History Teacher: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.
The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.
10% of history teachers earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $48,410
- Hourly
- Annual pay only (BLS)
- Source
- BLS May 2025
25% of history teachers earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $63,920
- Hourly
- Annual pay only (BLS)
- Source
- BLS May 2025
Half of history teachers earn more than this and half earn less.
- Annual
- $83,820
- Hourly
- Annual pay only (BLS)
- Source
- BLS May 2025
75% of history teachers earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $112,090
- Hourly
- Annual pay only (BLS)
- Source
- BLS May 2025
90% of history teachers earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $162,160
- Hourly
- Annual pay only (BLS)
- Source
- BLS May 2025
History Teachers teach courses in human history and historiography. The median pay is $83,820 a year (BLS, May 2025).
- Median pay
- $83,820
- BLS May 2025
- Employed in the U.S.
- 18,790
- BLS May 2025
- Preparation
- Job Zone 5 of 5
- extensive preparation
Data Government data groups this job as History Teachers, Postsecondary (O*NET-SOC 25-1125.00). Figures on this page are for that occupation.
History Teachers at a glance
Workers in the BLS occupation “History Teachers, Postsecondary” in the United States earned a median annual wage of $83,820 in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
In its 2025–35 employment projections, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a doctoral or professional degree as the typical entry-level education for workers in the BLS occupation “History Teachers, Postsecondary” in the United States.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
BLS projects employment of workers in the BLS occupation “History Teachers, Postsecondary” in the United States to show no change (0.0%) from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,500 openings a year on average, including replacement openings.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
BLS estimated that 18,790 people were employed in the BLS occupation “History Teachers, Postsecondary” in the United States in May 2025, not counting the self-employed.
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
Every page for History Teachers
What history teachers do day to day
Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).
- Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts.
- Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as ancient history, postwar civilizations, and the history of third-world countries.
- Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions.
- Keep abreast of developments in the field by reading current literature, talking with colleagues, and participating in professional conferences.
- Conduct research in a particular field of knowledge and publish findings in professional journals, books, or electronic media.
- Compile, administer, and grade examinations, or assign this work to others.
- Evaluate and grade students' class work, assignments, and papers.
- Maintain student attendance records, grades, and other required records.
Ranked by importance to the job
Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.
Knowledge areas: History and Archeology, English Language, Education and Training, Law and Government, Geography, Sociology and Anthropology.
Software history teachers use
Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.
- Learning management system LMSComputer based training softwareIn demand
- Blackboard LearnComputer based training software
- Course management system softwareComputer based training software
- DOC CopInformation retrieval or search software
- Desire2Learn LMS softwareComputer based training software
- Geographic information system GIS softwareGeographic information system
- Image scanning softwareOptical character reader OCR or scanning software
- Map building softwareMap creation software
- MoodleComputer based training software
- Sakai CLEComputer based training software
- iParadigms TurnitinInformation retrieval or search software
- Microsoft ExcelSpreadsheet softwareIn demand
Also called: Adjunct History Instructor, Adjunct Instructor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, History Instructor, History Professor.
How this page is built
Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the cosine similarity of the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level and subtract the average across all occupations, then compare the direction of the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 means unrelated or opposite (negative values are shown as 0). Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.
- How a specific employer defines the job.
- Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
- Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).
How TryHired builds this data: sources, methods and downloads. Spotted an error? Report a correction.