Salary Averages

• The mean annual wage for education administrators who work at preschool and childcare setting institutions was $50,410 as of May 2010, reports the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Pay ranged from $27,210 for those in the 10th percentile to $85,110 for those in the 90th percentile. The middle 50 percent earned from $33,340 to $60,630. The median wage for this occupation was $42,960.
  
  

Employer Averages

• Approximately 65 percent of all preschool education administrators worked in daycare centers. The average wage was more than $6,000 below the national mean salary, with these professionals earning $43,830. Much higher than average pay was given to those who worked for elementary and secondary schools with preschool departments, earning $73,210 per year. Supervisors and directors at centers managed by religious institutions also earned above average wages, making a mean annual age of $60,630. Family service providers paid just above the mean rate at $51,030 per year, but those working for daycare centers managed by social service organizations earned less, making $45,090 per year on average.
  
  

State Pay

• Nearly twice as many daycare center and supervisor professionals worked in California than in any other state, earning a mean annual wage of $54,630. New York was the second-largest state for employment, but offered the top rate among states. Daycare centers located in the Empire State paid $67,400 on average. Other top paying locations included Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Illinois with salaries ranging from $56,550 to $58,090 per year. On the lower end of the salary spectrum the bureau reported that pay averaged $31,240 in West Virginia; $34,140 in North Dakota and $35,990 in Iowa.
  
  

Metropolitan Area Pay

• Among metropolitan areas, top pay for daycare center directors and other supervisors was in Flint, Michigan, where these professionals enjoyed average wages exceeding the 90th percentile, earning $86,300 per year. Those working in Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida, earned $84,920 on average while those in Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton, New Jersey, averaged $75,040 annually. Metropolitan areas where daycare director pay averaged below the national mean included Iowa City, Iowa at $31,250 per year; Goldsboro, North Carolina, at $36,050 annually; and Yuma, Arizona, at $37,570 per year;