Yes — the gap is wide.
In May 2025, preschool teachers (the BLS occupation that covers lead preschool and pre-K teachers) earned a median of $38,140 a year while kindergarten teachers earned a median of $62,680 — a difference of about $24,500.
The same preschool-teacher job paid a median of $36,850 in child care services against $56,750 in elementary and secondary schools.
Daycare teacher vs public school teacher pay, side by side
"Daycare teacher" is a job title.
In the federal wage data — BLS's Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) — the occupation that covers lead preschool and pre-K teachers is preschool teachers, except special education (SOC 25-2011); childcare workers (SOC 39-9011) covers aides and assistants and, in centers, many lead teachers as well.
The public-school comparison here is kindergarten teachers, except special education (SOC 25-2012).
One publishing quirk matters before comparing: BLS publishes hourly and annual figures for the preschool-teacher occupation (SOC 25-2011) but annual wages only for kindergarten teachers — there is no kindergarten hourly median to quote.
On the May 2025 national medians, preschool teachers earned $18.34 an hour and $38,140 a year.
Kindergarten teachers earned a median of $62,680 — about $24,500 above the preschool median.
Preschool pay at the 90th percentile was $61,390 — still below the kindergarten median — while pay at the 10th percentile was $28,990.
The cleaner comparison tracks the same occupation across industries.
In child care services (NAICS 6244) — the industry code for child day care services — preschool teachers earned a median of $17.72 an hour ($36,850 a year).
In elementary and secondary schools the same occupation earned $27.29 ($56,750).
Ownership widens the spread further: local-government schools paid a median of $61,300 against $44,290 in private elementary and secondary schools.
For childcare workers (SOC 39-9011), the median was $16.43 an hour ($34,170 a year) in child care services; in elementary and secondary schools the figure was $17.80 an hour.
| Group (BLS OEWS, May 2025 medians) | Occupation | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Child care services (NAICS 6244) | Preschool teachers (25-2011) | $36,850/yr ($17.72/hr) |
| Elementary and secondary schools | Preschool teachers (25-2011) | $56,750/yr ($27.29/hr) |
| Local-government elementary and secondary schools | Preschool teachers (25-2011) | $61,300/yr |
| Private elementary and secondary schools | Preschool teachers (25-2011) | $44,290/yr |
| All settings, national | Preschool teachers (25-2011) | $38,140/yr ($18.34/hr) |
| All settings, national | Kindergarten teachers (25-2012) | $62,680/yr (annual only) |
National medians are only the anchor: the occupation's medians differ by state.
The preschool teacher salary page carries the BLS figures by state, so you can benchmark an offer against the state where you work or plan to work.
Benefits and the calendar: what the wage gap doesn't show
Calendar comes first.
BLS notes that many public-school preschool teachers work the traditional 10-month school year with a 2-month summer break, while preschool teachers in daycare settings may work year-round and have longer hours.
An annual median can therefore describe different amounts of work on the two sides of the comparison — a school-year calendar on one side, a calendar that may run year-round on the other — which is worth remembering before you divide either figure by twelve.
The medians are also wage figures: health coverage, retirement plans and paid leave are not in them.
On the center side, KinderCare and Bright Horizons describe their benefits packages in their own SEC filings.
KinderCare's FY2025 10-K says it offers eligible full-time employees competitive wages, health and wellness benefits, matching 401(k) contributions and life insurance, plus discounted tuition for employees' children.
Bright Horizons' 2025 10-K lists healthcare, a 401(k) with matching contributions, paid time off, child care tuition subsidies, paid parental bonding leave, and its Horizons CDA and Degree Program, which pays for a CDA, an associate or a bachelor's ECE degree at no cost.
What our research did not find is a verified national comparison of benefits packages between center jobs and school jobs.
Price the whole package offer against offer — health coverage, retirement, paid leave, and whether the salary follows a 10-month or a 12-month calendar — rather than the wage line alone.
Why the pay gap exists
Start with the credential gate.
