Career/Technical Education Teacher, Postsecondary Salary (2026), outlook and how to become one

Career/Technical Education Teachers, Postsecondary earn a median of $63,820 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025), 25% above the $50,980 US median across all occupations. That works out at $30.68/hr. The middle half earn between $50,320 and $82,360. The top 10% earn $108,620 or more.

The median hourly wage for career/technical education teachers, postsecondary is $30.68 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). On a full-year basis the $63,820 annual median works out to about $5,320 a month before tax.

BLS does not publish a starting salary. The nearest measure is the low end of the pay range: the lowest-paid 10% of career/technical education teachers, postsecondary earn less than $41,960 a year and the bottom quarter less than $50,320 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). New workers often start near that end, but where a particular job starts depends on the employer, the state and the credentials you bring, so read these as the bottom of the range rather than a guaranteed entry wage.

A minority do. $100,000 sits between the 75th percentile ($82,360) and the 90th ($108,620), so roughly 10% to 25% of career/technical education teachers, postsecondary earn more than that (BLS OEWS, May 2025). No state's median reaches $100,000; the highest is Wisconsin at $82,620.

The highest state medians for Career/Technical Education Teachers, Postsecondary are Wisconsin ($82,620), South Carolina ($79,610), Massachusetts ($78,780) (BLS OEWS, May 2025).

BLS does not split career/technical education teachers, postsecondary' pay by specialty or employer, but its range shows how far the top end runs: the highest-paid 10% earn more than $108,620, against a median of $63,820 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Location moves pay the most in the published data: the best-paying states are Wisconsin ($82,620), South Carolina ($79,610), Massachusetts ($78,780).

Yes. BLS reports a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education for Career/Technical Education Teachers, Postsecondary, and O*NET rates the preparation needed as medium preparation. Employers typically expect less than 5 years of related work experience first. In O*NET's survey of people already doing the job, 42.3% hold associate's degree or other 2-year degree.

BLS does not publish a fixed length; it depends on the route. What it does publish: the typical way in for career/technical education teachers is a bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of work experience in a related occupation. O*NET classes the work as needing medium preparation.

No. BLS projects employment to fall 0.3% over 2025–2035, a loss of 400 jobs (BLS EP, 2025–2035). BLS still projects about 8,000 openings a year, mostly from workers retiring or moving to other work.

Career and technical education (CTE) teachers provide training in subjects such as auto repair, cosmetology, and culinary arts. A core O*NET task: present lectures and conduct discussions to increase students' knowledge and competence using visual aids, such as graphs, charts, videotapes, and slides. Employers most often ask for Electronic mail software, Office suite software, Presentation software.

Most work fewer than 40. In O*NET's survey of people in the job, 29% of career/technical education teachers, postsecondary usually work more than 40 hours a week, 26% work exactly 40 and 46% work fewer. 77% say their schedule is regular and 19% irregular. Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, Work Context.

O*NET scores Career/Technical Education Teachers, Postsecondary highest on the Social, Investigative and Realistic interest areas, so the work mixes teaching, helping and working directly with other people with investigating, analysing and solving problems with ideas and data. On NueCareer's MBTI-to-interest mapping the closest types are ISFP, ESFP, ISFJ. Personality is a fit signal, not a gate. The free NueCareer quiz scores your own profile against all 1,731 careers in the bank.