Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School

Median salary

$66,270

Average salary

$72,680

Employment

111,420

Projected growth

1.8% decline

Annual openings

6,200

Typical entry education

Bachelor's degree

What Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School Do

Teach occupational, vocational, career, or technical subjects to students at the secondary school level.

See full salary breakdown & percentiles →

Career Outlook

National employment outlook, 2024–2034.

Related work experience: Less than 5 years
On-the-job training: None
Self-employed: Not available

Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.

How Much Preparation Does This Take?

Job Zone 4 of 5

Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed

Experience: A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations.
Education: Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
Job training: Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Source: O*NET Job Zones.

Key Knowledge Areas

Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.

Education and Trainingimportance 4.5/5
English Languageimportance 4.0/5
Computers and Electronicsimportance 3.8/5
Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 3.5/5
Public Safety and Securityimportance 3.3/5
Administration and Managementimportance 3.3/5
Mathematicsimportance 3.1/5
Psychologyimportance 3.1/5

Work Environment

What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.

E-Mail4.8/5
Contact With Others4.5/5
Public Speaking4.5/5
Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams4.4/5
Frequency of Decision Making4.4/5
Determine Tasks, Priorities and Goals4.1/5

Careers With Similar Skills

Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.

Occupational Therapy Assistants96% skill match
Medical Assistants96% skill match
Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric95% skill match
Community Health Workers95% skill match
Animal Control Workers95% skill match
First-Line Supervisors of Gambling Services Workers95% skill match
First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers95% skill match
Tellers95% skill match

Transferable Skills

Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.

Instructingimportance 4.5/5
Social Perceptivenessimportance 4.0/5
Coordinationimportance 3.9/5
Service Orientationimportance 3.8/5
Complex Problem Solvingimportance 3.8/5
Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 3.8/5
Time Managementimportance 3.6/5
Persuasionimportance 3.1/5

Software & Technologies

Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.

Hot Technologies

Other Software Used

Work Style

Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.

Dependability
Cooperation
Social Orientation
Optimism
Integrity
Empathy
Stress Tolerance

Career Interests

This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.

SocialHigh
ConventionalMedium
ArtisticMedium
InvestigativeMedium
RealisticLow
EnterprisingLow

This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.

Where This Career Is Most Concentrated

Metro areas where career/technical education teachers, secondary school make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).