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Junior High School Teachers Job Overview

Junior high school teachers assist students delve more deeply into the subjects which had been introduced at the elementary level. They also introduce students to new information and help them with their extra curricular activities.

Junior High School Teachers Schools and Degrees

Most junior high school teachers specialize in the subject that they plan to teach while in college. A bachelor’s degree is required to become a junior high school teacher, though it is not always mandatory for teachers to have a graduate degree.

Job Requirements

Junior high school teachers can receive accreditation from the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher education. This assists fulfill the needs of licensure. Most states require aspiring teachers to appear for a test that assesses their skills in reading, writing, teaching and basic abilities. They also test the teacher’s competency in his/her subject. Also, most states require teachers to finish a certain number of hours of continuing education in order to renew their teaching license.

A junior high school teacher needs to have very good communication and interpersonal skills. They also need to be proficient with computers. Most importantly, they need to be able to earn the confidence, respect and faith of their students. It is necessary for them to understand each student and their emotional needs. Being organized also helps a junior high school teacher.

Nature of Work

Junior high school teachers focus on a particular subject like mathematics, history, biology or English. They may also teach career-oriented subjects and guide students regarding decisions about their future. At times, they have to supervise extra curricular activities and field trips. Junior high school teachers are often involved in the decision of which text books will be used in class.

Junior high school teachers generally work for forty hours a week. Their job requires them to be in classrooms with their students. They work for ten months a year and then are off during the summer. They be stressed at times while dealing with a large number of students.

Junior High School Teachers Jobs and Outlook

According to data from 2006, job prospects in field are expected to increase by about 12% in the next ten years.

The average annual salary of junior high school teachers is roughly $43,000.

Job Numbers and Growth

If you add up all the junior high school teachers in the country you get a total of about 658,000. There has been a very low unemployment rate for workers. An unfortunate 2% of employees were without jobs in 2008.

Area Job Conditions

Workers appear most common in New Bedford (Massachusetts), Corvallis (Oregon), and Anderson (South Carolina), and least common in Fargo (North Dakota), New Orleans (Louisiana), and Baton Rouge (Louisiana).

Nassau (New York), Napa (California), and Bethesda (Maryland) offer the highest pay. Baton Rouge (Louisiana), Honolulu (Hawaii), and Great Falls (Montana) offer the lowest salaries.

Training and Education

A bachelor's degree is often necessary for working in the field. About 95% of employees have earned a degree. Some college, below a 4-year degree, is sufficient for 5% of junior high school teachers. Recommended schools are shown in the column to the right; request information from them to help you decide which if any could help you with this career.

Part-Time Work and Self-Employment

Government statistics report that 10% of junior high school teachers are employed part-time.

Junior High School Teachers by Metropolitan Area (city and its surroundings)

In the table below, a Job Density near 0% means the area has an average number of people in this occupation, for its population. A higher or lower Job Density (e.g., +22% or -45%) tells you there are that many more or fewer workers of that type there than in the average US metro area. So, the higher the number, the more common the occupation.

Alabama

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Auburn	$58,000	410	+138%
Birmingham	$50,000	2,100	-5%
Decatur	$46,000	230	+8%
Dothan	$46,000	350	+50%
Florence	$37,000	110	-47%
Huntsville	$47,000	810	-10%
Mobile	$46,000	710	-7%
Tuscaloosa	$45,000	360	-4%

Arizona

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Flagstaff	$40,000	190	-15%
Kingman	$37,000	250	+35%
Phoenix	$41,000	3,930	-51%
Prescott	$37,000	410	+91%
Tucson	$46,000	2,120	+40%
Yuma	$42,000	290	+32%

Arkansas

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Fayetteville	$50,000	1,250	+41%
Fort Smith	$43,000	570	+9%
Hot Springs	$45,000	240	+74%
Jonesboro	$46,000	240	+32%
Little Rock	$47,000	1,600	+4%
Pine Bluff	$44,000	350	+209%

