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How to hire a reading tutor

Reading tutor hiring summary. Here are some key points about hiring reading tutors in the United States:

  • In the United States, the median cost per hire a reading tutor is $1,633.
  • It takes between 36 and 42 days to fill the average role in the US.
  • Human Resources use 15% of their expenses on recruitment on average.
  • On average, it takes around 12 weeks for a new reading tutor to become settled and show total productivity levels at work.

How to hire a reading tutor, step by step

To hire a reading tutor, you should clearly understand the skills and experience you are looking for in a candidate, and allocate a budget for the position. You will also need to post and promote the job opening to reach potential candidates. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to hire a reading tutor:

Here's a step-by-step reading tutor hiring guide:

  • Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
  • Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
  • Step 3: Make a budget
  • Step 4: Write a reading tutor job description
  • Step 5: Post your job
  • Step 6: Interview candidates
  • Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new reading tutor
  • Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a reading tutor do?

Typically working with children, a reading tutor facilitates activities that enhance students' reading and comprehension skills. They may provide tutoring sessions in a one-on-one or group setting, depending on their place of employment. Their responsibilities include developing lesson plans and activities in adherence to the students' needs, conducting skills assessments, preparing quizzes and tests, grading performances, and assisting students in the areas they find difficult. Moreover, as a reading tutor, it is essential to motivate students to reach goals while making them feel comfortable throughout the lessons.

Learn more about the specifics of what a reading tutor does
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  1. Identify your hiring needs

    First, determine the employments status of the reading tutor you need to hire. Certain reading tutor roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

    Determine employee vs contractor status
    Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

    Hiring the perfect reading tutor also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

    This list shows salaries for various types of reading tutors.

    Type of Reading TutorDescriptionHourly rate
    Reading Tutor$10-23
    Tutor/MentorTutors and mentors are two different teaching jobs. Tutors oversee helping students understand varied subjects, assessing as well as encouraging them during the learning process... Show more$11-18
    Learning Center InstructorLearning center instructors' primary goal is to give direct mediation instruction for recognized students. They cooperate with staff members on suitable student placement for constructive learning... Show more$10-24
  2. Create an ideal candidate profile

    Common skills:
    • Kids
    • Math
    • Professional Development
    • AmeriCorps
    • English Language
    • ESL
    • Reading Comprehension
    • Language Arts
    • K-3
    • Language
    • Mathematics
    • Learning Styles
    • Community Services
    • Study
    Check all skills
    Responsibilities:
    • Manage a phonetic/whole language curriculum for middle/high school students with various learning differences.
    • Work with students with ADHD, dyslexia and other learning disabilities.
    • Perform the role of a reading tutor for students that have English as a second language (ESL).
    • Design and implement lessons focuse on fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, and phonemic awareness.
    • Prepare and implement IEP goals.
    • Provide accommodations for IEP students.
    More reading tutor duties
  3. Make a budget

    Including a salary range in your reading tutor job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A reading tutor salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

    For example, the average salary for a reading tutor in Alaska may be lower than in Hawaii, and an entry-level reading tutor usually earns less than a senior-level reading tutor. Additionally, a reading tutor with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

    Average reading tutor salary

    $15.48hourly

    $32,191 yearly

    Entry-level reading tutor salary
    $21,000 yearly salary
    Updated December 5, 2025

    Average reading tutor salary by state

    RankStateAvg. salaryHourly rate
    1California$36,382$17
    2Connecticut$35,058$17
    3Texas$31,285$15
    4Georgia$30,646$15
    5Massachusetts$30,646$15
    6Oklahoma$29,513$14
    7Wisconsin$27,144$13
    8Idaho$26,186$13
    9Minnesota$26,059$13
    10Utah$24,597$12
    11Michigan$23,886$11
    12Florida$23,244$11
    13Indiana$22,698$11

