Career
Career/technical education teachers, secondary school
Teach high schoolers trades and technical skills.
$66,270
Median pay
-0.4%
Job growth, 2025–35
6,400
Openings a year
Bachelor's degree
Typical education
4 years
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Instruct students individually and in groups, using various teaching methods, such as lectures, discussions, and demonstrations.
- Establish and enforce rules for behavior and procedures for maintaining order among students.
- Prepare materials and classroom for class activities.
- Observe and evaluate students' performance, behavior, social development, and physical health.
- Instruct students in the knowledge and skills required in a specific occupation or occupational field, using a systematic plan of lectures, discussions, audio-visual presentations, and laboratory, shop, and field studies.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on people & care, then information & systems?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Instruct students individually and in groups, using various teaching methods, such as lectures, discussions, and demonstrations.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Instructing, Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Learning Strategies.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
4 years of education after high school (bachelor's degree), for a median of $66,270 a year and 6,400 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- Teaching (by Subject)See the degree →
- Agricultural Teacher EducationCIP 13.1301
- Business and Innovation/Entrepreneurship Teacher EducationCIP 13.1303
- Family and Consumer Sciences/Home Economics Teacher EducationCIP 13.1308
- Technology Teacher Education/Industrial Arts Teacher EducationCIP 13.1309
- Sales and Marketing Operations/Marketing and Distribution Teacher EducationCIP 13.1310
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Career/Technical Education Teachers, Postsecondary$63,820 · -0.3%
- Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School$65,030 · -0.5%
- Instructional Coordinators$77,440 · +1.6%
- Special Education Teachers, Secondary School$74,260 · -0.2%
- Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education$72,040 · -0.2%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.