How Much Do Early Childhood Special Educators 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 special educators 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 special educators 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 special educators are offering as compensation.

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

At a Glance: Salary & Jobs for Early Childhood Special Educators

According to data from 2023, there were about 28,945 positions for early childhood special educators in the United States. In terms of salary, the national median salary for early childhood special educators was reported to be $65,270. Additionally, when examining job demand, employers across the country posted 4,184 job postings related to positions for early childhood special educators.

How Much Money Do Early Childhood Special Educators Make?

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

Annual Salary for Early Childhood Special Educators

According to the BLS, the lowest earners for early childhood special educators and related professions earned about $41,250 per year in 2023. Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum, the highest earners made about $135,170 annually.

As mentioned previously, the median salary for early childhood special educators in the United States in 2023 was $65,270.

Hourly Salary for Early Childhood Special Educators

The BLS also breaks down compensation for early childhood special educators by hourly salary, and the median average hourly pay for early childhood special educators in 2023 was $31. Lowest hourly earners took home $20 while the highest reported hourly salaries for early childhood special educators was $65.

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Degree Options for Early Childhood Special Educators

Advertised Compensation for Early Childhood Special Educators

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

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 Special Educators

During a review of 2,637 job postings related to early childhood special educators, advertised salary was included in 1,271 of them, which was 48%. Based on those postings, the median advertised salary for early childhood special educators was $49,792 per year.

Hourly Salary from Job Postings for Early Childhood Special Educators

A similar analysis of job postings provides insight into advertised hourly salary for early childhood special educators. Based on 30% of postings with advertised compensation, the median hourly salary for open positions for early childhood special educators in the United States is about $24.

Salary Trend for Early Childhood Special Educators

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 special educators. 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 special educators dating back to September 2020, advertised salaries for early childhood special educators have decreased 5%.

What's the Job Growth for Early Childhood Special Educators?

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 special educators over the next 10 years.

According to the data obtained through Lightcast,™ there were 28,957 jobs for early childhood special educators in the United States in 2023. By 2033, it is expected that about 1,874 jobs will be added. That's a 6.5% increase over the next 10-year period.

Additional Links

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

What do early childhood special educators do?
Early Childhood Special Educators: How do you become one?

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