Substitute Teachers, Short-Term

Low pay & lowrisk
Low Risk
Low High

Explore safer careers (5)

Lower estimated automation risk

Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education
11% automation risk | Minimal Risk
Pays better More jobs
21.1 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Applies lesson delivery, classroom control, subject preparation, assessment, and adolescent student support.

Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education
12% automation risk | Minimal Risk
Pays better More jobs
20.1 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Builds on classroom management, lesson delivery, assessment, parent contact, and school procedures.

Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education
12% automation risk | Minimal Risk
Pays better More jobs
20.5 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Uses classroom management, subject instruction, student support, grading, and school routines.

Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education
16% automation risk | Minimal Risk
Higher growth
15.8 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Fits substitutes with early-childhood assignments using supervision, routines, activities, and family communication.

Training and Development Specialists
19% automation risk | Minimal Risk
Pays better Higher growth
13 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Applies facilitation, instructional materials, learner needs, feedback, and presentation skills.

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Occupation snapshot

What does this snowflake show?
The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
JOB SCORE
4.4/10
What's this?
Job Score (higher is better):

We rate jobs using four factors. These are:

- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions

These are some key things to think about when job hunting.

Risk & user votes

Calculated automation risk

32% (Low Risk)

Low Risk (21-40%): This occupation has a lower risk of full replacement by AI, software, or robotic systems. Some tasks may be automated or assisted, but the role usually still relies on human judgement, communication, responsibility, physical adaptability, or practical decision-making.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Human strengths important in this job

These are human abilities and work contexts that are important in this occupation. They may help explain why parts of the role are harder to replace end-to-end, but they are not the only inputs into the automation score.

Assisting and caring for others

Quite important
Why this matters
Provide hands-on help, emotional support, or personal care to people—work that depends on empathy, trust, and responding to individual needs in the moment.
Jobs that also use this strength

Social perceptiveness

Quite important
Why this matters
Noticing others’ emotions and reactions in the moment and adjusting what you say or do based on why they’re responding that way.
Jobs that also use this strength

Critical thinking

Quite important
Why this matters
Weigh options using logic and evidence, spot weaknesses in arguments, and choose the best approach when there isn’t a single clear answer.
Jobs that also use this strength

Education and training expertise

Quite important
Why this matters
Designing and delivering instruction—adapting lessons to different learners and measuring whether training actually works.
Jobs that also use this strength

What users think

Based on 0 votes

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Substitute Teachers, Short-Term will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

Pay & outlook

Wages

Very low paid relative to other professions

In 2024, the median annual wage for Substitute Teachers, Short-Term was $38,470 ($18 per hour).

The median annual wage for Substitute Teachers, Short-Term was 22.3% lower than the national median annual wage, which stood at $49,500.

View wage trend

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Growth

Slow growth relative to other professions.

The number of 'Substitute Teachers, Short-Term' job openings is expected to rise 1.6% by 2034

View employment trend

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Volume

Significantly greater range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2024 there were 481,300 people employed as 'Substitute Teachers, Short-Term' within the United States.

This represents around 0.31% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 320 people are employed as 'Substitute Teachers, Short-Term'.

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Job description

Teach students on a short-term basis as a temporary replacement for a regular classroom teacher, typically using the regular teacher's lesson plan.

O*NET-SOC code: 25-3031.00