Teacher salary in San Diego, CA
What teachers are paid in San Diego, CA, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with how your own pay compares. Figures from the BLS OEWS release dated May 2025.
Median annual pay
$97,000
Middle half earn
$75,030 to $110,420
People in this job here
11,340
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Elementary School Teachers, San Diego, CA, annual pay, May 2025
- 10th percentile
- $62,140
- 25th percentile
- $75,030
- Median
- $97,000
- 75th percentile
- $110,420
- 90th percentile
- $123,450
Elementary, except special education. Middle and high school are separate codes with similar medians.
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 25-2021. Percentiles across everyone employed in the occupation, not experience levels.
At a glance
How San Diego, CA compares
- The median here is 52% above the national median of $63,970.
- San Diego, CA ranks 8th for median pay among the 50 largest US metros with published figures for this occupation.
- About 11,340 people work in this occupation here, roughly 1 in every 136 jobs in the metro.
- Pay varies widely within the job: the 90th percentile earns 2 times the 10th.
Worked from BLS OEWS, May 2025. Not adjusted for the cost of living.
| Percentile | San Diego, CA | National |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $62,140 | $47,960 |
| 25th percentile | $75,030 | $57,710 |
| Median | $97,000 | $63,970 |
| 75th percentile | $110,420 | $81,450 |
| 90th percentile | $123,450 | $104,340 |
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 25-2021. National page for teachers
By metro
Other metros for teachers
Median annual pay in the largest US metros where BLS published figures for this occupation, highest first, May 2025.
- Sacramento, CA$103,390
- Seattle, WA$102,920
- San Jose, CA$102,860
- Los Angeles, CA$101,860
- San Francisco, CA$101,860
- Riverside, CA$98,520
- Boston, MA$98,060
- New York, NY$96,900
- Providence, RI$86,720
- Portland, OR$82,330
- Hartford, CT$79,800
- Minneapolis, MN$79,730
- Washington, DC$79,470
- Philadelphia, PA$78,570
- Chicago, IL$78,390
- Columbus, OH$78,150
- Salt Lake City, UT$77,920
- Denver, CO$76,910
- Atlanta, GA$76,570
- Pittsburgh, PA$76,550
- Buffalo, NY$76,490
- Cleveland, OH$76,470
- Baltimore, MD$76,400
- Detroit, MI$65,210
- Dallas, TX$65,070
- Las Vegas, NV$65,040
- Cincinnati, OH$64,740
- Houston, TX$64,500
- Virginia Beach, VA$63,380
- Grand Rapids, MI$61,900
- San Antonio, TX$61,720
- Louisville/Jefferson County, KY$61,610
- Memphis, TN$61,510
- Milwaukee, WI$61,480
- Nashville, TN$61,460
- Richmond, VA$61,290
- Austin, TX$61,270
- Jacksonville, FL$61,080
- Kansas City, MO$61,060
- St. Louis, MO$60,650
- Indianapolis, IN$60,510
- Orlando, FL$60,190
- Raleigh, NC$60,170
- Tampa, FL$60,120
- Phoenix, AZ$59,180
- Charlotte, NC$58,680
- Miami, FL$58,300
- San Juan, PR$51,300
- Oklahoma City, OK$48,780
Medians from BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Skills
What employers look for in a teacher
The skills our teacher resume example leads with, written for US employers.
- Differentiated instruction
- Lesson planning
- Curriculum alignment
- Formative assessment
- Classroom management
- IEP implementation
- Data-driven instruction
- Small group intervention
- Standards-based grading
- Parent communication
See the full teacher resume example, with bullets and keywords.
Negotiating
Using these numbers
Below $75,030 puts you in the bottom quarter for teachers in San Diego, CA. That is worth raising, with evidence of what you deliver.
The median, $97,000, is the middle of the market, not a ceiling. An offer at or near it is a fair starting point to negotiate from.
Asking for $110,420 or more puts you in the top quarter, so it needs a reason an employer will accept: a wider scope, a competing offer, or a skill that is hard to hire for.
Percentiles are not experience levels. They describe everyone doing the job, so a senior hire can sit at the median of a market full of senior people.
About the numbers
What these figures are
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics surveys employers for its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, and these figures are from the release dated May 2025. They cover wage and salary workers in Elementary School Teachers, a category that is often broader than a single job title. Self-employed people are not included.
They are base pay: bonuses, equity and overtime are not included, and they are not adjusted for the cost of living. The metro is San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA as BLS defines it.
Questions
Questions about teacher pay in San Diego, CA
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