Elementary school teachers, except special education job market in Missouri

Industry trends, wages and hiring signals.

The headline

Missouri industry employment tracked close to the U.S. benchmark

A data-driven view of the industries that employ Elementary school teachers, except special education in Missouri.

Verified QCEW 2026 Q1January to March 2026 · State coverage 100% · BLS QCEWCitationEvidence record

Occupation pay

What Elementary school teachers, except special education earn in Missouri

BLS OEWS occupation-level pay estimates for this role — separate from the industry wage trends used elsewhere in this report.

BLS OEWS source

Median annual wage

$50,910Missouri
Middle 50% of published wages
$47,200 – $61,620
U.S. median annual wage
$63,970
Reference period
May 2025

The middle 50% is the 25th-to-75th percentile wage range, not an experience-level band. Suppressed or unavailable BLS values remain unpublished rather than being estimated.

Pay around Missouri

How median pay varies by metro area

Published BLS OEWS metro estimates for Elementary school teachers, except special education, compared with the Missouri median of $50,910.

Missouri median$50,910
Kansas City, MO-KS$61,060+19.9% vs. state
Middle 50%$49,200 – $64,710Published employment11,500
St. Louis, MO-IL$60,650+19.1% vs. state
Middle 50%$49,440 – $77,450Published employment13,440
Springfield, MO$49,380−3.0% vs. state
Middle 50%$47,280 – $60,640Published employment2,400
St. Joseph, MO-KS$49,140−3.5% vs. state
Middle 50%$47,140 – $60,300Published employment770
Joplin, MO-KS$48,770−4.2% vs. state
Middle 50%$46,300 – $59,370Published employment1,100
Jefferson City, MO$47,960−5.8% vs. state
Middle 50%$45,180 – $57,250Published employment600
View 2 more published metro areas
Columbia, MO$47,920−5.9% vs. state
Middle 50%$45,950 – $58,400Published employment840
Cape Girardeau, MO-IL$47,100−7.5% vs. state
Middle 50%$47,100 – $61,100Published employment1,030

Areas are ordered by published median wage for readability, not as an overall job-market ranking. The vertical marker is the Missouri median. Some BLS metropolitan areas cross state lines, so a metro estimate can cover workers in more than one state.

Verified snapshot

Market at a Glance

Key changes in Missouri’s weighted industry mix.

+2.0%Industry employmentMissouri industry employmentU.S. +2.2%vs. +2.2% U.S.
+9.1%Establishments in weighted industriesMissouri establishments in weighted industriesU.S. +7.0%vs. +7.0% U.S.
+1.6%Avg. weekly industry wageMissouri avg. weekly industry wageU.S. +2.3% · not occupation payvs. +2.3% U.S. · not occupation pay
-0.2 ppGap vs. U.S. industry employmentState minus U.S. industry employment change

Percentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.

Published coverage: 77,340 represented establishments, 98.73% of the published industry mix.

Local research

What the data shows for elementary school teachers, except special education in Missouri

Findings describe the published observation periods shown below. Research published Oct 11, 2026.

This occupation is more concentrated in the state

Elementary school teachers, except special education account for 1.27 times their national share of employment in Missouri, according to OEWS May 2025. This is the published location quotient. The state estimate is 33,180 jobs, 2.4% of the national employment estimate for this occupation. It represents 11.30 jobs per thousand jobs in the state's OEWS employment universe. Concentration describes employment share, not current hiring or future growth.

OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWS

OEWS employment estimates describe covered wage-and-salary jobs and exclude self-employed workers; location quotients do not measure vacancies or worker demand.

Private education and health services has the largest positive weighted contribution

Among the leading industry groups associated with this occupation in Missouri, Private education and health services has the largest positive weighted contribution in January to March 2026. It accounts for 99.8% of the positive weighted contributions, and its own employment changed +2.0% year over year. The proxy uses each group's share of the occupation's national industry mix; the groups examined cover 99.9% of that mix. Weighted contributions do not count occupation jobs created.

January to March 2026 · BLS QCEW

Published median pay is below the U.S. median

Median annual pay in Missouri stands 20.4% below the U.S. estimate for elementary school teachers, except special education. The underlying OEWS May 2025 figures are $50,910 for the state and $63,970 nationally. This is a nominal wage comparison; living costs and individual pay differences are outside its scope.

OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWS

Pay differs widely between metro areas

Looking across 8 metro areas with published estimates on the same basis reveals a substantial pay range associated with Missouri. In OEWS May 2025, Kansas City, MO-KS's median of $61,060 is 29.6% higher than Cape Girardeau, MO-IL's median of $47,100. This comparison covers nominal wages, without assessing living costs or job availability.

OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWS

Metro estimates may include areas in neighboring states. The comparison covers published metro estimates, not every part of the state.

Industry measures describe the industries associated with this occupation. They are not direct occupation employment, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. Findings describe published data and do not establish causes. Methodology

Employment trends

Year-over-year change in the weighted industries. The U.S. line is the latest-quarter benchmark because a comparable national quarterly history is not published here.

Latest published values
  • Missouri · 2026 Q1+2.0%
  • U.S. · latest-quarter benchmark+2.2%

The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.

View every published value
Quarterly Missouri industry employment changes and coverage
QuarterMissouriCoverage
2024 Q2+3.9%100%
2024 Q3+3.5%100%
2024 Q4+3.8%100%
2025 Q1+4.0%100%
2025 Q2+3.3%100%
2025 Q3+3.0%100%
2025 Q4+2.0%100%
2026 Q1+2.0%100%

How to read this chart

State trend and national reference

The solid line follows Missouri’s published year-over-year industry employment changes by quarter. The dashed U.S. line is a latest-quarter reference, not a second time series.

