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Role hub · Substitute Teachers, Short-Term

Substitute 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.

Maid DizdarevicCareer coach · 8x LinkedIn Top Voice
Updated Oct 24, 2026 · Data: BLS OEWS May 2025 · O*NET 31.0
Pay ladder · select a percentile
Median percentile pay

Half of substitute teachers earn more than this and half earn less.

Annual
$41,670
Hourly
$20.03
Source
BLS May 2025
Quick answer

Substitute Teachers teach students on a short-term basis as a temporary replacement for a regular classroom teacher, typically using the regular teacher's lesson plan. The median pay is $41,670 a year ($20.03 an hour) (BLS, May 2025). The most commonly reported education requirement is a bachelor's degree (40% of workers surveyed by O*NET).

Median pay
$41,670
BLS May 2025
Employed in the U.S.
524,770
BLS May 2025
Preparation
Job Zone 4 of 5
considerable preparation
Most common education
Bachelor's Degree
40% of workers

Data Government data groups this job as Substitute Teachers, Short-Term (O*NET-SOC 25-3031.00). Figures on this page are for that occupation.

Explore the role

Every page for Substitute Teachers

SalarySubstitute Teacher salary

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

Open →How to becomeSubstitute Teacher how to become

Education, training and the skills to build first.

Open →ResumeSubstitute Teacher resume

Keywords, bullet formulas and the skills to prove.

Open →Interview questionsSubstitute Teacher interview questions

Questions with what they test, plus practice mode.

Open →Free toolCheck your resume

Parsed text, evidence per bullet, fixes first.

Open →
The work

What substitute teachers do day to day

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

  1. Enforce school and class rules to maintain order in the classroom.
  2. Answer students' questions.
  3. Follow lesson plans designed by absent teachers.
  4. Take class attendance and maintain attendance records.
  5. Supervise students during activities outside the classroom, such as recess, lunch, and field trips.
  6. Teach social skills to students, such as communication, conflict resolution, and etiquette.
  7. Tutor or assist students individually or in small groups.
  8. Distribute or collect tests or homework assignments.
Skills that matter

Ranked by importance to the job

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

Reading ComprehensioncoreActive ListeningcoreSpeakingcoreSocial PerceptivenessInstructingCritical ThinkingMonitoringTime ManagementWriting

Knowledge areas: English Language, Education and Training, Public Safety and Security, Customer and Personal Service.

Tools and technology

Software substitute teachers use

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

  • Common CurriculumComputer based training software
  • EasyCBMComputer based training software
  • EdmodoDesktop communications software
  • FlipgridVideo creation and editing software
  • Instructure CanvasComputer based training software
  • MoodleComputer based training software
  • NearpodMulti-media educational software
  • SchoologyComputer based training software
  • SeesawMulti-media educational software
  • Microsoft ExcelSpreadsheet softwareHot technology
  • Microsoft Office softwareOffice suite softwareHot technology
  • Microsoft OutlookElectronic mail softwareHot technology

Also called: Building Sub (Building Substitute), Building Sub Teacher (Building Substitute Teacher), Child Development Sub Teacher (Child Development Substitute Teacher), ESL Sub (English as a Second Language Substitute), HS Sub Teacher (High School Substitute Teacher), Pre-School Sub Teacher (Pre-School Substitute Teacher).

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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 correlation between the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level, subtract the average across all occupations, and correlate the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 or below means unrelated. 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
  1. 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.
  2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).