Massachusetts·Educational Instruction and Library Occupations·SOC 25-2021

Best Elementary School Teacher programs in Massachusetts, ranked by enrollment

Teach academic and social skills to students at the elementary school.

46 schools in Massachusetts run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,768 people a year. The job pays a median of $94,000 in Massachusetts across about 29,930 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledTeacherClassroom TeacherElementary TeacherElementary School TeacherEducatorArt TeacherGym TeacherArt Educator
Graduates / yr
1,768
in Massachusetts
Median pay · Massachusetts
$94,000
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
29,930
people employed
Schools
46
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
47%
across those schools
Median net price
$26,273
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Massachusetts that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

6 programs in Massachusetts that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Massachusetts (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Massachusetts page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1827
46.8%
35$41,127$25,500
2714
40.4%
36$41,127$25,500
3177
10.0%
12$36,305$26,250
432
1.8%
4$41,127$25,500
517
1.0%
4$56,738$19,664
61
0.1%
1$36,305$26,250

Top 25 schools in Massachusetts

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 19 of the 46 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Worcester State University
Worcester, MA Public · 3 feeder programs
187Elementary Education and Teaching$42,31361%88%
2Bridgewater State University
Bridgewater, MA Public · 4 feeder programs
172Elementary Education and Teaching$43,80053%88%
3Salem State University
Salem, MA Public · 3 feeder programs
155Early Childhood Education and Teaching50%96%
4Merrimack College
North Andover, MA Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs
112Elementary Education and Teaching70%$33,87770%
5Lesley University
Cambridge, MA Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs
91Elementary Education and Teaching$36,89758%$30,83797%
6Springfield Technical Community College
Springfield, MA Public · 2 feeder programs
82Early Childhood Education and Teaching$28,76932%
7Framingham State University
Framingham, MA Public · 3 feeder programs
81Elementary Education and Teaching48%84%
8University of Massachusetts - Boston
Boston, MA Public · 2 feeder programs
74Early Childhood Education and Teaching$38,84649%84%
9Urban College of Boston
Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
56Early Childhood Education and Teaching$32,5210%
10Cambridge College
Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
51Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language/ESL Language Instructor11%
11American International College
Springfield, MA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
49Elementary Education and Teaching46%$23,595100%
12Boston University
Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 5 feeder programs
43Early Childhood Education and Teaching$35,28189%$21,95611%
13Fitchburg State University
Fitchburg, MA Public · 3 feeder programs
43Early Childhood Education and Teaching$40,78055%87%
14Boston College
Chestnut Hill, MA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
40Elementary Education and Teaching$43,26291%$21,12616%
15Gordon College
Wenham, MA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
39Early Childhood Education and Teaching$43,98969%$23,07769%
16Bay Path University
Longmeadow, MA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
38Early Childhood Education and Teaching$33,33044%$16,85985%
17Westfield State University
Westfield, MA Public · 1 feeder programs
38Elementary Education and Teaching$35,09054%81%
18Fisher College
Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
34Early Childhood Education and Teaching28%$26,27371%
19Bunker Hill Community College
Boston, MA Public · 1 feeder programs
33Early Childhood Education and Teaching13%
20Stonehill College
Easton, MA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
33Elementary Education and Teaching$44,02776%$24,00066%
21Quinsigamond Community College
Worcester, MA Public · 2 feeder programs
32Early Childhood Education and Teaching$31,90122%
22University of Massachusetts - Lowell
Lowell, MA Public · 1 feeder programs
31Elementary Education and Teaching65%83%
23University of Massachusetts - Amherst
Amherst, MA Public · 2 feeder programs
29Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language/ESL Language Instructor83%60%
24Northern Essex Community College
Haverhill, MA Public · 2 feeder programs
27Early Childhood Education and Teaching$28,63521%
25Bristol Community College
Fall River, MA Public · 2 feeder programs
20Elementary Education and Teaching$21,73822%

All 46 schools in Massachusetts

Every school in Massachusetts with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Massachusetts that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Worcester State UniversityWorcesterPublic1873
Bridgewater State UniversityBridgewaterPublic1724
Salem State UniversitySalemPublic1553
Merrimack CollegeNorth AndoverPrivate not-for-profit1124
Lesley UniversityCambridgePrivate not-for-profit914
Springfield Technical Community CollegeSpringfieldPublic822
Framingham State UniversityFraminghamPublic813
University of Massachusetts - BostonBostonPublic742
Urban College of BostonBostonPrivate not-for-profit561
Cambridge CollegeBostonPrivate not-for-profit513
American International CollegeSpringfieldPrivate not-for-profit493
Boston UniversityBostonPrivate not-for-profit435
Fitchburg State UniversityFitchburgPublic433
Boston CollegeChestnut HillPrivate not-for-profit402
Gordon CollegeWenhamPrivate not-for-profit393

What elementary school teachers earn in Massachusetts

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Massachusetts
$94,000
Mean annual
$88,720
Jobs in state
29,930
What the range looks like
10th pct$60,620Median$94,00090th pct$118,190
Versus the national median
+46.9%

U.S. median $63,970. Massachusetts pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
0.92×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Massachusetts

Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
$98,060median
20,340 jobs
Barnstable Town, MA
$100,320median
810 jobs
Worcester, MA
$82,810median
3,850 jobs
Amherst Town-Northampton, MA
$79,900median
640 jobs
Springfield, MA
$79,640median
2,340 jobs
Pittsfield, MA
$78,910median
530 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
-2.0%
Decline
Openings per year
91,000
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
-27,900
1,422,700 → 1,394,800
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Elementary School Teachers page.

How to become a Elementary School Teacher

Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Top skills

Learning StrategiesSpeakingMonitoringActive ListeningCritical ThinkingWriting

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Massachusetts

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 15 majors mapped to Elementary School Teachers13 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 13.0201Bilingual and Multilingual Education
  • 13.1202Elementary Education and Teaching
  • 13.1206Teacher Education, Multiple Levels
  • 13.1207Montessori Teacher Education
  • 13.1208Waldorf/Steiner Teacher Education(no graduates reported)
  • 13.1210Early Childhood Education and Teaching
  • 13.1211Online Educator/Online Teaching
  • 13.1212International Teaching and Learning
  • 13.1213Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Educational Methods
  • 13.1338Environmental Education
  • 13.1339Communication Arts and Literature Teacher Education
  • 13.1401Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language/ESL Language Instructor
  • 13.1402Teaching French as a Second or Foreign Language(no graduates reported)
  • 13.1499Teaching English or French as a Second or Foreign Language, Other
  • 45.0199Social Sciences, Other

Common questions

Answers for people weighing elementary school teachers programs in Massachusetts.

What degree do you need to become an Elementary School Teacher?+

Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Early Childhood Education and Teaching, which awarded 827 degrees in Massachusetts in 2024-25, 46.8% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming an Elementary School Teacher?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 6 programs to this occupation. The largest are Teacher Education and Professional Development, Teaching English or French as a Second or Foreign Language, Bilingual. Together they graduate about 1,768 people a year in Massachusetts.

How much do elementary school teachers earn in Massachusetts?+

The median is $94,000 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 46.9% above the U.S. median of $63,970. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for elementary school teachers growing?+

BLS projects a -2.0% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 91,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Massachusetts?+

46 institutions in Massachusetts reported graduates from at least one of the 6 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do elementary school teachers work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Teacher, Classroom Teacher, Elementary Teacher, Elementary School Teacher among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 25-2021.

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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