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Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School pay in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA and Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School is $105,290 per year in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA. It is $98,940 per year in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA is 6.4% above Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 25-2052 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 3,440 wage and salary jobs in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA and 300 in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, 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.