Special Education Teacher salary

Quoted Experts
Patricia Rogan Ph.D.,
Dr. Rachel Potter

Average special education teacher salary

$54,290

$26.1 hourly rate

Entry-level special education teacher salary
$39,000 yearly salary
Updated June 25, 2024

How much does a special education teacher make?

The average special education teacher salary in the United States is $54,290. Special education teacher salaries typically range between $39,000 and $73,000 yearly. The average hourly rate for special education teachers is $26.1 per hour.

Special education teacher salary is impacted by location, education, and experience. Special education teachers earn the highest average salary in Maryland.

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Special education teacher salary by: 

Where can a Special Education Teacher earn more?

Compare salary by location
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71k
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Columbus, OH$76,511
Lake Charles, LA$40,863
Compare salary by company
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Baltimore City Public Schools$79,153
Bonita Unified School District$66,540

Special Education Teacher salary estimates from across the web

Based on the latest salary information compiled by Zippia, Salary.com, Indeed, Glassdoor, Ziprecruiter, Comparably, Payscale and CareerExplorer, the average salary for a special education teacher typically falls between $48,268 and $69,902.
zippia
$54,290yearly
glassdoor[1]
$69,902yearly
indeed[2]
$60,212yearly
comparably[3]
$61,090yearly
Salary.com[4]
$62,441yearly
ZipRecruiter[5]
$61,098yearly
payscale[6]
$48,268yearly
CareerExplorer[7]
$53,317yearly

Average special education teacher salary by state

The highest-paying states for special education teachers are Maryland, Alaska, and Washington. The lowest average special education teacher salary states are Arizona, Louisiana, and Arkansas.

  • State View
  • County View
Average Salary:

Highest paying states for special education teachers

Rank
ascdesc
State
ascdesc
Avg. Salary
ascdesc
Hourly Rate
ascdesc
1Maryland$76,282$36.67
2Connecticut$60,497$29.09
3District of Columbia$70,901$34.09
4Wyoming$55,136$26.51
5New York$63,837$30.69
6New Jersey$59,716$28.71
7Washington$64,030$30.78
8Oregon$60,141$28.91
9Pennsylvania$54,260$26.09
10Alaska$75,943$36.51
11Illinois$53,005$25.48
12Nevada$49,544$23.82
13Delaware$55,178$26.53
14Ohio$50,996$24.52
15Michigan$49,911$24.00
16Massachusetts$58,846$28.29
17Rhode Island$55,311$26.59
18Nebraska$47,264$22.72
19Virginia$57,946$27.86
20California$61,205$29.43
21Kentucky$46,566$22.39
22Kansas$48,446$23.29
23Missouri$47,705$22.94
24North Dakota$50,480$24.27
25West Virginia$49,577$23.84
26New Hampshire$45,158$21.71
27Vermont$46,129$22.18
28Minnesota$46,953$22.57
29Georgia$49,447$23.77
30Florida$48,507$23.32
31Iowa$45,427$21.84
32Texas$45,510$21.88
33Colorado$44,431$21.36
34Wisconsin$44,153$21.23
35Tennessee$44,450$21.37
36Oklahoma$41,761$20.08
37New Mexico$42,128$20.25
38Hawaii$50,073$24.07
39Arizona$40,759$19.60
40Idaho$44,706$21.49
41Indiana$40,958$19.69
42Alabama$43,179$20.76
43South Carolina$41,739$20.07
44Montana$38,737$18.62
45North Carolina$42,212$20.29
46Utah$41,739$20.07
47Arkansas$39,241$18.87
48South Dakota$41,370$19.89
49Maine$38,878$18.69
50Louisiana$40,523$19.48
51Mississippi$38,081$18.31

Highest paying cities for special education teachers

The highest-paying cities for special education teachers are Baltimore, MD, Washington, DC, and Richmond, CA.

Rank
ascdesc
City
ascdesc
Avg. Salary
ascdesc
Hourly Rate
ascdesc
1Baltimore, MD$76,511$36.78
2Washington, DC$70,892$34.08
3Richmond, CA$66,364$31.91
4New York, NY$64,308$30.92
5Ashburn, VA$59,143$28.43
6Philadelphia, PA$54,645$26.27
7Chicago, IL$53,361$25.65
8Detroit, MI$50,193$24.13
9Savannah, GA$49,338$23.72
10Kansas City, KS$48,784$23.45
11Covington, KY$48,406$23.27
12Saint Louis, MO$48,243$23.19
13Minneapolis, MN$46,983$22.59
14Austin, TX$45,781$22.01
15Denver, CO$44,438$21.36
16Albuquerque, NM$42,224$20.30
17Columbia, SC$41,816$20.10
18Provo, UT$41,524$19.96
19Phoenix, AZ$40,921$19.67
20Lake Charles, LA$40,863$19.65

Special Education Teachers are the most in-demand in these five cities:

  1. Baltimore, MD
  2. Washington, DC
  3. Richmond, CA
  4. New York, NY
  5. Ashburn, VA

Special Education Teacher salary details

A special education teacher's salary ranges from $39,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $73,000 at the 90th percentile.

