---
title: "Career/Technical Education Teacher, Secondary School"
description: "Teach occupational, vocational, career, or technical subjects to students at the secondary school level."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/career-technical-education-teacher-secondary-school"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Career/Technical Education Teacher, Secondary School

**Category:** Educational Instruction and Library · **SOC code:** 25-2032 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 25-2032.00

Teach occupational, vocational, career, or technical subjects to students at the secondary school level.

Also advertised as: Agricultural Education Teacher; Auto Technology Instructor (Automotive Technology Instructor); Career and Technical Education Teacher (CTE Teacher); Cosmetology Teacher; Family and Consumer Sciences Teacher (FACS Teacher); Instructor; Teacher; Technology Education Teacher.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $66,270 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** Not published by BLS
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $50,040 to $101,340, with the middle half between $60,590 and $80,060
- **Total US employment:** 111,420
- **Typical entry education:** Bachelor's
- **Preparation required:** Medium preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** -0.4% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 6,400 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 60/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 111,420 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $50,040 |
| 25th | $60,590 |
| 50th (median) | $66,270 |
| 75th | $80,060 |
| 90th | $101,340 |
| Mean (average) | $72,680 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| WA | $101,180 | $94,549 | 3,460 |
| CT | $100,810 | $97,298 | 1,910 |
| MA | $98,020 | $92,684 | 3,130 |
| NJ | $83,770 | $76,991 | 2,320 |
| RI | $81,820 | $79,996 | 90 |
| CA | $80,620 | $72,814 | 3,260 |
| NY | $79,820 | $73,962 | 7,610 |
| DE | $79,230 | $79,382 | 560 |
| OH | $79,230 | $85,401 | 5,130 |
| VT | $79,220 | $80,871 | 220 |
| GA | $78,760 | $81,792 | 1,680 |
| OR | $78,380 | $75,831 | 750 |
| MD | $78,320 | $74,620 | 690 |
| AK | $78,130 | $76,329 | 170 |
| ME | $78,050 | $80,422 | 170 |

35 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 50 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/career-technical-education-teacher-secondary-school/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/career-technical-education-teacher-secondary-school.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 110,500 in the 2025–2035 base year to 110,100 by the end of the cycle — a loss of 400 jobs, or -0.4%. Declining: -0.4% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 6,400 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** Bachelor's degree (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Medium preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** Less than 5 years.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** None.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| Bachelor's Degree | 40.1% |
| Master's Degree | 22.6% |
| Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree | 13.1% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 8.1% |
| High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) | 7.4% |
| Post-Baccalaureate Certificate | 4.3% |

## What the work involves

- Instruct students individually and in groups, using various teaching methods, such as lectures, discussions, and demonstrations.
- Prepare materials and classroom for class activities.
- Observe and evaluate students' performance, behavior, social development, and physical health.
- Establish clear objectives for all lessons, units, and projects, and communicate those objectives to students.
- Use computers, audio-visual aids, and other equipment and materials to supplement presentations.
- Guide and counsel students with adjustments, academic problems, or special academic interests.
- Prepare, administer, and grade tests and assignments to evaluate students' progress.
- Keep informed about trends in education and subject matter specialties.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Reading Comprehension — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Instructing — importance 4.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Service Orientation — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Persuasion — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Education and Training — importance 4.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Computers and Electronics — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Public Safety and Security — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Administration and Management — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Oral Expression — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Comprehension — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Comprehension — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speech Clarity — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Expression — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Social (S), Conventional (C), Artistic (A).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| S — Social | 7.00 |
| C — Conventional | 3.92 |
| A — Artistic | 3.46 |
| I — Investigative | 3.38 |
| R — Realistic | 2.86 |
| E — Enterprising | 2.52 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ESFJ | 70.9 |
| ENFJ | 70.7 |
| ESFP | 69.7 |
| ISFJ | 63.9 |
| ENFP | 62.8 |

Best-fitting types: ESFJ, ENFJ, ESFP.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Career/Technical Education Teacher, Postsecondary](https://nuecareer.com/careers/career-technical-education-teacher-postsecondary) — median $63,820
- [Career/Technical Education Teacher, Middle School](https://nuecareer.com/careers/career-technical-education-teacher-middle-school) — median $65,030
- [Instructional Coordinator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/instructional-coordinator) — median $77,440
- [Special Education Teacher, Secondary School](https://nuecareer.com/careers/special-education-teacher-secondary-school) — median $74,260
- [High School Teacher](https://nuecareer.com/careers/high-school-teacher) — median $72,040
- [Business Teacher, Postsecondary](https://nuecareer.com/careers/business-teacher-postsecondary) — median $99,080
- [Tutor](https://nuecareer.com/careers/tutor) — median $43,350
- [Family and Consumer Sciences Teacher, Postsecondary](https://nuecareer.com/careers/family-and-consumer-sciences-teacher-postsecondary) — median $75,870
- [Computer Science Teacher, Postsecondary](https://nuecareer.com/careers/computer-science-teacher-postsecondary) — median $96,980
- [Middle School Teacher](https://nuecareer.com/careers/middle-school-teacher) — median $64,370

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025–2035 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/career-technical-education-teacher-secondary-school