Secondary CTE teachers in the United States earned a median of $66,270 a year in May 2025, according to BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. BLS counts Career and Technical Education Teacher within Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School (SOC 25-2032) and reported 111,420 wage-and-salary jobs. Place your offer against that percentile spread and your state's median, not a single blended salary-site number.
| Fact | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| National employment | 111,420 | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| Annual median | $66,270 | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| Annual 10th to 90th percentile | $50,040 to $101,340 | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| Annual mean | $72,680 | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| Pay unit published | Annual only | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
How much to pay a career and technical education teacher: the short answer
BLS prints annual wages only for this occupation. The national annual 10th percentile is $50,040, the 25th is $60,590, the median is $66,270, the 75th is $80,060, and the 90th is $101,340. Those figures cover Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School—the BLS grouping that includes CTE teachers who run a program of study in a high school, career center, or shared-time shop.
A welding instructor, FACS teacher, agricultural education teacher, or automotive technology instructor all sit in this same SOC. Your posted range should still name the pathway, the lab or shop, and the calendar, because candidates compare offers against the work, not against a blended title.
What the percentiles mean for your offer
Treat the BLS percentiles as the spread of annual pay across the occupation, not as labels for a career ladder. Set the number by the work you need done: years in the occupation, years in a classroom, and the scope of the assignment.
| Percentile | Annual wage (U.S.) |
|---|---|
| 10th | $50,040 |
| 25th | $60,590 |
| Median | $66,270 |
| 75th | $80,060 |
| 90th | $101,340 |
O*NET OnLine (accessed September 24, 2026) describes the job as teaching occupational, vocational, career, or technical subjects at the secondary level through lectures, demonstrations, and laboratory, shop, and field studies. Teachers also instruct and monitor students in the use and care of equipment, plan work-experience programs in businesses and school laboratories, and sponsor student organizations. Eighty percent of O*NET respondents said a typical work week is more than 40 hours, and 39 percent reported very high responsibility for the health and safety of other workers. An offer that sits at the median for a teacher who only covers one section will look thin once that shop-safety load and after-hours student organization work are on the posting.
Pay by state
State medians in the BLS table run from $101,180 in Washington to $55,190 in Montana. Put your state's figure next to the national median of $66,270 and decide whether a national-median offer would land high, typical, or low for your market. A location quotient above 1 means the occupation is more concentrated in that area's employment than nationally.
| Rank | State | Employment | Annual median | Location quotient |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington | 3,460 | $101,180 | 1.36 |
| 2 | Connecticut | 1,910 | $100,810 | 1.57 |
| 3 | Massachusetts | 3,130 | $98,020 | 1.2 |
| 4 | New Jersey | 2,320 | $83,770 | 0.76 |
| 5 | Rhode Island | 90 | $81,820 | 0.25 |
| 6 | California | 3,260 | $80,620 | 0.25 |
| 7 | New York | 7,610 | $79,820 | 1.1 |
| 8 | Delaware | 560 | $79,230 | 1.61 |
| 9 | Ohio | 5,130 | $79,230 | 1.29 |
| 10 | Vermont | 220 | $79,220 | 1.01 |
Texas reports 32,250 jobs, an annual median of $64,610, and a location quotient of 3.2—the largest employment count in the state table. Mississippi's location quotient is 2.12 with an annual median of $57,910; North Dakota's is 2.08 with $61,500; West Virginia's is 1.99 with $57,760. Concentration and pay do not move together.
If you hire in a high-median state, a national-median offer will not look competitive on paper. If you hire in a lower-median state, the same $66,270 figure may sit near the top of local practice. Pair the state row with where CTE teachers are concentrated before you lock the range.
Pay in major metro areas
Among the large metros BLS reports, Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA shows an annual median of $102,180 with 1,430 jobs. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX shows 8,750 jobs and an annual median of $66,450. Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX shows 6,070 jobs and $67,200. The metros with the most jobs are not always the best-paid.
| Metro area | Employment | Annual median | Location quotient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | 1,430 | $102,180 | 0.96 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | 1,730 | $101,250 | 0.89 |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | 5,030 | $99,830 | 0.74 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | 1,640 | $98,170 | 0.51 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | 810 | $81,950 | 0.18 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | 1,360 | $81,120 | 0.6 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | 880 | $81,090 | 0.42 |
| Cleveland, OH | 1,420 | $80,350 | 1.92 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | 2,070 | $80,070 | 1 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | 8,750 | $66,450 | 3.02 |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX | 6,070 | $67,200 | 2.58 |
| McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX | 1,300 | $62,830 | 6.11 |
| Pittsburgh, PA | 1,410 | $58,510 | 1.77 |
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX has a location quotient of 6.11 with an annual median of $62,830. Use the metro row that matches your campus, not the state capital's, when you write the range into a CTE teacher job description.
Factors that should move the offer up or down
Depth of industry experience should move the number when the pathway depends on it. O*NET lists sample titles such as welding instructor, auto technology instructor, agricultural education teacher, cosmetology teacher, and technology education teacher. A candidate who can teach the occupation in the shop—including Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D where the program of study uses CAD—and keep students safe on equipment is not interchangeable with a candidate who can lecture the same units from a slide deck.
Price extra duties into the base range you advertise. O*NET tasks include sponsoring clubs and student organizations, planning field trips and guest speakers, placing students in jobs, serving on committees, and performing hall, cafeteria, or bus duty. Name student organization advising, evening adult sections, and summer shop or work-based learning in the posting if those sit on the assignment.
Say whether the calendar is school-year or year-round and whether the post is part-time or full-time. O*NET work context already shows long weeks for many in this occupation (80 percent reported more than 40 hours). A year-round career-center assignment that includes industry-partner coordination is a different job from a single-period high school section, even when both use the same SOC. Screen for that scope with the same care you would use when you hire a career and technical education teacher.
Turning the benchmark into a posted range
Start with your state or metro annual median from BLS, then set a range that covers the percentile band you are willing to pay for this pathway and this load. Write the pay, the duty day or year, and the lab or shop expectations in plain language so a candidate leaving industry can see the full assignment. Post the opening on ACTE Job Bank with that range attached.
Verify any license or credential the candidate lists with the body that issues it before the start date. Follow your district's or college's own clearance process. Under the laws enforced by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (accessed September 24, 2026), it is illegal to discriminate because of race, color, religion, sex (including transgender status, sexual orientation, and pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability, or genetic information; keep the posted range and the offer tied to the work and the BLS market figures. This guide is general information as of September 24, 2026, not legal advice.
If the same campus also staffs postsecondary labs, compare this secondary SOC with how much to pay a technical college instructor rather than copying one range onto both postings.
More hiring guides
FAQ
What is the median pay for a CTE teacher?
The national annual median is $66,270, according to BLS OEWS, May 2025, for Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School (SOC 25-2032).
Which states pay CTE teachers the most?
Washington has the highest annual median at $101,180, followed by Connecticut at $100,810 and Massachusetts at $98,020 (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
How should I set pay for a candidate coming from industry?
Weigh occupational skill, shop or lab competence, and classroom experience against the program of study you need staffed. A candidate who can run equipment safely, connect industry partners, and advise a student organization may sit higher in the BLS percentile spread than a candidate with similar years and a narrower skill set.
Does BLS report hourly or annual pay for this role?
Use the annual OEWS figures for this occupation. The national annual median is $66,270.
How do I set a pay range for the posting?
Start with your state's BLS annual median and the national percentile spread ($50,040 to $101,340), then set a range that matches the pathway, schedule, and extra duties. State pay, calendar, and lab or shop expectations plainly in the posting.
