Preschool Teacher vs Kindergarten Teacher: Requirements, Pay and Moving Up

The age line is the cleanest difference. BLS defines preschool teachers as educating and caring for children younger than age 5 who have not yet entered kindergarten. A kindergarten teacher's classroom is the other side of that line: the children have started kindergarten, and the job sits in the school system — BLS's requirements picture for kindergarten teachers covers public and private schools. The settings split accordingly. In 2025, 65% of preschool teachers worked in child daycare services, 16% in educational services (state, local and private), 13% in religious, grantmaking, civic and similar organizations, and 2% in individual and family services. Kindergarten teachers held about 111,200 jobs in 2025, against 583,200 for preschool teachers. Between the two sits transitional kindergarten. In California, from the 2025-26 school year onward, school districts must admit every child who turns four by September 1 to transitional kindergarten, so a TK classroom is a public school classroom for children the year before kindergarten — a school job with its own credential rules, not a center job. The TK teacher guide covers that role separately. Schedule follows the setting more than the title. BLS notes preschool teachers in public schools generally work school hours, often on a 10-month year, while those in daycare settings may work year-round with longer hours.

For a preschool classroom in a licensed center, the rulebook is state child care licensing. BLS lists the typical entry-level education for preschool teachers as at least an associate's degree, with requirements varying by setting and state regulations — and that "typical" is a statistical label for the occupation, not a legal minimum. Screening sits underneath: to qualify for licensure, childcare staff often must pass a background check, have a complete record of immunizations and meet a minimum training requirement, and some states require CPR and first aid certification. Public-school classrooms run on the teaching-license system instead. BLS says public-school preschool teachers generally need at least a bachelor's degree and must be licensed to teach early childhood education, which covers preschool through third grade — a band that includes kindergarten, though license names and grade bands vary by state. For kindergarten teachers, BLS says all states require public school teachers to be licensed or certified in the grade level they teach, and the job usually requires at least a bachelor's degree; private-school teachers typically do not need a license. So the credential bar is set by the setting as much as by the title: a public-school preschool room carries a bachelor's-plus-license bar, while center requirements come from state child care licensing and vary by state — across the occupation as a whole, BLS's typical entry education is at least an associate's degree, a statistical label rather than a center rule. If you are sorting out the degree question on the preschool side alone, our guide to whether you need a degree to be a preschool teacher walks it in detail.

The medians sit well apart. BLS reports a May 2025 median annual wage of $38,140 per year ($18.34 per hour) for preschool teachers, and $62,680 for kindergarten teachers, except special education. Both are occupation-wide medians for two separate occupations — not pay scales for any single employer. Setting moves preschool pay, too. May 2025 medians for preschool teachers were $52,800 in educational services (state, local and private) versus $36,850 in child daycare services, and the occupation's full spread ran from under $28,990 per year at the lowest 10% to over $61,390 at the highest 10%. Hours are part of the trade-off: preschool teachers in public schools generally work school hours, often on a 10-month year, while daycare-setting teachers may work year-round with longer hours. The medians above measure wages — benefits such as health coverage, retirement plans or tuition help are a per-employer question, so ask any school or center what the package includes before you compare offers. To see how centers near you title and pay these classrooms, browse preschool teacher jobs.

The move is a change of employment systems as much as a change of classroom. A center preschool teacher is hired under state child care licensing rules; a public-school kindergarten teacher is hired on a state teaching license or certification instead. BLS draws the line clearly: all states require public school teachers to be licensed or certified in the grade level they teach, kindergarten teachers usually need at least a bachelor's degree, and private-school teachers typically do not need a license. That gives the move two hard checkpoints — the degree and the license — and one soft one: making your center experience legible to a school hiring panel.

Private schools are the exception BLS names: teachers there typically do not need a license, so read each private-school posting on its own terms and ask the school what it requires. And if you would rather stay on the preschool side of the line, the preschool teacher career guide maps the role in depth.

Career information, not licensing or legal advice. License names, grade bands and requirements change: confirm center rules with your state child care licensing agency, and public-school certification with your state's teacher licensing authority.