Teacher salary in Tennessee: what each kind of teacher earns.
There is no single teacher wage. Here is the BLS median for each kind of teacher in Tennessee, how many people do the work there, and how it compares with the national figure.
$29,500 – $63,300
Range of medians across the 14 teacher occupations BLS publishes for Tennessee. No BLS figure combines them.
BLS publishes no single “teacher” wage for Tennessee. Across the 14 teacher occupations with a published May 2025 median in Tennessee, median annual pay ran from $29,500 (“substitute teachers, short-term”) to $63,300 (“special education teachers, all other”). “Elementary school teachers, except special education”, the largest of them in Tennessee (28,240 employed), earned a median of $59,980, compared with $63,970 nationally.
Teachers in Tennessee at a glance
“Elementary school teachers, except special education” are the largest teacher occupation with a published median in Tennessee, with 28,240 employed and a median annual wage of $59,980 in May 2025 (BLS).
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
Among the teacher occupations with a published median in Tennessee, “special education teachers, all other” had the highest: $63,300 (May 2025, BLS).
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
None of the 14 teacher occupations with a published median in Tennessee were paid above their own national median in May 2025 (BLS).
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
Nationally, BLS publishes a median of $63,250 for its preschool, elementary, middle, secondary, and special education teachers group; BLS publishes no state figure for that group, so this page shows each occupation separately.
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
What each kind of teacher earns in Tennessee
Data One row per BLS occupation with a published state median, sorted by median annual pay. Hourly pay is shown only where BLS publishes it.
| Occupation (BLS title) | Median annual pay, Tennessee | Median hourly | Employed in Tennessee | National median | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Special Education Teachers, All Other | $63,300 | annual only | 180 | $76,580 | -17% vs national |
| Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School | $62,560 | annual only | 3,910 | $65,120 | -4% vs national |
| Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School | $61,950 | annual only | 110 | $65,030 | -5% vs national |
| Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education | $61,860 | annual only | 21,230 | $72,040 | -14% vs national |
| Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School | $61,700 | annual only | 2,940 | $66,270 | -7% vs national |
| Special Education Teachers, Secondary School | $61,360 | annual only | 2,010 | $74,260 | -17% vs national |
| Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education | $60,690 | annual only | 13,060 | $64,370 | -6% vs national |
| Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors | $60,340 | $29.01 | 240 | $61,540 | -2% vs national |
| Special Education Teachers, Middle School | $60,000 | annual only | 1,310 | $66,810 | -10% vs national |
| Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education | $59,980 | annual only | 28,240 | $63,970 | -6% vs national |
| Special Education Teachers, Preschool | $59,550 | annual only | 330 | $64,830 | -8% vs national |
| Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education | $58,070 | annual only | 2,740 | $62,680 | -7% vs national |
| Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education | $34,280 | $16.48 | 5,420 | $38,140 | -10% vs national |
| Substitute Teachers, Short-Term | $29,500 | $14.18 | 7,690 | $41,670 | -29% vs national |
How this page is built
Pay and employment are BLS OEWS state estimates for Tennessee, May 2025, for each BLS detailed occupation on the national Teachers page. BLS publishes no teacher-wide state figure; nothing on this page is averaged or combined by TryHired. “Difference” compares each occupation's state median with its own national median. Top-coded medians (BLS “#”) are shown as “$239,200 a year or more”, never as a number.
- Pay at a specific employer, hospital system, union contract or school district.
- Pay in a specific city: metro figures differ from the state median.
- Licensing rules in Tennessee.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).