The highest-paying jobs in childcare sit in the school-side teaching and center-management lines of the federal wage tables: preschool special education (ECSE) teachers hold the top median on this list at $64,830 a year, kindergarten teachers follow at $62,680, center directors earn a $59,300 median, and the same preschool-teacher job pays $56,750 in elementary and secondary schools versus $36,850 in child day care services.
This page ranks the six childcare occupations it tracks in the May 2025 federal wage data, then covers what each one requires.
The ranked list of highest-paying childcare jobs
The table ranks the six childcare occupations this page tracks in the federal wage tables by their May 2025 medians, and the list is unambiguous: the special education and school-side teaching lines pay the most, center management is next, and the center classroom lines sit below them.
Every figure in the table is a national median from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2025 release.
| Rank | Job | BLS occupation (SOC) | National median, May 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Preschool special education (ECSE) teacher | Special education teachers, preschool (25-2051) | $64,830 a year |
| 2 | Kindergarten teacher | Kindergarten teachers, except special education (25-2012) | $62,680 a year |
| 3 | Preschool and childcare center director | Education and childcare administrators, preschool and daycare (11-9031) | $59,300 a year ($28.51 an hour) |
| 4 | Preschool teacher | Preschool teachers, except special education (25-2011) | $38,140 a year ($18.34 an hour) |
| 5 | Teaching assistant | Teaching assistants, except postsecondary (25-9045) | $36,780 a year |
| 6 | Childcare worker | Childcare workers (39-9011) | $34,980 a year ($16.82 an hour) |
Three of those lines are annual-only: BLS publishes no hourly medians for preschool special education teachers, kindergarten teachers or teaching assistants, so an hourly figure quoted for one of those titles has no federal source behind it.
There is also a scope line under the whole table.
Childcare workers held about 1.0 million jobs in 2025, but 24 percent were self-employed — home-based providers among them — and 17 percent worked in private households as nannies.
OEWS counts neither group: the occupation's 518,910 jobs in the tables above are payroll employees.
Family child care income and nanny pay sit outside these medians entirely.
Roles BLS does not break out get no rank.
There is no federal occupation for Head Start teachers, ECE coaches, curriculum coordinators, family advocates, floaters or substitutes, and in the OEWS files we read there is no Head Start industry breakout either, so no median above is a Head Start number.
Early intervention is the different case: O*NET lists "Early Intervention Teacher" as a reported title under the preschool special education occupation, but that is a title match, not a wage series for the job — the early intervention salary page carries no BLS figure of its own and points to the neighboring ECSE and preschool-teacher salary pages instead.
Highest-paying classroom roles
Preschool special education teachers (SOC 25-2051) top the table at a median of $64,830 a year, with a mean of $76,380 and a spread from $45,620 at the 10th percentile to $130,040 at the 90th.
It is a small occupation — about 30,500 jobs in 2025 — and O*NET lists "Early Childhood Special Education Teacher" and "Early Intervention Teacher" among its reported titles, classifying it as a Job Zone Four occupation, where most jobs require a bachelor's degree.
The ECSE teacher salary page carries the state-level medians BLS publishes for the line.
Kindergarten teachers (SOC 25-2012) hold the next median: $62,680 a year in May 2025, about $24,500 more than the preschool-teacher median, with a mean of $69,370.
Like the preschool special education line above it, this is annual-only data.
Preschool teachers (SOC 25-2011), the line covering lead and pre-K teachers, earned a median of $18.34 an hour ($38,140 a year) and a mean of $20.69 ($43,030).
The line spans $13.94 an hour ($28,990 a year) at the 10th percentile against $29.52 ($61,390) at the 90th — and where those top-of-line earners work is what the settings section below explains.
The outlook on this line is growth: BLS projects preschool teacher employment to grow 4 percent from 2025 to 2035, about as fast as average, with about 66,700 openings a year.
Childcare workers (SOC 39-9011), the nearest federal line for aides, assistant teachers and center lead teachers, earned a median of $16.82 an hour ($34,980 a year), with a mean of $16.84 ($35,030) and a spread from $11.66 an hour at the 10th percentile to $22.12 at the 90th.
Its outlook is the reverse: BLS projects a 2 percent decline in childcare worker employment from 2025 to 2035, with about 150,300 openings a year coming from replacement needs.
Teaching assistants (SOC 25-9045) earned a median of $36,780 a year, spanning $27,150 at the 10th percentile to $50,040 at the 90th — annual figures only.
Read it as the school-side assistant category, not center pay: 72 percent of the occupation works in K-12 public schools, so it is not a daycare assistant-teacher number.
Leadership and specialist roles
Among the center lines in the table, the director's pays the most.
Education and childcare administrators, preschool and daycare (SOC 11-9031), the line for center directors, earned a median of $28.51 an hour ($59,300 a year) and a mean of $31.15 ($64,800), with a percentile spread from $38,580 to $98,240.
