Elementary School Teacher

What Does a Professional in this Career Do?

An Elementary School Teacher teaches elementary school students, usually children ages 5 - 11 who are in kindergarten through fifth or sixth grade, in a public or private school. Teaches all subjects, including reading, writing, math, social studies and science, to one class throughout the school year. Plans curriculum and assesses student progress, manages student behavior and communicates with school parents. May specialize in teaching music, art or physical education, or teach students that are learning English, or work with students with learning disabilities or emotional and behavioral disorders.

Job Outlook

There were 4130 Elementary School Teacher job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 86258 in the United States.

In combination with other careers in the Elementary School Teacher industry, which includes the Elementary School Teacher career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:

Salary

Many new Elementary School Teacher jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.

National

The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $55,041.

State

The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $52,256.

Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Elementary School Teacher postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $49,511.

Education and Experience

Posted Elementary School Teacher jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.

Education Level	Percentage
Associate's Degree	4.8%
Bachelor's Degree	50.4%
Master's Degree	12.48%
Doctoral Degree	1.35%
Other	7.59%

Posted Elementary School Teacher jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.

Years of Experience	Percentage
0 to 2 years	69.9%
3 to 5 years	24.32%
6 to 8 years	1.59%
9+ years	4.19%

Skills

Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Elementary School Teacher positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.

Baseline Skills

A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.

Teaching (52.51%)
Communication (31.84%)
Planning (16.55%)
Writing (13.63%)
Mathematics (13.35%)
Interpersonal Communications (11.3%)
English Language (9.29%)
Problem Solving (8.5%)
Research (8.19%)
Leadership (7.97%)

Defining Skills

A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.

Primary Education (12.26%)
Lesson Planning (47.16%)

Necessary Skills

A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.

Curriculum Development (17.14%)
Learning Styles (14.54%)
Special Education (17.1%)
Classroom Management (22.95%)
Individualized Education Programs (IEP) (14.5%)

Distinguishing Skills

A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.

Small Group Instruction (7.32%)
Social Studies (7.51%)
Philosophy Of Education (5.36%)
Differentiated Instruction (10.46%)

Salary Boosting Skills

A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.

Small Group Instruction (100%)

Alternative Job Titles

Sometimes employers post jobs with Elementary School Teacher skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:

Elementary Teacher
Kindergarten Teacher
5th Grade Teacher
1st Grade Teacher
3rd Grade Teacher
4th Grade Teacher
2nd Grade Teacher
Pre-Kindergarten Teacher
2nd Grade Elementary Teacher

Similar Occupations

If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.

Common Employers

Here are the employers that have posted the most Elementary School Teacher jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.

United States

Swing Education (3943)
Clark County School District (1421)
Atlas Preparatory Academy (549)
Stepping Stones (544)
Pasco County Schools (458)
Sargent Rehabilitation Center (421)
National Heritage Academies (405)
Primrose School (401)
State Of West Virginia (349)
Aurora Public Schools (344)

North Carolina

Wake County Public Schools (282)
Union County Public Schools (153)
Cumberland County Schools (149)
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (133)
Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools (91)
National Heritage Academies (74)
Cabarrus County Schools (61)
Brunswick County Schools (56)
Klein Independent School District (54)
Gaston County Schools (53)

NC State Programs Relevant to this Career

If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!

All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.

Education and Training