Educational Services is the largest employing industry in Southwest and South Central Minnesota, providing just over 16,000 jobs.
It was also one of the largest growing – adding more than 1,400 jobs since 2000, a +10% jump! wages in education are above average, and have increased more than +20% over the past 10 years.
In a 2019 report, school districts indicated that the demographics of their teachers did not reflect those of their students. The number of students of color increased in every region of the state, yet school districts reported that it was difficult to recruit teachers of color from different racial and ethnic backgrounds.
In sum, education, training, and library occupations are expected to gain 200 new jobs, but will have more than 5,000 replacement openings as current teachers retire or change jobs for other reasons. This means there will be hundreds of jobs available each year in school districts and colleges and universities across the region.
