Assistant Teacher Statistics 2026: Job Market, Pay, Demand & Workforce
Live figures from 2,822 open assistant teacher listings on Childcare Hires, next to federal employment and wage data.
Every number names its source and date, and the listing figures refresh every six hours.
Key Assistant Teacher Statistics (2026)
- As of October 13, 2026, Childcare Hires listed 2,822 open assistant teacher positions from 533 employers in 49 states and the District of Columbia.
- 1,969 of the 2,822 assistant teacher listings live on Childcare Hires on October 13, 2026 (69.8%) were first posted in the previous 30 days.
- Employers hiring assistant teachers on Childcare Hires advertise a median of $17.50 an hour (338 employers, 1,337 listings stating hourly pay, October 13, 2026); this is advertised pay, not earnings.
- 48.5% of assistant teacher listings on Childcare Hires carried a readable hourly or annual pay figure on October 13, 2026.
- At least 34.2% of assistant teacher listings on Childcare Hires were part-time on October 13, 2026 (listings that name no schedule count as full-time, so the true share may be higher).
- The five largest employers posted 55.2% of assistant teacher listings on Childcare Hires on October 13, 2026, led by Learning Care Group with 569.
- New York had the most assistant teacher listings on Childcare Hires on October 13, 2026: 278, or 9.9% of the national total.
- BLS publishes no separate wage for assistant teachers; the median annual wage for all teaching assistants, except postsecondary (SOC 25-9045), the occupation that includes them, was $36,780 in May 2025 (BLS OEWS).
- Child care services employed 140,750 teaching assistants in May 2025, 14.0% of the industry's wage-and-salary jobs, with a median annual wage of $34,920 (BLS OEWS, NAICS 6244).
Assistant Teacher Job Market Statistics
Childcare Hires had 2,822 open assistant teacher listings from 533 employers on October 13, 2026.
1,547 were first posted in the previous 14 days and 1,969 in the previous 30 days.
At least 34.2% of assistant teacher listings were part-time on October 13, 2026.
Listings that name no schedule are counted as full-time, so the real part-time share is likely higher.
To browse the openings themselves, see all assistant teacher listings.
Assistant Teacher Pay Statistics
Employers hiring assistant teachers on Childcare Hires advertise a median of $17.50 an hour across 338 employers on October 13, 2026; this is advertised pay, not earnings.
33 assistant teacher listings from 25 employers stated annual pay instead, with an employer median of $39,500 a year.
BLS publishes no separate wage for assistant teachers; the median annual wage for all teaching assistants, except postsecondary (SOC 25-9045), the occupation that includes them, was $36,780 in May 2025 (BLS OEWS).
For more on what assistant teachers earn, see the assistant teacher salary guide.
Assistant Teacher Demand by State
States with at least 25 open assistant teacher listings from 10 or more employers on October 13, 2026.
New York had the most open assistant teacher listings on October 13, 2026, with 278 (9.9% of the national total).
Illinois followed with 234 (8.3%).
| State | Open listings | Share of U.S. | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 278 | 9.9% | 71 |
| Illinois | 234 | 8.3% | 25 |
| Texas | 197 | 7% | 42 |
| Michigan | 181 | 6.4% | 29 |
| Pennsylvania | 169 | 6% | 37 |
| New Jersey | 148 | 5.2% | 25 |
| Georgia | 138 | 4.9% | 40 |
| Florida | 132 | 4.7% | 36 |
| Ohio | 127 | 4.5% | 41 |
| Virginia | 107 | 3.8% | 22 |
| California | 104 | 3.7% | 40 |
| North Carolina | 82 | 2.9% | 32 |
| Minnesota | 73 | 2.6% | 19 |
| Massachusetts | 67 | 2.4% | 29 |
| Tennessee | 64 | 2.3% | 18 |
| Connecticut | 55 | 1.9% | 19 |
| Washington | 50 | 1.8% | 17 |
| Indiana | 49 | 1.7% | 19 |
| Maryland | 48 | 1.7% | 14 |
| Colorado | 45 | 1.6% | 24 |
| Wisconsin | 45 | 1.6% | 12 |
| Missouri | 41 | 1.5% | 11 |
| Arizona | 40 | 1.4% | 17 |
| Oregon | 39 | 1.4% | 18 |
| Oklahoma | 37 | 1.3% | 12 |
Childcare Hires listings, October 13, 2026. Listing counts reflect where employers post, not total employment.
Assistant Teacher Employer Mix
533 employers had open assistant teacher listings on Childcare Hires on October 13, 2026, and the five largest posted 55.2% of them.
420 employers (78.8%) had exactly one open assistant teacher listing.
The largest single employer, Learning Care Group, posted 20.2% of all assistant teacher listings, so this sample leans toward large childcare chains.
Assistant Teacher Workforce
Child care services employed 140,750 teaching assistants in May 2025, 14.0% of the industry's wage-and-salary jobs, with a median annual wage of $34,920 (BLS OEWS, NAICS 6244).
The child care services industry employed 1,004,990 wage-and-salary workers in May 2025, with a median annual wage of $36,580 across all its occupations (BLS OEWS, NAICS 6244).
For BLS employment projections and annual openings, see the childcare and preschool teacher job outlook.
For why centers struggle to fill these roles, see our childcare staffing shortage analysis.
For how to enter the field, see the assistant teacher career guide.
Assistant Teacher Statistics FAQ
How many assistant teacher openings are there right now?
Childcare Hires listed 2,822 open assistant teacher positions from 533 employers in 49 states and the District of Columbia on October 13, 2026. 1,547 of them were first posted in the previous 14 days. The count is refreshed every six hours from live listings.
What do assistant teacher job listings pay?
Employers hiring assistant teachers on Childcare Hires advertise a median of $17.50 an hour (338 employers, 1,337 listings, October 13, 2026). The middle half of listings offer $15.50 to $18.00. That is advertised pay, not earnings. BLS publishes no separate wage for assistant teachers; the median annual wage for all teaching assistants, except postsecondary (SOC 25-9045), the occupation that includes them, was $36,780 in May 2025 (BLS OEWS).
Which state has the most assistant teacher listings?
New York had the most open assistant teacher listings on Childcare Hires on October 13, 2026, with 278 (9.9% of the national total). Illinois followed with 234. Listing counts reflect where employers post, not total employment.
Methodology and Sources
Listing figures are computed from every active, paid assistant teacher listing on Childcare Hires at the time shown, and refreshed every six hours.
Listings on a job board are not a random sample of all assistant teacher jobs, so read them as a picture of current hiring, not of total employment.
Advertised pay is the midpoint of the range an employer posts, or its single figure, and hourly and annual postings are never converted into each other.
The headline is the employer median: each employer’s own median, then the median across employers, so a chain posting hundreds of openings counts once.
A pay figure needs at least 30 listings from 10 employers and is withheld when one employer posted more than 50% of them.
Federal figures come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and are quoted as published, with the year in each sentence.
- Childcare Hires job listings: active, paid listings for assistant teachers, queried live and refreshed every six hours.
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- BLS OEWS May 2025, Child Care Services (NAICS 6244)