BLS says preschool teachers typically need at least an associate degree, while public-school preschool teachers generally need a bachelor's degree and an early childhood license.
The two requirement sets differ — and so do the pay figures above.
But the occupation data shows the gap moving with the employer as well.
Preschool teachers are one occupation in the data, and their median splits three ways by employer: $36,850 in child care services, $44,290 in private elementary and secondary schools, and $61,300 in local-government schools — all from the same May 2025 release.
One occupation, three payrolls.
Price and pay are also linked on the center side: Bright Horizons states in its 2025 10-K that many competitors offer lower prices by using less intensive ratios and lower compensation and benefits — the filing names lower compensation as one of the levers behind lower prices.
That link is the structural side of the gap.
A broader measure comes from a different source.
The Center for the Study of Child Care Employment's 2024 Early Childhood Workforce Index — built on 2022 Census (ACS) data, and covering home-based providers as well as center staff — reports a national median early-educator wage of $13.07 an hour against $31.80 for elementary and middle school teachers.
That is a different data series from the BLS medians above and the two are not comparable figure-for-figure; it appears here because it measures a wider slice of the workforce than the BLS occupation data does.
The absolute level of childcare pay is its own subject — why childcare pay is so low covers the center-side economics.
This page's question is narrower: the same work, priced differently by building.
Pre-K in public schools: the middle ground
One route across the gap is the same classroom inside a different building.
When preschool teachers work in elementary and secondary schools, their median is $56,750 against $36,850 in child care services.
Public school districts are local-government employers, and preschool teachers in local-government schools earned a median of $61,300 in May 2025 — against $44,290 in private elementary and secondary schools.
Many Head Start grantees sit in a middle industry category, pay-wise.
In individual and family services (NAICS 6241) — the industry category that includes many Head Start grantees, though grantees are classified under other industry codes as well — preschool teachers earned a median of $45,550.
Treat that as an industry-category figure rather than "Head Start pay": BLS has no Head Start-only industry code, so no OEWS median describes Head Start teachers as such.
The catch is the credential gate from the last section: BLS says public-school preschool teachers generally need a bachelor's degree and an early childhood license.
The policy answer to this exact gap is called pay parity — rules that tie publicly funded pre-K classrooms to school pay scales and benefits.
Head Start's version, set by the 2024 rule, requires programs to pay each Head Start teacher an annual salary at least comparable to public-school preschool teachers in the local district, adjusted for qualifications, experience and hours, by August 1, 2031 — and that requirement is proposed for repeal.
Where all of this lands is a moving picture: our pre-K pay parity page tracks the funded programs, the Head Start rule and the 2026 proposals.
How to cross over from a center to a public school classroom
The gap, in BLS's summary of requirements, is a credential gate: public-school preschool teachers generally need a bachelor's degree and an early childhood license, where the preschool-teacher occupation overall typically needs at least an associate degree.
Crossing over therefore means adding the two things the school side asks for — the bachelor's (BLS names early childhood education or a related field) and state certification.
If you are already studying, our bachelor's degree in early childhood education guide covers what the degree involves, and the degree-while-working guide covers finishing it on a teacher's schedule.
Because certification is state law, the first call is to your state's education agency — the body that licenses public-school teachers.
Ask it three questions: what your state requires for the grade band you want, which of your ECE coursework counts toward it, and whether your center experience counts toward licensure requirements.
Get the answers from the agency itself; certification rules differ by state and by grade band, and no general guide — this one included — substitutes for the agency's answer.
Plan for the calendar change too.
The 10-month school year and 2-month summer break that come with many public-school preschool teaching jobs change your year.
Before you compare a district's annual figure with a year-round center paycheck, ask the district how it spreads pay across the months.
None of this discounts what a center resume already carries.
Curriculum planning, assessment, family communication and age-band experience are the substance of pre-K teaching in any building; the license is the state's gate, and the center years are the evidence behind the application.
Career information, not licensing or legal advice. Certification and licensing requirements are set by your state education agency and your state child care licensing agency — confirm current requirements with them before you act on anything on this page.
Certification rules are state rules