Special Education Teacher

Plan and deliver instruction, assess student progress, and develop curriculum.

5,104 people hold the Special Education Teacher role across 519 departments in Chicago Public Schools, with a median total compensation of $125,310. Among 3 jurisdictions where this role is reported, Chicago Public Schools ranks #1 by median pay.

Employees: 5,104
Median pay: $125,310
Departments: 519
Cross-jurisdiction: #1 of 3

Compared with the local labor market

Special Education Teacher pay vs. the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN area

Across all employers in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN area, the median wage for Special Education Teachers, All Other — about 1,550 people — is $74,180. Chicago Public Schools pays a median base salary of $96,963 for this role, 31% above that figure — about the 85th percentile of local pay for the occupation.

Where Chicago Public Schools sits in the local pay range

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$49,550

$60,990

$74,180

$83,760

$103,030

Chicago Public Schools median · $96,963

The bar is the range of annual wages for Special Education Teachers, All Other across every employer in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Chicago Public Schools’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.

And across the country

Nationwide, the median wage for Special Education Teachers, All Other — about 33,930 people — is $76,580. Chicago Public Schools’s median base salary is 27% above that national figure, about the 72nd percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$48,440

$60,930

$76,580

$99,690

$120,080

Chicago Public Schools median · $96,963

Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN range relative to the national one.

Computed over the 5,085 of 5,104 people in this role paid at least $25,000in base salary. The rest are part-year or part-time records, whose actual pay isn’t comparable to a full-time annual wage.

Median total compensation for this role at Chicago Public Schools is $125,310, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.

Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.

Compare jurisdictions

Special Education Teacher pay in other jurisdictions

Where Special Education Teachers are paid most

South Carolina

$70,023 · 48

Florida

$53,280 · 20

Median total compensation for comparable Special Education Teacherroles in other jurisdictions (highest first). Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not by identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for this role.

Within Chicago Public Schools