Teach three, four and five year olds how to be people. Meaningful work that the country underpays.
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Pay, the path, pros and cons and the facts on one printable page. Good for a wall or a guidance counsellor.
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What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Typical
$38,140
Starting in a child care center
$28,990
Public school pre-kindergarten
$61,390
The national median is $38,140 a year, and the bottom tenth start near $28,990. Say the hard part out loud: this is one of the lowest paid jobs in the country that asks for real training. The top of the range is almost all public school teachers on a district salary schedule.
About $14 to $17 an hour
A new assistant or lead teacher in a center
Many centers pay close to what a local warehouse or coffee shop pays. Some offer free or heavily discounted child care for your own children, which is worth thousands a year.
$50,000 to $61,000 and up
Pre-kindergarten teacher in a public school district
This is the single biggest pay move in the field. It needs a bachelor's degree and a state teaching license, and it brings a district salary schedule, a pension, summers off and health insurance.
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
The low end is the Child Development Associate credential, a few hundred dollars in fees plus about 120 hours of training, together with the fingerprinting and background check every state requires. Many centers and states pay for that credential on your behalf. The high end is a four year early childhood education degree at a public university in your own state. Given what the job pays, borrowing the full degree amount is hard to carry unless you are heading for a public school district.
File the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). A Pell Grant does not have to be repaid and often covers most of community college tuition. Be careful about borrowing heavily for a bachelor's degree here unless you are heading for a public school job, because the private center pay will not carry a big loan.
Free or discounted child care
The most valuable benefit in private centers, and it arrives exactly when you need it.
Public school pension and summers
District pre-kindergarten teachers are on the same contract as other teachers.
Public Service Loan Forgiveness
Teaching at a public school or a nonprofit Head Start program can count toward this program, which cancels the rest of your federal student loans after 10 years of qualifying payments.
State scholarship and wage supplement programs
Many states now pay bonuses or tuition for early childhood staff who finish a credential. Ask your state's child care agency what exists.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
There are two versions of this career with very different training and very different pay.
High school diploma
Grade 12
Babysit, work at a camp, volunteer in a church nursery. Real hours with small children are what get you hired.
Entry job plus a credential
About 1 year
Most people start as an assistant while working toward the CDA (Child Development Associate) credential: roughly 120 clock hours of training, several hundred hours of hands-on experience, a portfolio, an observation and an exam.
Associate degree, if you want to lead a classroom
2 years
A two-year early childhood education degree at a community college. Many Head Start and higher-quality centers require it for lead teachers.
Bachelor's degree, if you want a public school
4 years
A four-year early childhood education degree that includes student teaching.
State teaching license
Final year plus testing
Finish a state-approved preparation program and pass the state certification exams. In Texas, for example, that runs through an approved Educator Preparation Program and the Texas Education Agency.
Child development or family studies
If your school offers it, take it. Some programs even start the credential hours.
Psychology
How small children learn, and why they melt down.
English
You will read aloud all day and write notes home to families every week.
Spanish or another second language
Bilingual preschool teachers are wanted everywhere and often paid extra.
Every state licenses child care centers and sets the minimum qualifications for the adults in the room, so there is always some rule you have to meet, but the rules differ a lot from state to state. A public school pre-kindergarten teacher needs a full state teaching license, the same as a third grade teacher. Federally funded Head Start programs set their own floor and expect lead teachers to hold an early childhood degree or credential. A private center in a state with light rules may hire you with a high school diploma, a background check and a first aid card.
Community colleges
Nearly every community college in the country runs early childhood certificates and associate degrees, usually in the evening so you can keep working.
State universities
Four-year early childhood education degrees that lead to a state teaching license.
Registered apprenticeship
There is a registered apprenticeship title for Early Childhood Educator, so in some states you can earn wages while a sponsor pays for your training.
On the job in a center
Many centers will pay for your credential if you commit to staying. Get that in writing.
Things you don't need, but that help.
A state teaching license
The route into a public school district and the biggest single raise available.
Special education endorsement
Early childhood special education roles are short-staffed almost everywhere and paid better.
Bilingual certification
Districts and Head Start programs pay stipends for it.
Montessori certification
A separate training route, typically one to two years, that Montessori schools require and pay for.
Director credential
Running a center. More money, more paperwork, fewer hours on the carpet.
CPR and pediatric first aid
Required in most states anyway, and cheap to get before you apply.
Camp or babysitting experience
Managing ten four year olds at once is a skill and directors can tell who has done it.
Patience with mess and noise
It is loud, sticky and wet. That is not an exaggeration.
A clean background check
Fingerprinting is mandatory and a disqualifying record will end this career before it starts.
Plenty of experienced preschool teachers open a licensed family child care home, caring for a small group of children in their own house. The state licenses the home, caps the number of children, and inspects it. You set your own rates and keep what is left after expenses, which can beat center pay, but you are now also running a small business and your living room is the classroom.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
Doors open around 7am. Greet families, take temperatures, settle the criers. Then circle time, centers, a snack, outside play, a story, lunch, nap, and a second round of activities before pickup. Threaded through all of it: wiping noses, settling fights over one particular toy, changing clothes after an accident, and writing quick notes for parents. You are on your feet, usually on the floor, and rarely alone.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
Federal occupation data counts about 555,100 preschool teachers in the United States, with roughly 65,500 openings projected each decade as people leave the field. Turnover, not growth, drives most of the hiring.
Head Start began in 1965 as an eight-week summer program for children from low income families and became a permanent federal program. It is still one of the largest employers of preschool teachers in the country.
Early Childhood Educator is a registered apprenticeship title with the Department of Labor, which means in some states a sponsor pays your wages and your coursework while you learn in a real classroom.
Researchers who study early development point out that the vast majority of the brain's physical growth happens in the first five years. That is the reason this job exists, and the reason people keep arguing about how much it should pay.
Last checked September 2026. Pay figures are typical full-time annual amounts in United States dollars, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data and published pay scales. They vary by state, employer and experience. Tuition is for in-state students at public schools unless the card says otherwise.