    Average reading tutor salary by company

    RankCompanyAverage salaryHourly rateJob openings
    1Irving Isd$55,741$26.807
    2Benicia Unified School District$47,652$22.91
    3Falcon School District 49$46,523$22.3711
    4Andover Public Schools$45,841$22.0421
    5Stratford Board Of Education$44,704$21.4913
    6Huntington Learning Center$43,647$20.9858
    7Charter Schools USA$41,688$20.041
    8Concord Community Schools$37,065$17.823
    9Tutoring Club$35,134$16.8915
    10KidPass$33,936$16.32
    11AHC$33,723$16.212
    12Educate!$33,505$16.11536
    13Baltimore Corps$32,481$15.62
    14Americorps$32,407$15.5833
    15Griswold Public Schools$31,873$15.326
    16Wethersfield High School$31,643$15.214
    17Aims Community College$31,482$15.144
    18First Coast YMCA - Metropolitan Office$25,571$12.293
    19Davenport University$25,110$12.07
    20YMCA of Greater New York$24,337$11.705
  4. Writing a reading tutor job description

    A job description for a reading tutor role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a reading tutor job description:

    Reading tutor job description example

    HIRING NOW FOR IMMEDIATE OPENINGS!
    HUNTINGTON LEARNING CENTER is the most established tutoring, exam preparation, and supplemental education provider in the US. With over 300 locations, Huntington Learning Center is recognized as a national leader in equipping students (K-12) with the tools needed to achieve academic success. We assess students and individualize student-specific programs, which our instructors then implement using proven techniques and strategies.
    The Huntington Learning Center in Plantation, FL offers a highly supportive, fun, and motivational teaching environment with competitive pay, continual training, and flexible hours. Our instructors teach on an individual basis, which enables students to achieve tremendous progress in a relatively short period of time. As our students improve their skills, their confidence in learning grows, along with their motivation to do better in school.
    We need tutors for every subject at all grade levels.

    A few of the benefits of teaching at Huntington Learning Center:
    Team atmosphere: At Huntington, we believe that for each of us to succeed, it is necessary to have a positive and supportive environment where everyone is part of a professional team. Each person in the center is friendly, helpful, and committed to personal and professional growth.
    Continual training: Along with being fully trained on Huntington curriculum and guidelines, you will receive continuous training opportunities, with which even the most experienced teachers can gain new insights. Huntington’s unique skills and techniques add useful and valuable tools to any teacher’s repertoire. We will increase your effectiveness, enhance your present skills, and help you develop new ones.
    Grateful students: Work directly with a variety of students at all grade levels on an individual basis. There are no discipline problems, and full-time staff conduct all parent discussions, so you as the teacher can focus on doing what you do best: teaching. Because you can track each of your student’s daily progress, you will see marked improvement in their skills, confidence, and motivation, which in turn rewards you with the knowledge that you truly are making in a difference in their lives.
    Year-round flexible hours: You can teach from 6-30 Hours per week, depending on YOUR availability! Our after-school and summer hours adapt to your changing schedule, and since no preparation is needed beforehand, it's an ideal after-school job that's even better than tutoring on your own.
    Requirements: College degree and/or teaching certification.Past experience as a teacher or tutor will be considered.

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  5. Post your job

    To find the right reading tutor for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

    • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
    • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with reading tutors they would recommend.
    • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit reading tutors who meet your education requirements.
    • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.
    Post your job online:
    • Post your reading tutor job on Zippia to find and recruit reading tutor candidates who meet your exact specifications.
    • Use field-specific websites such as k12jobspot, learn4good, serious teachers, teachingjobs.com.
    • Post a job on free websites.
  6. Interview candidates

    Recruiting reading tutors requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

    Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

    The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

  7. Send a job offer and onboard your new reading tutor

    Once you've found the reading tutor candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

    It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

    Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new reading tutor. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

  8. Go through the hiring process checklist

    • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
    • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
    • Define job responsibilities and requirements
    • Establish budget and timeline
    • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
    • Write job description
    • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
    • Promote the job internally
    • Process applications through applicant tracking system
    • Review resumes and cover letters
    • Shortlist candidates for screening
    • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
    • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
    • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
    • Conduct background checks on top candidates
    • Check references of top candidates
    • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
    • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
    • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
    • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
    • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
    • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)
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How much does it cost to hire a reading tutor?

There are different types of costs for hiring reading tutors. One-time cost per hire for the recruitment process. Ongoing costs include employee salary, training, onboarding, benefits, insurance, and equipment. It is essential to consider all of these costs when evaluating hiring a new reading tutor employee.

Reading tutors earn a median yearly salary is $32,191 a year in the US. However, if you're looking to find reading tutors for hire on a contract or per-project basis, hourly rates typically range between $10 and $23.

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