Early Childhood Specialists

The BLS also breaks down compensation for early childhood specialists by hourly salary, and the median average hourly pay for early childhood specialists in 2023 was $26. Lowest hourly earners took home $18 while the highest reported hourly salaries for early childhood specialists was $46.

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Degree Options for Early Childhood Specialists

Advertised Compensation for Early Childhood Specialists

Data from the BLS is one way to dig into compensation for early childhood specialists, 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 early childhood specialists.

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 Early Childhood Specialists

During a review of 18,693 job postings related to early childhood specialists, advertised salary was included in 9,124 of them, which was 49%. Based on those postings, the median advertised salary for early childhood specialists was $48,512 per year.

Hourly Salary from Job Postings for Early Childhood Specialists

A similar analysis of job postings provides insight into advertised hourly salary for early childhood specialists. Based on 28% of postings with advertised compensation, the median hourly salary for open positions for early childhood specialists in the United States is about $23.

Salary Trend for Early Childhood Specialists

If you're thinking about pursuing a career in the field, you may want to understand how compensation has changed over time for early childhood specialists. 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 early childhood specialists dating back to September 2020, advertised salaries for early childhood specialists have increased 31%.

What's the Job Growth for Early Childhood Specialists?

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 early childhood specialists over the next 10 years.

According to the data obtained through Lightcast,™ there were 75,748 jobs for early childhood specialists 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.

Additional Links

Ready to dig deeper into career information about early childhood specialists? Visit our other pages focused on salary and education for early childhood specialists.

What do early childhood specialists do?
Early Childhood Specialists: How do you become one?

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