Published quarters
8
Earliest quarter
2024 Q2
Latest quarter
2026 Q1
U.S. benchmark
+2.2%

Quarters with no published value are omitted rather than interpolated.

Industry context

Where Elementary school teachers, except special education Work

The occupation mix determines which Missouri industries are weighted into this view.

Industries weighted into the Missouri Elementary school teachers, except special education context
Industry groupOccupation mixEmployment changeEstablishmentsAvg. weekly industry wage
Private education and health services98.7%+2.0%77,340$1,199
Other services1.2%+0.4%14,001$951
State and local0.0%+0.3%8,659$1,075

Which industries are growing?

3 weighted industries are growing

Only weighted industries with a published positive Missouri employment change are listed.

  • Private education and health services+2.0%
  • Other services+0.4%
  • State and local+0.3%

Every weighted industry shown published a positive change in January to March 2026.

Current Missouri context

Current Missouri Market Signals

Statewide indicators for all occupations in Missouri. They are not Elementary school teachers, except special education demand and are not part of the Job Market Health score.

Statewide job postings

Indeed job postings · Missouri

Recent hiring-demand context · separate from the health score

107.9Postings index · February 1, 2020 = 100Observation: Oct 23, 2026
+7.9%Versus the February 2020 baseline
-1.5%Change over about four weeksSep 25, 2026 to Oct 23, 2026

Total postings index (seasonally adjusted) by observation date · baseline 100

The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.

View values: Indeed postings index
Indeed postings index
Observation dateIndex (Feb 2020 = 100)
Jul 24, 2026104.25
Jul 31, 2026104.62
Aug 7, 2026104.93
Aug 14, 2026105.16
Aug 21, 2026105.34
Aug 28, 2026105.41
Sep 4, 2026106.43
Sep 11, 2026107.57
Sep 18, 2026108.70
Sep 25, 2026109.53
Oct 2, 2026109.90
Oct 9, 2026110.48
Oct 16, 2026109.79
Oct 23, 2026107.92

This is statewide demand across all occupations, not demand for this specific job. Postings are not a count of vacancies or hires, and Indeed does not cover the entire labor market.

Source: Indeed Hiring Lab · CC BY 4.0. Seven-day average, seasonally adjusted; publisher refreshes weekly and may revise history. Retrieved Nov 1, 2026 · saved source copy. JobMarketHealth calculates the displayed changes and samples weekly observations for the chart.

Explore states and career fields · Methodology and limits

Statewide layoff notices

Statewide layoff-notice filings

Missouri statewide

8 notices in this source

Notice dates from Aug 5, 2026 to Nov 2, 2026 (UTC), a rolling 90-calendar-day period.

What this means: These are statewide totals from notices dated in this period in Missouri’s official tracking system. Reported positions are the counts published in those notices, not a count of people confirmed to have lost their jobs. No employer is identified.

Notices describe planned workforce changes, not confirmed job losses. Notices may be amended or withdrawn. This statewide context is not occupation-specific and does not affect the Job Market Health score. Missouri’s state tracking system also records smaller Rapid Response events that fall below federal WARN thresholds, so it is not a list of federal WARN filings only.

Missouri Office of Workforce Development About WARN data

Source last checked

Career context

Related roles from the occupation’s published O*NET profile.

Questions answered by this release

Elementary school teachers, except special education in Missouri FAQs

Each answer is limited to what QCEW 2026 Q1 actually publishes for this state.

Is employment growing for Elementary school teachers, except special education in Missouri?

The available QCEW measure is not direct occupation employment. Employment across the Missouri industries weighted to Elementary school teachers, except special education changed +2.0% year over year in January to March 2026, compared with +2.2% nationwide.

Are wages for Elementary school teachers, except special education rising in Missouri?

QCEW does not publish pay for Elementary school teachers, except special education in this view. Average weekly wages across the weighted industries changed +1.6% year over year; that must not be read as an occupation salary change.

How complete is this Missouri industry view?

The three core state trends each meet the site’s coverage floor; the minimum published coverage is 100% of the occupation’s industry mix.

Does this page show current Elementary school teachers, except special education openings?

No. QCEW measures industry employment, establishments and wages. Any postings, news or WARN figures shown here are statewide context and are not occupation-specific openings.

Methodology & sourcesQCEW 2026 Q1 · coverage 100% · full evidence record

Methodology & Sources

Derived by JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix. This is occupation-weighted industry context, not direct occupation employment and not a count of current job openings.

Occupation
Elementary school teachers, except special education
SOC code
25-2021
State
Missouri
QCEW release label
QCEW 2026 Q1
Data period
2026 Q1
State industry employment, year over year
+2.0%State data coverage 100%
U.S. benchmark, year over year
+2.2%
Difference from U.S. benchmark
-0.2 percentage pointsPercentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.
Establishments, year over year
+9.1%State data coverage 100%
Average weekly industry wage, year over year
+1.6%State data coverage 100%
Industry mix vintage
EP-2025-2035
BLS publication date
Aug 28, 2026
Source verification
Verified against the committed source snapshotVerified Sep 17, 2026
Canonical record URL
https://jobmarkethealth.com/occupations/elementary-school-teachers-except-special-education/missouri#evidence-record
Derived by
JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix

Weighted industry conditions are not direct occupation employment, occupation wages, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. No causal explanation is inferred.

Elementary school teachers, except special education in other states