North Dakota·Educational Instruction and Library Occupations·SOC 25-2021

Best Elementary School Teacher programs in North Dakota, ranked by enrollment

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

14 schools in North Dakota run programs that feed this job, graduating 364 people a year. The job pays a median of $60,030 in North Dakota across about 4,430 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledTeacherClassroom TeacherElementary TeacherElementary School TeacherEducatorArt TeacherGym TeacherArt Educator
Graduates / yr
364
in North Dakota
Median pay · North Dakota
$60,030
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
4,430
people employed
Schools
14
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
43%
across those schools
Median net price
$16,753
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in North Dakota that lead to this job

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

5 programs in North Dakota that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in North Dakota (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 North Dakota page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1319
87.6%
11$41,127$25,500
229
8.0%
7$41,127$25,500
39
2.5%
2$36,305$26,250
46
1.6%
1$41,127$25,500
51
0.3%
1$41,127$25,500

Top 14 schools in North Dakota

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 7 of the 14 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Valley City State University
Valley City, ND Public · 2 feeder programs
114Elementary Education and Teaching$44,17953%99%
2University of North Dakota
Grand Forks, ND Public · 3 feeder programs
65Elementary Education and Teaching$42,05760%77%
3University of Mary
Bismarck, ND Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
55Elementary Education and Teaching$44,80667%$16,75375%
4Mayville State University
Mayville, ND Public · 2 feeder programs
32Elementary Education and Teaching$45,43841%
5Minot State University
Minot, ND Public · 2 feeder programs
32Elementary Education and Teaching$48,42545%65%
6Dickinson State University
Dickinson, ND Public · 1 feeder programs
22Elementary Education and Teaching$49,81151%37%
7United Tribes Technical College
Bismarck, ND Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
11Elementary Education and Teaching21%$2,819
8University of Jamestown
Jamestown, ND Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
7Elementary Education and Teaching$49,60849%$19,58388%
9North Dakota State University - Main Campus
Fargo, ND Public · 1 feeder programs
6Teacher Education, Multiple Levels64%95%
10Cankdeska Cikana Community College
Fort Totten, ND Public · 1 feeder programs
5Early Childhood Education and Teaching28%
11Sitting Bull College
Fort Yates, ND Public · 2 feeder programs
5Elementary Education and Teaching22%
12Trinity Bible College and Graduate School
Ellendale, ND Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
4Elementary Education and Teaching46%$21,47526%
13Turtle Mountain College
Belcourt, ND Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
4Elementary Education and Teaching43%$3,883
14Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College
New Town, ND Public · 1 feeder programs
2Early Childhood Education and Teaching7%

All 14 schools in North Dakota

Every school in North Dakota 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 North Dakota that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Valley City State UniversityValley CityPublic1142
University of North DakotaGrand ForksPublic653
University of MaryBismarckPrivate not-for-profit553
Mayville State UniversityMayvillePublic322
Minot State UniversityMinotPublic322
Dickinson State UniversityDickinsonPublic221
United Tribes Technical CollegeBismarckPrivate not-for-profit111
University of JamestownJamestownPrivate not-for-profit71
North Dakota State University - Main CampusFargoPublic61
Cankdeska Cikana Community CollegeFort TottenPublic51
Sitting Bull CollegeFort YatesPublic52
Trinity Bible College and Graduate SchoolEllendalePrivate not-for-profit41
Turtle Mountain CollegeBelcourtPrivate not-for-profit41
Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish CollegeNew TownPublic21

What elementary school teachers earn in North Dakota

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

Median annual in North Dakota
$60,030
Mean annual
$59,140
Jobs in state
4,430
What the range looks like
10th pct$46,530Median$60,03090th pct$75,990
Versus the national median
-6.2%

U.S. median $63,970. North Dakota pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
1.15×

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

Metro areas in North Dakota

Bismarck, ND
$61,010median
640 jobs
Minot, ND
$61,350median
400 jobs
Grand Forks, ND-MN
$61,430median
540 jobs
Fargo, ND-MN
$60,210median
1,380 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 North Dakota

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 North Dakota.

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 Elementary Education and Teaching, which awarded 319 degrees in North Dakota in 2024-25, 87.6% 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 5 programs to this occupation. The largest are Teacher Education and Professional Development, Teaching English or French as a Second or Foreign Language. Together they graduate about 364 people a year in North Dakota.

How much do elementary school teachers earn in North Dakota?+

The median is $60,030 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 6.2% below 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 North Dakota?+

14 institutions in North Dakota reported graduates from at least one of the 5 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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