Childcare Workers vs Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education
Side-by-side · O*NET · BLS · AI-exposure research · Anthropic Economic Index
A factual, source-backed comparison of Childcare Workers and Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education on the dimensions both occupations carry. Every figure is a position within an independent published dataset — not a verdict on which job is better, safer, or more “future-proof.”
At a glance
| Dimension | Childcare Workers | Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education |
|---|---|---|
| Median pay | $32,050 | $61,430 |
| Employment | 520,180 | 114,410 |
| Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection | Declining (-2.9%) | Declining (-1.6%) |
| Annual openings · BLS projection | 160,200 | 12,800 |
| Typical education · O*NET | Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not. | Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not. |
| AI exposure · published exposure studies | Moderate · 54th pct | High · 67th pct |
| Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk | 31st pct · 19% of tasks | 36th pct · 21% of tasks |
| Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index | Augmentation-leaning (50.1%) | Augmentation-leaning (54.5%) |
| Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman | Yes | Yes |
Pay and employment are BLS OEWS estimates; outlook and openings are BLS 2024–2034 projections; AI exposure and observed-use figures come from separate research and reflect exposure and usage, not predictions that either job will disappear. Compare like with like.
Skills
Shared: Oral Comprehension, Oral Expression, Customer and Personal Service, Problem Sensitivity, English Language, Monitoring, Service Orientation, Education and Training, Social Perceptiveness, Public Safety and Security, Active Listening, Speaking, Critical Thinking, Coordination, Written Comprehension, Deductive Reasoning, Speech Recognition, Psychology, Reading Comprehension, Writing, Active Learning, Learning Strategies, Instructing, Complex Problem Solving, Judgment and Decision Making, Written Expression, Fluency of Ideas, Inductive Reasoning, Information Ordering, Selective Attention, Near Vision, Speech Clarity, Persuasion, Time Management, Originality.
Specific to Childcare Workers
- Far Vision
- Category Flexibility
- Time Sharing
- Flexibility of Closure
- Administration and Management
Specific to Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education
- Mathematics
- Sociology and Anthropology
- Administrative
- Therapy and Counseling
- Computers and Electronics
Knowledge, skills & abilities O*NET rates as important for each occupation. “Shared” are common to both; the columns list what is distinctive to each (top by the order O*NET surfaces).
Tools & technology
Shared: Office suite software , Word processing software , Computer based training software , Multi-media educational software , Desktop communications software .
Specific to Childcare Workers
Specific to Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education
Full profiles
This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Childcare Workers or Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education — tasks, the full skill graph, tools, work context, preparation, wages by percentile, industries, AI exposure and the AI work map.
More comparisons
Related occupations you can place side by side on the same sourced scale.
- Childcare Workers vs Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education
- Childcare Workers vs Nannies
- Childcare Workers vs Personal Care Aides
- Childcare Workers vs Home Health Aides
- Childcare Workers vs Teaching Assistants, Preschool, Elementary, Middle, and Secondary School, Except Special Education
- Childcare Workers vs Health Education Specialists
- Childcare Workers vs Special Education Teachers, Secondary School
- Childcare Workers vs Special Education Teachers, Elementary School
Sources for this page
Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.
- O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27) Anthropic
- Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai Microsoft Research
- “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic
- AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans academic
- ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025 International Labour Organization
- IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022 Institute for Structural Research (IBS)
- Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation academic
- Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome academic
Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.
Cite this page
Singulariki. "Childcare Workers vs Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/compare/childcare-workers-vs-kindergarten-teachers-except-special-education
Singulariki. (2026). Childcare Workers vs Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/childcare-workers-vs-kindergarten-teachers-except-special-education
@misc{singulariki-childcare-workers-vs-kindergarten-teachers-except-special-education,
title = {Childcare Workers vs Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education},
author = {{Singulariki}},
year = {2026},
note = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
url = {https://singulariki.com/compare/childcare-workers-vs-kindergarten-teachers-except-special-education}
} Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.