Role hub · Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

Middle School 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.

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Updated Nov 2, 2026 · Data: BLS OEWS May 2025 · O*NET 31.0

Pay ladder · select a percentile

Median percentile pay

Half of middle school teachers earn more than this and half earn less.

Annual: $64,370
Hourly: Annual pay only (BLS)
Source: BLS May 2025

Quick answer

Middle School Teachers teach one or more subjects to students at the middle, intermediate, or junior high school level. The median pay is $64,370 a year (BLS, May 2025). The most commonly reported education requirement is a bachelor's degree (67% of workers surveyed by O*NET).

Median pay: $64,370; BLS May 2025
Employed in the U.S.: 620,090; BLS May 2025
Preparation: Job Zone 4 of 5; considerable preparation
Most common education: Bachelor's Degree; 67% of workers

Data Government data groups this job as Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education (O*NET-SOC 25-2022.00). Figures on this page are for that occupation.

Key facts

Middle School Teachers at a glance

Workers in the BLS occupation “Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education” in the United States earned a median annual wage of $64,370 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 bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education for workers in the BLS occupation “Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education” in the United States.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
BLS projects employment of workers in the BLS occupation “Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education” in the United States to decline 0.4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 38,800 openings a year on average, including replacement openings.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
BLS estimates that less than 0.5% of middle school teachers, except special and career/technical education in the United States had the ability to telework in 2025, a preliminary estimate of whether the job allows it, not a count of remote jobs.
Source: BLS Occupational Requirements Survey, 2025 preliminary

Explore the role

Every page for Middle School Teachers

SalaryMiddle School Teacher salary

Pay by percentile, state and metro, with a negotiation script.

Open →How to becomeMiddle School Teacher how to become

Education, training and the skills to build first.

Open →Interview questionsMiddle School Teacher interview questions

Questions with what they test, plus practice mode.

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The work

What middle school teachers do day to day

Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).

Prepare materials and classrooms for class activities.
Observe and evaluate students' performance, behavior, social development, and physical health.
Instruct through lectures, discussions, and demonstrations in one or more subjects, such as English, mathematics, or social studies.
Prepare, administer, and grade tests and assignments to evaluate students' progress.
Establish and enforce rules for behavior and procedures for maintaining order among students.
Establish clear objectives for all lessons, units, and projects, and communicate these objectives to students.
Assign lessons and correct homework.
Assist students who need extra help, such as by tutoring and preparing and implementing remedial programs.

Job requirements

What the job requires

Data BLS figures for middle school teachers, except special and career/technical education (SOC 25-2022), 2025 preliminary BLS Occupational Requirements Survey.

Telework available: less than 0.5%; of workers had the ability to telework
Workday sitting: 35.1%; mean share of the day required to sit
Most common strength level: Light; 96.6% of workers
Can pause work: 23.1%; of workers could take short, unscheduled breaks
Self-paced workload: 14.7%; of workers set their own workload
Employer-changed schedules: 24.7%; of workers had schedules changed by the employer week to week

On TryHired lists: Jobs that don't require experience.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Requirements Survey. Estimates are preliminary; ranges are shown as published.

Where this career works

Industries that employ it

Data Share of all middle school teacher jobs in each industry, 2025 (BLS Employment Matrix).

Educational services; state, local, and private98.9% of all jobs in this occupation · -0.3% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $72,050
Religious, grantmaking, civic, professional, and similar organizations0.7% of all jobs in this occupation · +1.4% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $61,370
Nursing and residential care facilities0.0% of all jobs in this occupation · +4.9% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $54,340
Social assistance0.0% of all jobs in this occupation · +2.2% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $59,300

Sources: BLS 2025–35 National Employment Matrix (share of the occupation's jobs, projected change) and BLS OEWS May 2025 industry estimates (mean wage). Different industry estimates are not a pay forecast for any person.

Skills that matter

Ranked by importance to the job

Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.

InstructingcoreLearning StrategiescoreSpeakingcoreActive ListeningSocial PerceptivenessReading ComprehensionWritingActive LearningMonitoring

Knowledge areas: Education and Training, English Language, Philosophy and Theology, Mathematics, Psychology, Computers and Electronics.

Tools and technology

Software middle school teachers use

Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.

FacebookWeb page creation and editing softwareHot technology
Apple Final Cut ProVideo creation and editing software
AppletreeComputer based training software
Children's educational softwareComputer based training software
ClassTagDesktop communications software
Common CurriculumComputer based training software
DesmosAnalytical or scientific software
EdmodoDesktop communications software
FlipgridVideo creation and editing software
Google DriveCloud-based data access and sharing software
JamBoardGraphics or photo imaging software
Kahoot!Multi-media educational software

Also called: Art Teacher, English Teacher, Language Arts Teacher (LA Teacher), Math Teacher (Mathematics Teacher), Music Teacher.

Method

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.

What this page can't tell you

How a specific employer defines the job.
Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.

Sources

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.