SalaryExplorer

SOC 25-2059 · May 2025 · BLS OEWS

Special Education Teachers, All Other — Los Angeles

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA · 10 metro areas compared

$109,600 /year
4,230jobs in area
+43.1%vs US median

The median wage for Special Education Teachers, All Other in Los Angeles, CA is $109,600 per year, well above the national median of $76,580.

Wage distribution · annual

Shaded band holds the middle 50% of earners

US MEDIAN $76,58010TH$73,93025TH$95,860MEDIAN$109,60090TH$120,860

How pay has moved

$124,213$36,5382019202020212022202320242025$109,600
$61,610 in 2019 to $109,600 in 2025, +77.9% 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 more slowly than average

Change in jobs, 2024 to 2034
+1.1%
Openings per year
2,900
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 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA.

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 Special Education Teachers, All Other in Los Angeles, CA is $109,600 per year, well above the national median of $76,580. The gap of 43.1% is among the widest recorded for this occupation. Pay ranges from under $73,930 at the tenth percentile to more than $120,860 at the ninetieth, with the interquartile range running from $95,860 to $120,860.

The area has 4,230 jobs in this occupation, which works out to 0.7 of every thousand jobs. Salinas leads the state's metro areas for this occupation, at $112,900. Set against every other occupation measured in the same area, it ranks 145th of 740 by median pay.

Percentile breakdown

Annual wages by percentile · Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA · May 2025
PercentileAnnualvs US median
10th$73,930−3.5%
25th$95,860+25.2%
Median (50th)$109,600+43.1%
75th$120,860+57.8%
90th$120,860+57.8%
Mean$106,570+39.2%

Why the average earner is usually not a typical earner

Other metro areas in California

Median annual wage for Special Education Teachers, All Other, by metro area
#Metro areaMedianJobsRelative
1Salinas$112,900200
2Vallejo$110,000110
3Santa Maria$107,390140
4Visalia$107,190200
5Santa Rosa$106,650100
6San Luis Obispo$106,51050
7San Diego$102,870410
8Riverside$101,850580
9Modesto$101,03090
10Yuba City$100,02070

What the pay is worth locally

Prices in Los Angeles run 13.6% above the national average, so the median of $109,600 buys what $96,479 would elsewhere in the country. Measured that way the gap against the national median narrows to 26.0% above the national median in real terms.

Published median

$109,600as reported by BLS

Local price level

113.6US average = 100 · BEA 2024

Adjusted for local prices

$96,479US average = 100 · BEA 2024

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

Key takeaways

  • Median pay is $109,600 a year, 43.1% above the national median.
  • Published pay spans $73,930 to $120,860 between the tenth and ninetieth percentiles.
  • The area has 4,230 jobs in this occupation.
  • The highest-paying metro area covered is Salinas, at $112,900.

Frequently asked questions

What is the median wage for Special Education Teachers, All Other in Los Angeles, CA?

The median annual wage is $109,600, 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 $76,580, so pay in Los Angeles, CA is 43.1% higher. 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 Los Angeles, CA earns more than $120,860 per year. The ninetieth percentile is the highest figure the survey publishes.

What is the starting range?

The tenth percentile wage is $73,930 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 Salinas, at $112,900 per year.

How many jobs are there in this occupation here?

The survey estimates 4,230 jobs in this occupation in Los Angeles, CA. 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.