Personal Care and Service Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages High openings flow SOC 39-9011

Childcare Workers

About 160,200 projected annual openings shape how to read Childcare Workers against First-Line Supervisors of Gambling Services Workers, Motion Picture Projectionists, Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers, Embalmers.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Childcare Workers: First-Line Supervisors of Gambling Services Workers ($64K) , Motion Picture Projectionists ($38K) , Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers ($55K) , Embalmers ($59K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Childcare Workers publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 39-9011 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Maintain a safe play environment
  2. 2. Observe and monitor children's play activities
  3. 3. Communicate with children's parents or guardians about daily activities, behaviors, and related issues
  4. 4. Support children's emotional and social development, encouraging understanding of others and positive self-concepts
  5. 5. Care for children in institutional setting, such as group homes, nursery schools, private businesses, or schools for people with disabili…
  6. 6. Sanitize toys and play equipment
  7. 7. Dress children and change diapers
  8. 8. Keep records on individual children, including daily observations and information about activities, meals served, and medications adminis…
  9. 9. Identify signs of emotional or developmental problems in children and bring them to parents' or guardians' attention
  10. 10. Instruct children in health and personal habits, such as eating, resting, and toilet habits
  11. 11. Organize and store toys and materials to ensure order in activity areas
  12. 12. Sterilize bottles and prepare formulas

Childcare Workers: O*NET ranks Monitoring first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 39-9011 - lead skill Monitoring at 3.5 ; lead knowledge Customer and Personal Service. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Monitoring 3.5
  2. 2. Service Orientation 3.4
  3. 3. Social Perceptiveness 3.3
  4. 4. Active Listening 3.1
  5. 5. Speaking 3.1
  6. 6. Critical Thinking 3.1
  7. 7. Coordination 3.1
  8. 8. Reading Comprehension 3.0

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Customer and Personal Service 3.7
  2. 2. English Language 3.5
  3. 3. Education and Training 3.4
  4. 4. Public Safety and Security 3.2
  5. 5. Psychology 3.0
  6. 6. Administration and Management 2.9
Projected annual openings
160,200
growth + transfers + exits
National median $34,980/yr
$35K
National median
↓ -3%
Growth 2024-2034
518,910
Estimated US jobs
First-Line Supervisors of Gambling Services Workers
Highest-pay peer · $64K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education High school diploma or equivalent

Top Paying States for Childcare Workers

1. Washington $41,680
2. California $40,020
3. District of Columbia $47,340
4. Colorado $40,750
5. Massachusetts $40,900
6. Hawaii $37,030
7. New Hampshire $37,080
8. Vermont $38,030
9. New York $37,590
10. Oregon $38,650

Other Personal Care and Service Occupations titles

  1. 1. Motion Picture Projectionists $38,270
  2. 2. Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers $55,010
  3. 3. Embalmers $58,780
  4. 4. Crematory Operators $43,650
  5. 5. First-Line Supervisors of Gambling Services Workers $63,820
  6. 6. Exercise Trainers and Group Fitness Instructors $47,160

Roughly 160,200 projected annual openings (growth, transfers, exits) are the scale signal for Childcare Workers. Median pay is $34,980 in Personal Care and Service Occupations.

Employment Projections expect -3% change between 2024 and 2034 (declining vs baseline 3.1%). BLS assigns High school diploma or equivalent as typical education needed for entry. These are occupation-level assignments, not universal requirements. BLS does not publish a separate occupation-specific safety rate for this role; its broad SOC-group rate is excluded from this career card's grade.

Highest published state median in this ranking: Washington at $41,680. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: First-Line Supervisors of Gambling Services Workers at $63,820. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Childcare Workers pay-rank #26 in Personal Care and Service Occupations

On the Personal Care and Service Occupations median table (32 detailed occupations with OEWS medians), Childcare Workers lands at #26, in the lower third. That rank is a table position, not a statement about individual workers.

Other lower-third titles · closest medians

Full Salary Details Compare this role

Data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Projections from BLS Employment Projections program, 2024-2034.

A high-volume role means the state map matters more than the national median. Compare Childcare Workers against a named state, a tighter-labor peer, or another SOC.

Childcare Workers salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 39-9011

Washington · top state for Childcare Workers

$42K published median

California · #2 state pay

$40K · behind Washington

First-Line Supervisors of Gambling Services Workers

Highest-pay peer vs Childcare Workers · $64K

Motion Picture Projectionists

Lower-pay peer beside Childcare Workers · $38K

Compare Childcare Workers

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Childcare Workers with another occupation →

Openings and labor-flow next reads

Most Openings Rankings

Labor-flow scale across occupations

Compare openings side-by-side

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Frequently Asked Questions

Where does Childcare Workers land on the Personal Care and Service Occupations median table? ▼
Childcare Workers is pay-rank #26 of 32 in this major group, lower third of the median table. Closest lower-third titles: Gambling and Sports Book Writers and Runners ($35K), Animal Caretakers ($35K), Gambling Dealers ($34K), Funeral Attendants ($36K). That position is a table rank, not a worker percentile.
What do childcare workers do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Childcare Workers. Leading ones include: Maintain a safe play environment; Observe and monitor children's play activities; Communicate with children's parents or guardians about daily activities, behaviors, and related issues; Support children's emotional and social development, encouraging understanding of others and positive self-concepts. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for childcare workers? ▼
For SOC 39-9011, O*NET importance scores lead with Monitoring (3.5), Service Orientation (3.4), Social Perceptiveness (3.3), Active Listening (3.1). Knowledge areas emphasize Customer and Personal Service, English Language, Education and Training. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
What is the OEWS national median for Childcare Workers? ▼
May 2025 OEWS reports $34,980 as the national median for Childcare Workers. The published 10th-90th range is $24,260 to $46,010. Beside First-Line Supervisors of Gambling Services Workers ($63,820), this is the occupation-level national figure, not a local offer.
What employment change does BLS publish for Childcare Workers? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Childcare Workers is -3%. Projected annual openings: about 160,200. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: declining.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Childcare Workers? ▼
Washington ($41,680), California ($40,020), District of Columbia ($47,340) lead this ranking. The table does not identify why those state estimates differ.

Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Wage and state figures use BLS OEWS May 2025; growth and education use BLS Employment Projections for 2024-2034; safety fields cite BLS CFOI/SOII; task statements cite O*NET where shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

Disclaimer: Wage and outlook figures on this page are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute career, financial, or salary-negotiation advice. Actual pay varies by employer, experience, and local conditions; consult a career counselor or the hiring employer for guidance specific to your situation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OES Occupational wage estimates by area and industry · 2025

Federal sources on this Childcare Workers card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 39-9011. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Childcare Workers. onetcenter.org
  • BLS Employment Projections - 2024-2034 change and openings for this occupation. bls.gov/emp
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - demographic and labor-force context for state and metro geography. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) - payroll-tax aggregate context for wage comparisons. irs.gov/statistics