Teaching kindergarten through 12th grade: every subject, from reading and calculus to welding, band, and agriculture.
Top pay: highest pay, longest training
Veteran Teacher in a Top-Paying District: Experienced teacher with a master's in one of the highest-paying school districts, where salary schedules reach $130k-$170k. Typical pay $120k.
Mid pay: solid pay, degree or apprenticeship
Master Teacher / Multi-Classroom Leader: Highly experienced teacher who keeps teaching while leading and coaching a team of other teachers, for significantly more pay. Typical pay $95k.
Elementary School Teacher: Teaches one class of kids all core subjects (reading, writing, math, science, and social studies). Typical pay $64k.
Kindergarten Teacher: Teaches 5- and 6-year-olds the basics of reading, counting, and being a student. Typical pay $63k.
Middle School Teacher: Teaches one or two subjects to students aged 11-14, a time of big changes. Typical pay $65k.
High School Teacher: Teaches a subject like math, English, science, or history to students in grades 9-12. Typical pay $65k.
High School Computer Science Teacher: Teaches programming, AP Computer Science, robotics, and cybersecurity to high school students. Typical pay $66k.
Gifted & Talented Teacher: Teaches advanced students with deeper, faster, more creative projects. Typical pay $65k.
Virtual / Online School Teacher: Teaches K-12 students who attend a full-time online public or charter school. Typical pay $60k.
High School Theater Teacher: Teaches acting, stagecraft, and theater history and directs school plays and musicals. Typical pay $65k.
Family & Consumer Sciences Teacher: Teaches middle or high school classes in cooking, nutrition, child development, sewing, and personal finance. Typical pay $65k.
Health Teacher: Teaches students about nutrition, mental health, substance use, safety, and growing up. Typical pay $65k.
Dual Language Immersion Teacher: Teaches regular school subjects like math and science in two languages, so students become bilingual. Typical pay $65k.
IB / Advanced Academics Coordinator: Runs a high school's International Baccalaureate or Advanced Placement program, from scheduling exams to training teachers. Typical pay $72k.
Bureau of Indian Education Teacher: Teaches at one of about 180 federally funded schools for Native American students, many on reservations, some with dorms for kids who live far away. Typical pay $60k.
School Mariachi Director: Teaches students to play violin, trumpet, guitarrón and vihuela and sing in a school mariachi band, especially in Texas and the Southwest. Typical pay $60k.
Starter: fastest way in
Teacher Resident / Apprentice Teacher: Aspiring teacher who learns by co-teaching full-time alongside a mentor teacher for a year while earning a degree or license, with a stipend. Typical pay $35k.
Substitute Teacher: Fills in for absent teachers, following their lesson plans and keeping class on track. Typical pay $38k.
Lunch & Recess Aide: Supervises students during lunch and recess to keep them safe and solve small conflicts. Typical pay $30k.
One-Room Schoolhouse Teacher: Teaches every grade from kindergarten to eighth in a single classroom at one of the remaining rural schools in places like Montana and Nebraska. Typical pay $45k.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.