What Average Daycare Teacher Salary Can You Expect?

If you want to combine your love of childcare with your love of teaching, consider becoming a daycare teacher. As a daycare teacher, you will be responsible for educating and taking care of the children.

You’ll teach the children the basics, including numbers, letters, shapes and colors. You can also incorporate science into your lessons. For example, you can teach them about animals in the ocean.

As a daycare teacher, you are an integral part of a child’s educational career. You are the difference between whether they have the background to excel in grade school, or if they fall behind. However, putting the schoolwork aside, the most important principle you’ll teach children is how to maintain a positive, joyful attitude.

At the same time, the children you’re teaching will be so young that they’ll need help with basic tasks, such as tying their shoes and going to the bathroom. Since the children aren’t at an age where they are independent yet, you’ll need to also care for their basic needs and safety.

If a daycare teacher sounds like the perfect role for you, keep reading! We’ll get into the details of the career, including how in-demand this role is, what salary you can expect, how to increase your daycare teacher salary, and the top skills to include on your resume to jumpstart your career.

Is Being a Daycare Teacher an In-Demand Career?

When you’re seriously considering jumping into a role, a great question to ask is, “How in-demand is this role?” When your job is in high demand, you’ll be able to land roles more easily than if no one is looking to hire daycare teachers.

Fortunately for you, daycare teachers in the United States are extremely in-demand. Employment for daycare teachers is expected to grow 18% from 2020 to 2030. Keep in mind, this is much higher than the average for all occupations (which is only 7.7%). If you decide to become a daycare teacher, you will be very hireable and in-demand.

Daycare teachers are needed, especially because there’s a shortage of daycare teachers. In 2021, there were childcare employee shortages in every state, with some as high as 90%. The issue is also affecting other industries because parents are struggling to find care for their kids.

Why are so many daycare teachers quitting? Two reasons include COVID-19 risk factors of working in a classroom, along with low salaries.

Your Salary Depends on a Variety of Factors

Before we dive into the details of the daycare teacher salaries, always remember that these salaries are variable. For example, more education, certifications, and additional skills will increase your salary. Plus, daycare teachers that have been in the field longer will have higher salaries than those who have only been in the role for a short amount of time.

Another impact on your salary is job history. Even if you haven’t been a daycare teacher before, have you worked in a daycare, tutored young children, or babysat for kids in the neighborhood? All of these job experiences apply to this role. They can help you land a higher salary than someone who doesn’t have any applicable experience.

Plus, location is always important when we’re discussing salary. The states that are the most expensive see the biggest salaries, but they’re also attending to the increased cost of living. California has 6 of the 10 highest-paying cities for daycare teacher salaries. Sunnyvale, California daycare teachers have the biggest salaries in the country.

What Daycare Teacher Salary can you Expect?

In the highest-paying city of Sunnyvale, California, the average daycare teacher makes a salary of $28,060 a year. That salary is $13.49 an hour. Looking at the United States in its entirety, the average daycare teacher takes home $22,207 a year. That’s $11 per hour.

These wages are much lower than the national average salary, which was the national average salary in 2020 was $56,310. The highest 10% of daycare teachers earned more than $55,050 a year.

The low salaries of daycare teachers are why some people are leaving the role altogether. “They love what they do but they can't pay the bills,” says Amy Parker, the Director of Early Childhood Development Center in Grapevine-Colleyville ISD.

Despite the low average salary, there are ways you can increase your daycare teacher earnings.

How to Increase your Daycare Teacher Salary

There are a few actions you can take to increase your daycare teacher salary to earn higher than the average person in the role. First, you can change location to one of the highest-paying cities. This is impractical though, because you’ll have to pay to move, plus handle the increased expenses over time.

The smartest way to see an increase in your daycare teacher salary is to earn an education, grow your list of certifications, and hone in on your applicable skills. If you can, earn a degree in Early Childhood Education. Get certified for safety certifications, such as Pediatric First-Aid, CPR, and AED. Finally, improve your skills in taking care of and teaching young children.

Another way to earn a higher degree than average is to get applicable experience in the field. If you know being a daycare teacher is your ultimate goal, try to roles working with children. Don’t be afraid to think outside of the norm. You could work at a summer camp or teach swim lessons.

Finally, the last way to see increases in your salary is to stay in the field to see raises over time. This might take a while, but daycare teachers that have more experience earn a higher salary than those who have only been in the field for a few years.

No matter what your experience and skills are, they don’t matter if you don’t showcase them properly on your resume.

Top Skills to Showcase on your Daycare Teacher Resume

When you’re building a career as a daycare teacher, creating an effective resume that will land you interviews and roles is the most important part. When drafting your resume, it’s essential to tailor your resume to the role. Write your past work experience to be applicable for the position, and include the skills recruiters are looking for.

Recruiters for daycare teachers want to see these skills on your resume:

• Effective educational methods
• Interpersonal skills
• Methodical
• Creative
• Patience
• Physical stamina
• Organized
• Strong communication skills
• Effective time management

Throughout all of this, the most important quality you need to have is love for the children and a positive attitude.

A Great Resume Leads to Success

Are you passionate about becoming a daycare teacher? Writing an effective resume is hard, but it’s the first step to get your foot in the door of a higher-paying daycare teacher position.

Ready to create a resume that lands you your dream daycare teacher positions? Rocket Resume can help with our resumes specifically tailored for the roles you’re seeking.