BLS projects the occupation to decline 3 percent from 2025 to 2035, with about 5,200 openings a year, and notes most center directors work full time, some more than 40 hours a week.
The director salary page lists the state-level medians for the line.
Head Start and Early Head Start programs employ their own directors and managers, but in the OEWS files we read no Head Start industry breakout exists, and there is no federal occupation for Head Start teachers either.
BLS's summary of the Head Start teacher bar — center-based teachers need at least an associate degree, and at least 50 percent of Head Start preschool teachers nationwide must hold a bachelor's degree in early childhood education or a related field — describes the credential floor, not program pay.
Treat the Head Start director salary page as the closest published lines, not a Head Start pay quote.
A tier of specialist roles also sits outside the classroom: ECE coaches who work alongside teachers on practice, curriculum coordinators, family advocates, and the floaters and substitutes centers keep on call.
None of those titles has a federal occupation of its own, so none of the medians on this page is a pay quote for them — postings and program budgets set those rates.
Settings that pay more
The same title pays differently by building: in the May 2025 data, schools pay preschool teachers more than centers do.
Preschool teachers in child day care services (NAICS 6244) earned a median of $17.72 an hour ($36,850 a year); preschool teachers in elementary and secondary schools, all ownerships combined, earned $27.29 an hour ($56,750).
Ownership splits the school side further.
Preschool teachers employed by local-government schools earned a median of $61,300 a year, against $44,290 in private elementary and secondary schools and the $36,850 center-industry median.
The pattern runs up and down the ladder: childcare workers in child day care services earned $16.43 an hour ($34,170 a year) against $17.80 an hour in elementary and secondary schools, and center directors in child day care services earned $58,090 a year against $90,950 for directors employed by local-government schools.
One more industry line falls between those poles.
Preschool teachers in individual and family services (NAICS 6241), the industry that includes many Head Start grantees, earned a median of $45,550 a year, versus $36,850 in child day care services.
That is an industry line, not a Head Start figure — Head Start grantees are classified under 6241 or 6244 depending on the grantee, and the federal tables we read carry no Head Start pay number.
One honesty note before ranking these numbers against each other: BLS notes many public-school preschool teachers work the traditional 10-month school year with a 2-month summer break, while daycare settings may run year-round with longer hours.
The annual medians do not adjust for the difference in schedule.
Like-for-like numbers
What each requires
The pay ranking roughly re-sorts by entry requirements.
BLS says preschool teachers typically need at least an associate degree, and public-school preschool teachers generally need a bachelor's degree and an early childhood license — the bar for the school-side preschool line.
O*NET classifies the preschool special education occupation as Job Zone Four, where most jobs require a bachelor's degree.
Our research did not establish the requirement for kindergarten teachers; that is a question for your state education agency.
Head Start has its own federal credential floor: BLS's summary has center-based Head Start preschool teachers needing at least an associate degree, with at least 50 percent of Head Start preschool teachers nationwide required to hold a bachelor's degree in early childhood education or a related field.
For center roles, the first national credential to know is the Child Development Associate (CDA) credential, issued by the Council for Professional Recognition.
BLS notes it is the credential states most often require of childcare workers who need a national credential, and that it must be renewed every 3 years.
Staff qualification rules for center jobs are written state by state, so what a lead teacher, assistant or aide must hold in your state is a question for your state child care licensing agency — the state teacher requirements guide carries the state-by-state detail.
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How to move up
Nothing in the table moves by seniority alone — the medians change when the occupation or the employer changes.
The moves below are the ones the May 2025 data actually prices.
Earn the CDA while you hold a classroom job
The Child Development Associate (CDA) credential is the credential states most often require of childcare workers who need a national credential, and it must be renewed every 3 years. It is the national credential BLS names for childcare workers where one is required.Add the associate degree
The preschool-teacher line — median $38,140 a year against $34,980 for childcare workers — is one BLS describes as typically requiring at least an associate degree, and center-based Head Start preschool teachers need at least one as well.Pick a ladder top: school side or leadership
The school side pays the most per title — preschool teachers median $56,750 in elementary and secondary schools against $36,850 in child day care services — and public-school preschool teachers generally need a bachelor's degree and an early childhood license. The leadership side tops the center lines in the table at the director median of $59,300, in a role where most directors work full time and some work more than 40 hours a week.Watch the openings, not only the pay
BLS projects preschool teacher employment to grow 4 percent through 2035 with about 66,700 openings a year, against a 2 percent decline for childcare workers with about 150,300 openings a year from replacement needs, and a 3 percent decline for directors with about 5,200 openings. Each line in the table carries a higher median than the one below it, so the raises the data prices come with moving between these lines.
One map is worth opening before any of those moves: the childcare pay ladder page walks the rungs inside a center — what each credential step, wage supplement and salary scale adds to base pay.
Career information, not licensing or legal advice. Pay figures here are BLS OEWS May 2025 national medians; staff qualification rules are set by your state child care licensing agency, and public-school certification by your state education agency — confirm current requirements with the agency that issues them.