California

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Bakersfield	$59,000	1,410	+23%
El Centro	$69,000	450	+130%
Fresno	$54,000	1,600	+13%
Los Angeles	$62,000	9,700	-47%
Merced	$57,000	370	+64%
Oakland	$65,000	3,290	-27%
Oxnard	$69,000	1,860	+41%
Riverside	$64,000	6,500	+20%
Sacramento	$58,000	5,620	+44%
Salinas	$50,000	340	-51%
San Diego	$70,000	4,540	-23%
San Francisco	$66,000	2,700	-40%
San Jose	$64,000	2,840	-30%
Santa Ana	$70,000	3,500	-47%
Santa Cruz	$57,000	580	+61%
Santa Rosa	$60,000	1,120	+49%
Stockton	$55,000	1,730	+89%
Visalia	$66,000	1,580	+175%
Yuba City	$52,000	270	+84%

Colorado

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Boulder	$52,000	820	+24%
Colorado Springs	$45,000	1,720	+55%
Denver	$53,000	6,080	+8%
Fort Collins		840	+57%
Greeley	$45,000	630	+113%

Connecticut

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Bridgeport	$71,000	2,880	+51%
Danbury	$65,000	490	+77%
Hartford	$67,000	3,200	+24%
New Haven	$67,000	1,870	+56%
Norwich	$65,000	710	+37%
Waterbury	$79,000	610	+122%

Delaware

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Wilmington	$57,000	2,090	+45%

District of Columbia

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Washington	$69,000	7,990	-27%

Florida

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Gainesville		370	-28%
Jacksonville	$47,000	2,390	-11%
Orlando	$51,000	4,310	-6%
Sarasota	$52,000	1,150	+6%
Sebastian		280	+51%
Tallahassee	$55,000	650	-7%
Tampa	$55,000	4,900	-5%

Georgia

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Albany	$57,000	440	+77%
Atlanta	$54,000	13,330	+27%
Augusta	$57,000	1,670	+86%
Brunswick	$51,000	310	+96%
Gainesville	$54,000	580	+105%
Macon	$50,000	450	+20%
Valdosta	$50,000	660	+238%

Hawaii

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Honolulu	$32,000	830	-58%

Illinois

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Bloomington	$53,000	350	+22%
Champaign	$49,000	840	+96%
Chicago	$69,000	19,210	+13%
Danville	$44,000	350	+247%
Decatur	$46,000	250	+41%
Kankakee	$51,000	520	+228%
Peoria	$47,000	1,000	+36%
Rockford	$55,000	840	+40%
Springfield	$47,000	540	+19%

Indiana

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Anderson	$40,000	150	+3%
Bloomington	$48,000	250	-12%
Elkhart	$48,000	360	-21%
Evansville	$47,000	830	+12%
Fort Wayne	$50,000	640	-28%
Gary	$49,000	1,340	+13%
Indianapolis	$49,000	3,380	-16%
Kokomo	$48,000	360	+142%
Lafayette	$49,000	290	-6%
Michigan City	$48,000	320	+102%
Muncie	$49,000	350	+97%
South Bend	$49,000	700	+27%
Terre Haute	$39,000	190	-31%

Iowa

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Cedar Rapids	$45,000	580	-2%
Davenport	$50,000	800	-1%
Iowa City	$42,000	200	-31%
Sioux City	$44,000	570	+92%
Waterloo	$44,000	280	-21%

Kansas

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Lawrence	$42,000	280	+67%
Manhattan	$42,000	250	+21%
Topeka	$48,000	760	+63%
Wichita	$48,000	1,930	+52%

Kentucky

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Bowling Green	$49,000	190	-14%
Elizabethtown	$52,000	230	+33%
Lexington	$50,000	1,070	+1%
Louisville	$50,000	2,080	-24%
Owensboro	$51,000	220	+19%

Louisiana

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Baton Rouge	$49,000	1,800	+9%
Houma	$46,000	580	+47%
Monroe	$47,000	370	+18%
New Orleans	$47,000	1,450	-39%
Shreveport	$45,000	400	-49%

Maine

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Bangor	$51,000	310	+26%
Lewiston	$43,000	230	+16%
Portland	$49,000	710	-19%

Maryland

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Baltimore	$62,000	7,850	+33%
Bethesda	$77,000	3,800	+46%
Hagerstown	$51,000	510	+26%
Salisbury	$50,000	440	+107%

