Special Education Teachers (Preschool) build social perceptiveness, instructing and service orientation skills that carry over to other work. Below are 25 careers ranked by how closely their skills match, with pay from BLS May 2025. The closest match is Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors (89%).
Updated October 2026 · Data: O*NET 31.0 and BLS OEWS May 2025 · How we match careers
Sorted by skill match.
| # | Career | Skill match | Median pay | Pay change | Extra education |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors | 89% | $61,540 | −5% | None |
| 2 | Recreational Therapists | 82% | $61,960 | −4% | None |
| 3 | Child, Family, and School Social Workers | 80% | $59,550 | −8% | None |
| 4 | Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors | 80% | $64,330 | −1% | Graduate degree |
| 5 | Education Teachers, Postsecondary | 78% | $75,350 | +16% | Graduate degree |
| 6 | Music Therapists | 77% | $77,930Pay for the broader BLS group “Therapists, All Other” | Not compared | None |
| 7 | Occupational Therapy Assistants | 77% | $72,300 | +12% | None |
| 8 | Family and Consumer Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary | 77% | $75,870 | +17% | Graduate degree |
| 9 | Training and Development Specialists | 77% | $69,280 | +7% | None |
| 10 | Instructional Coordinators | 76% | $77,440 | +19% | Graduate degree |
Compared with Special Education Teachers, Preschool, median $64,830. Skill match is our estimate (0–99) from O*NET 31.0 skills, knowledge, work activities and interests, adjusted for preparation and big pay drops. Pay: BLS OEWS May 2025, national median.
How important each skill is in work as special education teachers (preschool) (O*NET importance, scale 1–5).
The gaps that show up most often across your top 10 matches.
Free and low-cost training: use the CareerOneStop training finder below.
A concrete first step, the skills to add, and the hard parts of each job, from O*NET 31.0 education, training and work context data.
89% skill match · $61,540 · −5% pay
Operations Monitoring · Technology Design · Instructing
No work-context factor stands out as unusually hard in O*NET data.
82% skill match · $61,960 · −4% pay
Operations Analysis · Operation and Control · Coordination
80% skill match · $59,550 · −8% pay
Operation and Control · Judgment and Decision Making · Negotiation
If you want to stay close to what you do now, these roles are the nearest.
The closest matches are Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors (89% skill match, median $61,540), Recreational Therapists (82% skill match, median $61,960) and Child, Family, and School Social Workers (80% skill match, median $59,550), based on O*NET 31.0 data and BLS May 2025 pay.
Among the 25 matches, 15 pay more than special education teachers (preschool) at the median. The biggest increases: Occupational Therapists (+55%, $100,330), Speech-Language Pathologists (+51%, $97,870) and Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary (+24%, $80,250).
9 of the 25 matches usually need no more education than you have now, based on O*NET Job Zones. 16 usually need a graduate degree: Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors, Education Teachers, Postsecondary and Family and Consumer Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary.
We compare the importance of skills, knowledge, work activities and interests in O*NET 31.0 for your job and every other career, then adjust for extra preparation and big pay drops. The full method is on our Methodology page.