SalaryExplorer

SOC 25-2012 · May 2025 · BLS OEWS

Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education — Raleigh

Raleigh-Cary, NC · 10 metro areas compared

$57,410 /year
630jobs in area
−8.4%vs US median

The median wage for Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education in Raleigh, NC is $57,410 per year, 8.4% below the national median of $62,680.

Wage distribution · annual

Shaded band holds the middle 50% of earners

US MEDIAN $62,68010TH$43,24025TH$49,180MEDIAN$57,41075TH$61,42090TH$71,730

How pay has moved

$59,845$45,2352019202020212022202320242025$57,410
$54,300 in 2019 to $57,410 in 2025, +5.7% before inflation. BLS states that OEWS estimates are not designed for comparison across years: the occupational classification, the sampling frame and the survey method have all changed inside this window. Read the direction, not the exact difference.

The next ten years

Projected to decline

Change in jobs, 2024 to 2034
-1.6%
Openings per year
12,800
Typical entry-level education
Bachelor's degree

Includes jobs opened by workers leaving the occupation, not only new positions.

Projections are published nationally only. This is the outlook for the occupation across the United States, not a measurement for Raleigh-Cary, NC.

Projections are based on 2024 employment and run to 2034. The wages above are from the May 2025 survey, a separate BLS programme on a different release cycle, so the two are not two views of one dataset.

Salary overview

The median wage for Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education in Raleigh, NC is $57,410 per year, 8.4% below the national median of $62,680. Pay ranges from under $43,240 at the tenth percentile to more than $71,730 at the ninetieth, with the interquartile range running from $49,180 to $61,420.

Employment stands at 630, or 0.9 jobs per thousand held locally. Asheville leads the state's metro areas for this occupation, at $59,980. Set against every other occupation measured in the same area, it ranks 305th of 571 by median pay.

Percentile breakdown

Annual wages by percentile · Raleigh-Cary, NC · May 2025
PercentileAnnualvs US median
10th$43,240−31.0%
25th$49,180−21.5%
Median (50th)$57,410−8.4%
75th$61,420−2.0%
90th$71,730+14.4%
Mean$55,600−11.3%

Why the average earner is usually not a typical earner

Other metro areas in North Carolina

Median annual wage for Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education, by metro area
#Metro areaMedianJobsRelative
1Asheville$59,980110
2Charlotte$58,950520
3Greenville$56,16040
4Hickory$54,52060
5Greensboro$53,310100
6Winston-Salem$53,05090
7Burlington$52,46050
8Durham$50,320240
9Pinehurst$48,98030
10Fayetteville$47,680110

What the pay is worth locally

Prices in Raleigh sit close to the national average, so $57,410 is worth roughly its face value against pay elsewhere.

Published median

$57,410as reported by BLS

Local price level

98.2US average = 100 · BEA 2024

Adjusted for local prices

$58,462US average = 100 · BEA 2024

Why the state that pays most is usually not where pay goes furthest

Key takeaways

  • Median pay is $57,410 a year, 8.4% below the national median.
  • Published pay spans $43,240 to $71,730 between the tenth and ninetieth percentiles.
  • The area has 630 jobs in this occupation.
  • The highest-paying metro area covered is Asheville, at $59,980.

Frequently asked questions

What is the median wage for Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education in Raleigh, NC?

The median annual wage is $57,410, as of May 2025. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than that and half earn less.

Is that higher than the national average?

The national median for this occupation is $62,680, so pay in Raleigh, NC is 8.4% lower. These figures are medians, not averages: half of workers fall on each side.

What do the top earners make?

The top tenth of this occupation in Raleigh, NC earns more than $71,730 per year. The ninetieth percentile is the highest figure the survey publishes.

What is the starting range?

The tenth percentile wage is $43,240 per year. The survey measures wages actually paid rather than experience level, so this reflects the lowest-paid tenth rather than entry-level pay specifically.

Which area nearby pays the most?

The highest median for this occupation among the metro areas covered is in Asheville, at $59,980 per year.

How many jobs are there in this occupation here?

The survey estimates 630 jobs in this occupation in Raleigh, NC. Self-employed workers are not included.

Source and methodology

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 Wages are for wage-and-salary workers; self-employed workers are not included. Salary Explorer is an independent project. It is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics or any government agency. Full methodology.

Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education Salary in Raleigh, NC (2025): $57,410 Median | Salary Explorer