Massachusetts

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Barnstable Town	$60,000	520	+25%
Boston	$65,000	8,220	+4%
Brockton	$53,000	720	+92%
Framingham	$61,000	770	+9%
Haverhill	$55,000	560	+65%
Lawrence	$70,000	460	+92%
Leominster	$57,000	330	+70%
Lowell	$60,000	930	+82%
New Bedford	$65,000	960	+267%
Peabody	$61,000	700	+64%
Springfield	$58,000	1,870	+42%
Taunton	$55,000	240	+37%
Worcester	$60,000	1,290	+17%

Michigan

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Ann Arbor	$55,000	410	-43%
Battle Creek	$53,000	240	+17%
Detroit	$60,000	1,920	-36%
Flint	$52,000	770	+39%
Grand Rapids	$53,000	1,500	-11%
Holland	$58,000	790	+96%
Jackson	$51,000	150	-22%
Kalamazoo	$55,000	430	-26%
Lansing	$56,000	840	-3%
Monroe	$55,000	270	+94%
Muskegon	$57,000	360	+62%
Niles	$58,000	220	-5%
Saginaw	$53,000	450	+33%
Warren	$63,000	4,170	-14%

Minnesota

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Duluth	$48,000	620	+12%
Minneapolis	$49,000	7,930	-2%
Rochester	$41,000	520	+21%
St Cloud	$52,000	400	+0%

Mississippi

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Gulfport	$42,000	290	-36%
Jackson	$41,000	2,380	+113%
Pascagoula	$41,000	700	+287%

Missouri

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Jefferson City	$39,000	300	-1%
Kansas City	$45,000	4,280	-7%
Springfield	$41,000	1,780	+114%
St Joseph	$39,000	550	+174%
St Louis	$56,000	7,090	+17%

Montana

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Billings	$46,000	140	-60%
Great Falls		150	+7%

Nebraska

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Lincoln		570	-18%
Omaha	$45,000	1,590	-25%

Nevada

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Las Vegas	$49,000	3,010	-21%

New Hampshire

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Manchester	$49,000	470	+8%
Nashua	$50,000	1,140	+94%
Portsmouth	$54,000	140	-39%
Rochester	$48,000	220	+3%

New Jersey

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Atlantic City	$59,000	840	+35%
Camden	$63,000	3,550	+51%
Edison	$63,000	7,030	+52%
Newark	$65,000	7,890	+75%
Ocean City	$62,000	280	+76%
Trenton	$69,000	1,330	+33%
Vineland	$61,000	410	+70%

New Mexico

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Albuquerque	$49,000	1,960	+14%
Farmington	$49,000	280	+44%

New York

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Albany	$59,000	1,880	-7%
Binghamton	$61,000	850	+79%
Buffalo	$58,000	3,010	+21%
Elmira	$50,000	140	-4%
Glens Falls	$58,000	170	-18%
Ithaca	$53,000	70	-56%
Kingston	$74,000	330	+36%
Nassau	$84,000	7,460	+30%
New York	$74,000	21,280	-10%
Poughkeepsie	$70,000	2,200	+103%
Rochester	$57,000	2,410	+6%
Syracuse	$62,000	1,800	+30%
Utica	$56,000	540	+2%

North Carolina

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Asheville	$42,000	700	-9%
Charlotte	$44,000	3,830	-1%
Durham	$45,000	890	-27%
Greensboro	$42,000	1,930	+22%
Raleigh	$44,000	2,190	-6%
Wilmington	$40,000	680	+16%
Winston Salem	$44,000	850	-8%

Ohio

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Akron	$56,000	840	-41%
Canton	$52,000	550	-24%
Cincinnati	$51,000	3,220	-30%
Cleveland	$59,000	3,790	-18%
Columbus	$49,000	2,800	-33%
Dayton	$55,000	2,090	+22%
Lima	$50,000	310	+50%
Mansfield	$53,000	130	-37%
Sandusky	$57,000	70	-47%
Springfield	$54,000	290	+54%
Steubenville	$45,000	500	+212%
Toledo	$51,000	1,580	+21%
Youngstown	$54,000	1,170	+18%

Oklahoma

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Lawton	$42,000	290	+84%
Oklahoma City	$40,000	2,410	-7%
Tulsa	$45,000	1,950	+1%

