Early childhood education careers fall into four groups: classroom jobs from aide to lead teacher, specialist roles such as ECSE and early intervention, leadership jobs including director, curriculum coordinator and coach, and careers outside the classroom like licensing specialist and Head Start family services.
This guide maps the main roles in each group — what each does, the credential it typically needs, and what the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports for the occupations that have a federal pay series.
What jobs are there in early childhood education?
Early childhood education is not one job.
It is a ladder of classroom roles wrapped in a set of specialist, leadership and behind-the-scenes occupations — and you can enter it from either direction, as an aide working toward a lead classroom of your own or as a career changer coming in through administration, family services or licensing work.
Federal statistics split daycare classroom staff across two occupation codes, and the same job title can land in either one.
O*NET lists "Daycare Teacher", "Infant Teacher" and "Toddler Teacher" among reported titles for Childcare Workers (SOC 39-9011), and also lists "Pre-Kindergarten Teacher" and "Montessori Preschool Teacher" under Preschool Teachers (SOC 25-2011).
BLS counted 1,010,300 childcare workers and 583,200 preschool teachers in 2025.
The mix inside the industry code that covers center jobs, child day care services (NAICS 6244), is measurable: preschool teachers held 34.6% of its jobs, childcare workers 26.9%, teaching assistants 14.0% and center directors 6.0% in May 2025.
The same industry tables count 20,620 cooks, 8,580 secretaries and administrative assistants, and 3,650 school bus drivers — a reminder that a center is a small business as well as a classroom.
The outlook is worth stating honestly.
BLS projects childcare worker employment to decline 2% from 2025 to 2035, but still expects about 150,300 openings a year, all from replacement needs.
Preschool teachers are projected to grow 4% with about 66,700 openings a year, and center directors to decline 3% with about 5,200 openings.
For childcare workers and center directors — the two occupations projected to shrink — every projected opening is a replacement; preschool-teacher openings accompany projected growth.
The rest of this guide walks each group in turn: classroom jobs, specialist roles, leadership, and the careers that keep a program running from outside the classroom.
Classroom jobs: aide to lead teacher
The classroom ladder has three rungs. Aides and assistant teachers support the lead: O*NET's task list for childcare workers includes keeping records on individual children (daily observations, activities, meals, medications), dressing children and changing diapers, sanitizing toys, and communicating with parents about daily activities and behaviors.
BLS lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education for childcare workers, and notes that requirements vary: some states require a diploma or GED while others set no education requirement for entry-level positions.
BLS also notes that licensure often involves a background check, a complete immunization record, minimum training, and in some states CPR and first aid certification.
Lead teachers run the room.
O*NET's preschool teacher tasks include teaching basic skills — colors, shapes, numbers, letters, hygiene, social skills — serving meals and snacks per nutritional guidelines, meeting with parents about progress, and maintaining student records.
BLS defines the occupation as educating and caring for children younger than age 5 who have not yet entered kindergarten, and the field splits the work by age band: the infant teacher, the toddler teacher, the preschool teacher and the pre-K teacher are one career at four ages, each with its own developmental playbook.
One credential to know on the classroom ladder is the Child Development Associate (CDA).
BLS notes that when a state requires a nationally recognized credential for childcare workers, it is most often the CDA — and the Council for Professional Recognition's requirements are concrete: a high school diploma or GED (or, for high school students, enrollment as a junior or senior in an early childhood education career and technical program), plus 120 hours of formal early childhood education training with at least 10 hours in each of eight subject areas, and 480 hours of professional work experience with the setting's age group earned within 3 years.
The CDA is a credential, not a college degree — that is the point of it: it measures training and classroom experience rather than coursework credits.
Settings change the job more than titles suggest.
Head Start classrooms carry federal staff standards set by the Office of Head Start (45 CFR 1302.91), separate from the state licensing rules that shape other center jobs, and Montessori and public pre-K rooms carry their own expectations too.
The Head Start teacher role and the assistant teacher role each have their own guides, and the daycare teacher career guide covers the lead-teacher rung end to end.
Specialist jobs: ECSE, early intervention, Montessori
Early childhood special education (ECSE) teachers work with preschoolers with disabilities.
O*NET lists "Early Childhood Special Education Teacher (ECSE Teacher)" under Special Education Teachers, Preschool (SOC 25-2051) — a Job Zone Four occupation, which O*NET describes as one where most jobs require a bachelor's degree.
Where the job sits in a public school, state licensure applies on top: BLS says all states require teachers in public schools to be licensed or certified in the specific grade level that they will teach.
BLS put the May 2025 median for this occupation at $64,830 a year, the highest of the five occupations compared in the pay section below.
