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Special Education Teachers, All Other pay in Merced, CA and Salinas, CA
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Special Education Teachers, All Other is $96,560 per year in Merced, CA. It is $112,900 per year in Salinas, CA. Merced, CA is 14.5% below Salinas, CA on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 25-2059 and the same annual wage metric. Median means the middle of each area's published wage spread. It is not one worker's pay. The larger median is not proof that one place gives a better job or a better result. It is one wage fact from one source period.
BLS lists 70 wage and salary jobs in Merced, CA and 200 in Salinas, CA. Those are survey job counts, not open posts. Read pay, job scale, local share, and price level as separate facts before you make a choice.
Evidence: bls-oews-may-2025 · Rule: same-soc-same-metric-pair · nominal-median-gap · employment-not-openings