Average Special Education Teacher Salary Graph
Average Special Education Teacher Salary Graph, Trends, and Summary

What is a special education teacher's salary?

Percentile
ascdesc
Annual Salary
ascdesc
Monthly Salary
ascdesc
Hourly Rate
ascdesc
90th Percentile$73,000$6,083$35
75th Percentile$63,000$5,250$30
Average$54,290$4,524$26
25th Percentile$46,000$3,833$22
10th Percentile$39,000$3,250$19

Highest paying special education teacher jobs

The highest paying types of special education teachers are science teacher, student teacher, and special educator.

Job Title
ascdesc
Annual Salary
ascdesc
Monthly Salary
ascdesc
Hourly Rate
ascdesc
Job Openings
ascdesc
2nd Grade Teacher$46,850$3,904$22.5259,077
Teacher$47,989$3,999$23.0771,918
Elementary School Teacher$52,161$4,347$25.0884,607
Learning Support Teacher$33,914$2,826$16.30120,054
Long Term Substitute Teacher$42,808$3,567$20.5869,133
Resource Teacher$43,487$3,624$20.9173,796

How would you rate the starting salaries for Special Education Teachers, as well as the prospects for salary advancement?

Patricia Rogan Ph.D.

Professor, Special Education/Urban Teacher Education, Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis

Teacher salaries continue to grow, but they vary from state to state and district to district. According to the NEA, the average starting salary for beginning teachers in 2017-18 was $39,249. The average salary of all teachers in the U.S. was $61,730 in 2018-19, which was a 2.1% increase from the previous year. Despite COVID-19 and its impact on teachers, it is doubtful that teacher salaries will jump significantly in the years ahead (due to state economic challenges) unless teachers strike.

Which companies pay special education teachers the most?

Special education teacher salaries at Baltimore City Public Schools and Boston Public Schools are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average special education teacher salary at companies like Maxim Healthcare Group and Prince George's County Memorial Library System are highly competitive.

Wage gap by gender, race and education

$49,000$48,600$48,200$47,800$47,400$47,000
MaleFemale

Special Education Teacher salary trends

The average special education teacher salary has risen by $6,048 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average special education teacher earned $48,242 annually, but today, they earn $54,290 a year. That works out to a 6% change in pay for special education teachers over the last decade.

Compare special education teacher salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.

Average special education teacher salary over time

Compare special education teacher salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.

  • National Average
  • Columbus, OH

Special Education Teacher salary by year

Year
ascdesc
Avg. Salary
ascdesc
Hourly Rate
ascdesc
% Change
ascdesc
2024$54,300$26.10+0.3%
2023$54,100$26.03+1.8%
2022$53,200$25.57+1.3%
2021$52,500$25.23+2.7%
2020$51,100$24.56+2.2%

Recently added special education teacher salaries

Company
ascdesc
Job
ascdesc
Location
ascdesc
Date Added
ascdesc
Salary
ascdesc
Fairfield County School DistrictSpecial Education TeacherWinnsboro, SC10/02/2023$60,176
The Stepping Stones Group LLCSpecial Education TeacherSan Bruno, CA09/03/2023$93,915
The Stepping Stones Group LLCSpecial Education TeacherSan Bruno, CA09/03/2023$93,915
Allendale County School DistrictSpecial Education TeacherFairfax, SC09/02/2023$67,850
Colleton County School DistrictHigh School Special Education TeacherWalterboro, SC09/02/2023$44,370
Colleton County School DistrictSpecial Education TeacherWalterboro, SC09/02/2023$44,370
Noxubee County School DistrictSpecial Education TeacherMacon, MS09/01/2023$46,373
Albuquerque School of ExcellenceSpecial Education TeacherAlbuquerque, NM08/02/2023$54,777
Seneca Family of AgenciesSpecial Education TeacherOakland, CA07/05/2023$66,799
New Story SchoolsSpecial Education Teacher High School Autism SupportReading, PA07/03/2023$60,000

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