Early intervention specialists work with the birth-to-3 side of that population: IDEA Part C, the federal early-intervention program, defines an "infant or toddler with a disability" as a child under age three who needs early intervention because of a developmental delay or a diagnosed condition likely to cause delay.
O*NET places "Early Intervention Teacher" in the same 25-2051 occupation.
The early intervention specialist guide covers how the role differs from a classroom job.
Montessori teachers work in programs following the Montessori method.
O*NET lists "Montessori Preschool Teacher" under preschool teachers, and two practical notes matter for anyone considering the path.
First, "Montessori" is not a protected trademark in the U.S. — the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board held in 1967 that the term is generic and descriptive, so any program can use the name — which makes it worth checking which training organization stands behind any program's credentials.
Second, there is no BLS occupation code for Montessori teachers, so no federal wage figure describes the title specifically.
The Montessori teacher guide covers training and what to look for.
The ECSE teacher guide covers the special education route in depth.
Leadership jobs: director, coordinator, coach
Center directors run the business and the classrooms at once.
BLS's duty list covers supervising teachers and childcare workers, hiring and training staff, providing professional development, setting policies, developing educational programs, meeting with parents and staff, preparing budgets, and keeping facilities clean per state regulations.
Most directors work full time and some work more than 40 hours a week.
Pay jumps at this rung: the May 2025 median for education and childcare administrators, preschool and daycare (SOC 11-9031) is $59,300 a year — about $21,160 above the preschool-teacher median — with a 10th-to-90th percentile spread of $38,580 to $98,240.
Setting moves the number: directors in child day care services earned a median of $58,090 a year while those employed by local-government schools earned $90,950.
Director qualifications are set by each state's child care licensing agency, and the routes range from a high school diploma plus credits, a credential and experience to a bachelor's degree depending on the state — confirm your state's current rule with the agency before planning the move.
The childcare director guide covers the path in detail.
Curriculum coordinators (education coordinators) own what and how classrooms teach.
In Head Start, the federal rule covers this work under education managers or coordinators, including curriculum specialists, and requires a baccalaureate or advanced degree in early childhood education, or a baccalaureate or advanced degree plus equivalent ECE coursework and early education teaching experience (45 CFR 1302.91(d)(2)).
BLS has no occupation code for the title in childcare; the nearest category, instructional coordinators, shows a median of $53,980 in child day care services, set against a $77,440 national figure dominated by K-12 school districts.
ECE coaches work with teachers on classroom practice.
Head Start's current rules require a research-based, coordinated coaching strategy (45 CFR 1302.92(c)) and coaches who hold at least a baccalaureate degree in early childhood education or a related field (45 CFR 1302.91(f)); the coach-qualification rule is among the non-statutory staff-qualification rules a federal proposal published in August 2026 would remove, so check its status if you are planning around it.
Like coordinators, coaches have no BLS code of their own.
Jobs outside the classroom (licensing, Head Start family services)
Licensing specialists work for the state agency that regulates childcare — the same agency whose rules set teacher qualifications and ratios.
Their work is real: federal CCDF rules require states to inspect licensed providers before licensure and at least once a year unannounced.
California's class, Licensing Program Analyst, licenses and evaluates facilities, responds to complaints and conducts investigations; it requires a driver license and either college graduation in any major or qualifying state service experience, and a 2023 state exam bulletin listed pay of $3,621 to $6,760 a month.
Each state's hiring rules are its own, so check the agency's postings where you live.
Head Start family services staff — often titled family advocate — work directly with enrolled families on the family partnership process.
Staff hired after November 7, 2016 must hold, within 18 months of hire, at least a credential or certification in social work, human services, family services, counseling or a related field — a qualification rule the August 2026 proposal would also remove, so check its status.
The 2024 federal rule caps planned family-services caseloads at 40 families per staff member starting August 1, 2027 — a cap the August 2026 proposal would remove — and there is no BLS code for the title; the nearest category, social and human service assistants, shows a median of $44,200 in child day care services.
Home visitors run the home-based option, coaching families in their own homes.
Under the Head Start rules they need at least a home-based CDA credential or comparable credential, or equivalent coursework as part of an associate's or bachelor's degree, and a home-based program must keep an average caseload of 10 to 12 families per home visitor, with a maximum of 12 for any one visitor.
Head Start is also a large employer in its own right: programs employed and contracted with 251,000 staff in 2023–24, about 112,000 of them providing child development services, and 24% of staff were parents of current or former Head Start children.
Programs must consider current and former Head Start parents for vacancies they apply for and are qualified for — which makes the program a realistic second chapter for the families it serves.
Which ECE jobs need a degree and which don't?
The credential divide runs between center-based work and school-based work.