Oregon

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Bend	$51,000	550	+116%
Corvallis	$51,000	170	+71%
Eugene	$52,000	680	+13%
Portland	$53,000	3,260	-29%
Salem	$50,000	1,140	+78%

Pennsylvania

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Allentown	$61,000	1,780	+15%
Altoona	$52,000	110	-55%
Erie	$57,000	690	+26%
Harrisburg	$54,000	2,160	+52%
Lancaster	$61,000	780	-25%
Philadelphia	$65,000	9,040	+5%
Pittsburgh	$53,000	6,740	+30%
Reading	$62,000	1,000	+38%
Scranton	$57,000	1,380	+20%
York	$65,000	760	-1%

Rhode Island

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Providence	$61,000	2,970	+19%

South Carolina

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Anderson	$47,000	530	+136%
Charleston	$48,000	1,280	+0%
Columbia	$51,000	1,280	-18%
Florence	$47,000	600	+84%
Greenville	$43,000	440	-67%
Sumter	$43,000	290	+136%

South Dakota

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Rapid City	$49,000	330	+28%
Sioux Falls	$41,000	570	-5%

Tennessee

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Chattanooga	$45,000	1,000	0%
Jackson	$46,000	230	-2%
Johnson City	$45,000	460	+57%
Kingsport	$47,000	600	+16%
Knoxville	$47,000	1,200	-19%
Memphis	$48,000	2,720	-2%
Morristown	$43,000	610	+242%
Nashville	$45,000	3,480	+4%

Texas

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Abilene	$45,000	460	+80%
Amarillo	$47,000	810	+80%
Austin	$50,000	5,540	+56%
Beaumont	$48,000	1,410	+103%
Brownsville	$49,000	1,520	+173%
College Station	$48,000	590	+53%
Corpus Christi	$48,000	1,200	+55%
Dallas	$54,000	13,100	+38%
El Paso	$51,000	2,810	+133%
Fort Worth	$54,000	6,300	+61%
Houston	$53,000	19,190	+61%
Killeen	$48,000	1,410	+157%
Longview	$44,000	820	+105%
Lubbock	$43,000	880	+64%
Mcallen	$53,000	3,350	+232%
San Angelo	$50,000	430	+168%
San Antonio	$54,000	6,120	+55%
Sherman	$48,000	440	+176%
Texarkana	$42,000	480	+122%
Tyler	$44,000	670	+78%
Victoria	$49,000	350	+86%
Waco	$43,000	860	+105%
Wichita Falls	$45,000	430	+95%

Utah

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Ogden	$54,000	930	+7%
Provo	$49,000	1,110	+51%
Salt Lake City	$46,000	2,270	-17%

Vermont

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Burlington	$58,000	430	-9%

Virginia

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Blacksburg	$55,000	270	+10%
Charlottesville	$60,000	520	+45%
Lynchburg	$43,000	570	+38%
Richmond	$53,000	3,010	+9%
Roanoke	$52,000	620	-8%
Virginia Beach	$59,000	3,700	+8%

Washington

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Bellingham	$58,000	320	+6%
Bremerton	$59,000	390	+14%
Kennewick	$59,000	530	+26%
Longview	$58,000	180	+45%
Mount Vernon	$58,000	140	-19%
Olympia	$58,000	400	-3%
Seattle	$59,000	3,830	-40%
Spokane	$60,000	880	-2%
Tacoma	$61,000	1,430	+22%
Wenatchee	$57,000	200	+34%
Yakima	$56,000	610	+76%

West Virginia

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Huntington	$43,000	1,130	+135%
Parkersburg	$44,000	250	-10%
Wheeling	$43,000	390	+48%

Wisconsin

City and Area	Median Salary	Employees	Job Density
Appleton		180	-63%
Eau Claire	$52,000	360	+19%
Fond	$53,000	450	+172%
Green Bay	$63,000	1,370	+88%
Janesville	$53,000	560	+120%
La Crosse	$53,000	470	+61%
Madison	$49,000	1,260	-16%
Milwaukee	$53,000	2,310	-38%
Oshkosh	$55,000	310	-15%
Racine	$49,000	200	-34%
Sheboygan	$51,000	440	+97%
Wausau	$50,000	160	-40%