SalaryExplorer

SOC 25-2058 · May 2025 · BLS OEWS

Special Education Teachers, Secondary School — Kalamazoo

Kalamazoo-Portage, MI · 9 metro areas compared

$79,330 /year
70jobs in area
+6.8%vs US median

At $79,330, median pay for Special Education Teachers, Secondary School in Kalamazoo, MI tracks the national median of $74,260 closely.

Wage distribution · annual

Shaded band holds the middle 50% of earners

US MEDIAN $74,26010TH$47,98025TH$62,770MEDIAN$79,33090TH$100,280

How pay has moved

$83,938$56,2932019202020212022202320242025$79,330
$66,240 in 2019 to $79,330 in 2025, +19.8% 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
11,100
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 Kalamazoo-Portage, MI.

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 $79,330, median pay for Special Education Teachers, Secondary School in Kalamazoo, MI tracks the national median of $74,260 closely. Pay ranges from under $47,980 at the tenth percentile to more than $100,280 at the ninetieth, with the interquartile range running from $62,770 to $98,420.

Employment stands at 70, or 0.6 jobs per thousand held locally. Within the state, Monroe records the highest median at $82,450. Of the 346 occupations with published wages in this area, it sits 72nd.

Percentile breakdown

Annual wages by percentile · Kalamazoo-Portage, MI · May 2025
PercentileAnnualvs US median
10th$47,980−35.4%
25th$62,770−15.5%
Median (50th)$79,330+6.8%
75th$98,420+32.5%
90th$100,280+35.0%
Mean$78,080+5.1%

Why the average earner is usually not a typical earner

Other metro areas in Michigan

Median annual wage for Special Education Teachers, Secondary School, by metro area
#Metro areaMedianJobsRelative
1Monroe$82,45050
2Detroit$81,5201,230
3Lansing$76,870110
4Saginaw$74,56050
5Flint$74,37070
6Muskegon$70,54050
7Niles$69,15030
8Ann Arbor$68,27080
9Grand Rapids$65,060280

What the pay is worth locally

Prices in Kalamazoo run 5.2% below the national average, so the median of $79,330 goes as far as $83,681 would elsewhere in the country. Measured that way it compares to the national median at 12.7% above the national median in real terms.

Published median

$79,330as reported by BLS

Local price level

94.8US average = 100 · BEA 2024

Adjusted for local prices

$83,681US average = 100 · BEA 2024

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

Key takeaways

  • Median pay is $79,330 a year, 6.8% above the national median.
  • Published pay spans $47,980 to $100,280 between the tenth and ninetieth percentiles.
  • The area has 70 jobs in this occupation.
  • The highest-paying metro area covered is Monroe, at $82,450.

Frequently asked questions

What is the median wage for Special Education Teachers, Secondary School in Kalamazoo, MI?

The median annual wage is $79,330, 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 $74,260, so pay in Kalamazoo, MI is 6.8% 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 Kalamazoo, MI earns more than $100,280 per year. The ninetieth percentile is the highest figure the survey publishes.

What is the starting range?

The tenth percentile wage is $47,980 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 Monroe, at $82,450 per year.

How many jobs are there in this occupation here?

The survey estimates 70 jobs in this occupation in Kalamazoo, MI. 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.