---
title: "Political Science Teacher, Postsecondary"
description: "Teach courses in political science, international affairs, and international relations. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/political-science-teacher-postsecondary"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Political Science Teacher, Postsecondary

**Category:** Educational Instruction and Library · **SOC code:** 25-1065 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 25-1065.00

Teach courses in political science, international affairs, and international relations. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research.

Also advertised as: Adjunct Professor; Assistant Professor; Associate Professor; Faculty Member; Government Professor; Instructor; Political Science Instructor; Political Science Professor.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $98,070 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** Not published by BLS
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $56,450 to $174,660, with the middle half between $73,260 and $129,130
- **Total US employment:** 16,970
- **Typical entry education:** Doctorate
- **Preparation required:** Considerable preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +2.5% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 1,500 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 22/100 — 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 16,970 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $56,450 |
| 25th | $73,260 |
| 50th (median) | $98,070 |
| 75th | $129,130 |
| 90th | $174,660 |
| Mean (average) | $108,100 |

### 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 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| MA | $128,150 | $121,174 | 920 |
| CA | $124,890 | $112,798 | 1,060 |
| NH | $124,110 | $119,148 | 90 |
| MT | $109,050 | $115,220 | Not published by BLS |
| VT | $107,490 | $109,731 | 80 |
| MI | $107,060 | $111,269 | 380 |
| MD | $105,630 | $100,639 | 370 |
| NY | $104,050 | $96,413 | 1,460 |
| DC | $102,310 | $93,093 | 1,120 |
| VA | $101,430 | $100,322 | 830 |
| RI | $101,320 | $99,061 | 170 |
| WA | $101,140 | $94,512 | 450 |
| IL | $100,700 | $100,742 | 460 |
| NJ | $100,260 | $92,147 | 650 |
| CT | $100,230 | $96,738 | 320 |

30 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 45 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/political-science-teacher-postsecondary/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/political-science-teacher-postsecondary.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 21,500 in the 2025–2035 base year to 22,000 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 500 jobs, or +2.5%. About as fast as average: 2.5% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 1,500 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:** Doctoral or professional degree (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Considerable preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **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 |
| --- | --- |
| Doctoral Degree | 96.5% |
| Master's Degree | 3.5% |

## What the work involves

- Keep abreast of developments in the field by reading current literature, talking with colleagues, and participating in professional conferences.
- Evaluate and grade students' class work, assignments, and papers.
- Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions.
- Plan, evaluate, and revise curricula, course content, course materials, and methods of instruction.
- Compile, administer, and grade examinations, or assign this work to others.
- Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts.
- Maintain student attendance records, grades, and other required records.
- Maintain regularly scheduled office hours to advise and assist students.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Speaking — importance 4.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.0 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 4.0 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 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Persuasion — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Service Orientation — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- English Language — importance 4.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Law and Government — importance 4.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Education and Training — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- History and Archeology — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Sociology and Anthropology — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Geography — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Written Comprehension — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Comprehension — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Expression — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Inductive Reasoning — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speech Clarity — importance 3.8 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), Investigative (I), Artistic (A).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| S — Social | 6.87 |
| I — Investigative | 5.47 |
| A — Artistic | 3.72 |
| E — Enterprising | 3.25 |
| C — Conventional | 3.02 |
| R — Realistic | 1.95 |

### 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) |
| --- | --- |
| ENFJ | 71.4 |
| ENFP | 70.5 |
| INFJ | 69.2 |
| INFP | 65.8 |
| ESFP | 58.2 |

Best-fitting types: ENFJ, ENFP, INFJ.

## Related occupations

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

- [Sociology Teacher, Postsecondary](https://nuecareer.com/careers/sociology-teacher-postsecondary) — median $84,290
- [Law Teacher, Postsecondary](https://nuecareer.com/careers/law-teacher-postsecondary) — median $128,500
- [Political Scientist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/political-scientist) — median $142,080
- [History Teacher, Postsecondary](https://nuecareer.com/careers/history-teacher-postsecondary) — median $83,820
- [Economics Teacher, Postsecondary](https://nuecareer.com/careers/economics-teacher-postsecondary) — median $123,920
- [Area, Ethnic, and Cultural Studies Teacher, Postsecondary](https://nuecareer.com/careers/area-ethnic-and-cultural-studies-teacher-postsecondary) — median $85,020
- [Philosophy and Religion Teacher, Postsecondary](https://nuecareer.com/careers/philosophy-and-religion-teacher-postsecondary) — median $80,260
- [Communications Teacher, Postsecondary](https://nuecareer.com/careers/communications-teacher-postsecondary) — median $78,580
- [Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Teacher, Postsecondary](https://nuecareer.com/careers/criminal-justice-and-law-enforcement-teacher-postsecondary) — median $76,590
- [Education Teacher, Postsecondary](https://nuecareer.com/careers/education-teacher-postsecondary) — median $75,350

## 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/political-science-teacher-postsecondary