SalaryExplorer

SOC 25-2011 · May 2025 · BLS OEWS

Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education — Greenville

Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC · 6 metro areas compared

$34,620 /year
$16.64per hour
840jobs in area
−9.2%vs US median

The median wage for Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education in Greenville, SC is $34,620 per year, 9.2% below the national median of $38,140.

Wage distribution · annual

Shaded band holds the middle 50% of earners

US MEDIAN $38,14010TH$27,29025TH$29,840MEDIAN$34,62075TH$38,86090TH$47,960

How pay has moved

$38,190$16,7702019202020212022202320242025$34,620
$20,340 in 2019 to $34,620 in 2025, +70.2% 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 grow about as fast as average

Change in jobs, 2024 to 2034
+4.1%
Openings per year
65,500
Typical entry-level education
Associate'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 Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC.

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 Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education in Greenville, SC is $34,620 per year, 9.2% below the national median of $38,140. Pay ranges from under $27,290 at the tenth percentile to more than $47,960 at the ninetieth, with the interquartile range running from $29,840 to $38,860.

The area has 840 jobs in this occupation, which works out to 1.9 of every thousand jobs. Hilton Head Island leads the state's metro areas for this occupation, at $35,960. Set against every other occupation measured in the same area, it ranks 456th of 507 by median pay.

Percentile breakdown

Annual wages by percentile · Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC · May 2025
PercentileAnnualvs US median
10th$27,290−28.4%
25th$29,840−21.8%
Median (50th)$34,620−9.2%
75th$38,860+1.9%
90th$47,960+25.7%
Mean$36,000−5.6%

Why the average earner is usually not a typical earner

Other metro areas in South Carolina

Median annual wage for Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education, by metro area
#Metro areaMedianJobsRelative
1Hilton Head Island$35,960160
2Charleston$35,710870
3Spartanburg$34,290350
4Myrtle Beach$33,100410
5Florence$31,600140
6Columbia$31,510560

What the pay is worth locally

Prices in Greenville run 6.7% below the national average, so the median of $34,620 goes as far as $37,106 would elsewhere in the country. Measured that way it compares to the national median at 2.7% below the national median in real terms.

Published median

$34,620as reported by BLS

Local price level

93.3US average = 100 · BEA 2024

Adjusted for local prices

$37,106US average = 100 · BEA 2024

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

Key takeaways

  • Median pay is $34,620 a year, 9.2% below the national median.
  • Published pay spans $27,290 to $47,960 between the tenth and ninetieth percentiles.
  • The area has 840 jobs in this occupation.
  • The highest-paying metro area covered is Hilton Head Island, at $35,960.

Frequently asked questions

What is the median wage for Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education in Greenville, SC?

The median annual wage is $34,620, or $16.64 per hour, 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 $38,140, so pay in Greenville, SC is 9.2% 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 Greenville, SC earns more than $47,960 per year. The ninetieth percentile is the highest figure the survey publishes.

What is the starting range?

The tenth percentile wage is $27,290 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 Hilton Head Island, at $35,960 per year.

How many jobs are there in this occupation here?

The survey estimates 840 jobs in this occupation in Greenville, SC. 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.

Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education Salary in Greenville, SC (2025): $34,620 Median | Salary Explorer