O*NET's job zones put childcare workers in Job Zones 1–2 (usually a high school diploma or GED) and preschool teachers in Job Zone Three (vocational training, related experience, or an associate's degree).
BLS's statistical label for preschool teachers is "at least an associate's degree," but its own caveat matters: requirements vary by setting and state regulation, which is why the table below maps each job to what the research says it takes.
| Job | What the research says it takes |
|---|---|
| Center aide / assistant teacher | High school diploma is the typical entry level for childcare workers; states vary — some require a diploma or GED, others set no education requirement for entry-level positions. |
| Lead teacher, licensed center | Set by the state and the setting; BLS's statistical label for preschool teachers is at least an associate's. (BLS's CDA note covers childcare workers: when a state names a credential for them, it is most often the CDA.) |
| Head Start preschool teacher | At least an associate degree for center-based teachers per the Head Start rules, and at least 50% of Head Start preschool teachers nationwide must hold a bachelor's in ECE or a related field. |
| Public pre-K / kindergarten teacher | Public-school preschool teachers generally need at least a bachelor's and must be licensed to teach early childhood education; BLS says all states require teachers in public schools to be licensed or certified in the specific grade level that they will teach. |
| ECSE / early intervention teacher | A Job Zone Four occupation — most jobs in it require a bachelor's — and, in public schools, licensure: all states require public school teachers to be licensed or certified in the grade level they teach. |
| Center director | State-set; routes range from a high school diploma plus credits, a credential and experience to a bachelor's, depending on the state. |
| Head Start coach | At least a bachelor's in ECE or a related field under the current rules (proposed for removal in 2026). |
| Head Start family services staff | A credential in social work, human services, family services, counseling or a related field within 18 months of hire, for staff hired after November 7, 2016, under the current rules (proposed for removal in 2026). |
Two boundary notes keep the picture honest.
Federal Title I rules require paraprofessionals in Title I-funded school programs to hold a high school diploma or equivalent, and those hired after January 8, 2002 also need two years of college, an associate degree or higher, or a passing state or local academic assessment — but that rule covers school paraprofessionals, not aides in licensed childcare centers, who follow state licensing instead.
And the field has earn-while-you-learn routes: O*NET lists "Child Care Development Specialist" and "Early Childhood Educator" as Department of Labor-approved Registered Apprenticeship occupations.
Read the table as the credential each job asks for, not as a ranking of which job is best.
A CDA-and-experience route into a lead classroom and a bachelor's-and-license route into public pre-K are different doors into the same field.
Confirm the requirement where you live
Highest-paying early childhood jobs
Ranked by the BLS May 2025 national median (OEWS survey, SOC named for each), the pay leaders among the five occupations compared in this guide are the school-based and management roles:
- Preschool special education teachers (SOC 25-2051): $64,830 median — the highest of the five. BLS publishes annual wages only for this occupation; the 90th percentile is $130,040.
- Kindergarten teachers (SOC 25-2012): $62,680 median, about $24,500 above the preschool-teacher median. BLS says kindergarten teachers usually need at least a bachelor's degree, and all states require teachers in public schools to be licensed or certified in the specific grade level that they will teach.
- Preschool and childcare center directors (SOC 11-9031): $59,300 median, spanning $38,580 at the 10th percentile to $98,240 at the 90th — about $21,160 above the preschool-teacher median.
- Preschool teachers (SOC 25-2011): $38,140 median, from $28,990 (10th percentile) to $61,390 (90th).
- Childcare workers (SOC 39-9011): $34,980 median, with hourly wages from $11.66 (10th percentile) to $22.12 (90th).
Setting moves each number too.
Preschool teachers in elementary and secondary schools earned a median of $56,750 versus $36,850 in child day care services; directors in local-government schools earned $90,950 versus $58,090 in child day care services.
In both comparisons the school-based median comes out higher: the same occupation code pays more in school settings than in child day care services.
Three reading notes before you quote these figures.
They are medians for wage-and-salary jobs — OEWS excludes the self-employed and private-household workers, so they do not describe home daycare owners.
Several specialist titles — Head Start teacher, Montessori teacher, floater, substitute, family advocate, coach, curriculum coordinator — have no BLS occupation code at all, so any figure attached to them is a broader-category proxy, not pay for that title.
And percentiles are not entry-level pay: the 10th percentile describes the bottom tenth of earners, not the starting wage.
Once you have picked your rung, daycare teacher jobs on ChildcareHires show what centers near you are hiring for, and the daycare teacher career guide covers the role itself.
This page is career information, not licensing or legal advice. Staff qualification rules are set by state child care licensing agencies (and, for Head Start roles, the Office of Head Start) — confirm current requirements with the agency named before you act on them.