SalaryExplorer

SOC 25-2052 · May 2025 · BLS OEWS

Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School — Cincinnati

Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN · 10 metro areas compared

$64,430 /year
2,020jobs in area
−1.1%vs US median

At $64,430, median pay for Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School in Cincinnati, OH tracks the national median of $65,120 closely.

Wage distribution · annual

Shaded band holds the middle 50% of earners

US MEDIAN $65,12010TH$47,18025TH$56,270MEDIAN$64,43075TH$79,74090TH$95,940

How pay has moved

$66,555$57,2252019202020212022202320242025$64,430
$60,610 in 2019 to $64,430 in 2025, +6.3% 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
-1.8%
Openings per year
15,400
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 Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN.

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

At $64,430, median pay for Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School in Cincinnati, OH tracks the national median of $65,120 closely. The middle half of workers in this occupation earn between $56,270 and $79,740. The lowest tenth earn under $47,180, while the highest tenth earn more than $95,940.

The area has 2,020 jobs in this occupation, giving a location quotient of 1.09 — a measure of how concentrated the occupation is here relative to the country as a whole. Akron leads the state's metro areas for this occupation, at $76,760. Set against every other occupation measured in the same area, it ranks 258th of 647 by median pay.

Percentile breakdown

Annual wages by percentile · Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN · May 2025
PercentileAnnualvs US median
10th$47,180−27.5%
25th$56,270−13.6%
Median (50th)$64,430−1.1%
75th$79,740+22.5%
90th$95,940+47.3%
Mean$69,480+6.7%

Why the average earner is usually not a typical earner

Other metro areas in Ohio

Median annual wage for Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School, by metro area
#Metro areaMedianJobsRelative
1Akron$76,760540
2Springfield$76,580110
3Columbus$75,7102,330
4Dayton$75,240430
5Cleveland$73,630810
6Canton$72,440290
7Youngstown$70,780260
8Toledo$64,580790
9Lima$64,020140
10Mansfield$63,40070

What the pay is worth locally

Prices in Cincinnati run 4.6% below the national average, so the median of $64,430 goes as far as $67,537 would elsewhere in the country. Measured that way it compares to the national median at 3.7% above the national median in real terms.

Published median

$64,430as reported by BLS

Local price level

95.4US average = 100 · BEA 2024

Adjusted for local prices

$67,537US average = 100 · BEA 2024

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

Key takeaways

  • Median pay is $64,430 a year, 1.1% below the national median.
  • Published pay spans $47,180 to $95,940 between the tenth and ninetieth percentiles.
  • The area has 2,020 jobs in this occupation.
  • The highest-paying metro area covered is Akron, at $76,760.

Frequently asked questions

What is the median wage for Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School in Cincinnati, OH?

The median annual wage is $64,430, 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 $65,120, so pay in Cincinnati, OH is 1.1% 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 Cincinnati, OH earns more than $95,940 per year. The ninetieth percentile is the highest figure the survey publishes.

What is the starting range?

The tenth percentile wage is $47,180 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 Akron, at $76,760 per year.

How many jobs are there in this occupation here?

The survey estimates 2,020 jobs in this occupation in Cincinnati, OH. 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.