Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians

About

Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians are most often employed by the Medical equipment & supplies manufacturing industry. The average yearly wage for Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians was $45,824 in 2024.

The locations that employ the most Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians are Orange County (Northwest)--Garden Grove City (East) PUMA, CA, Murfreesboro city PUMA, TN, and Utah County (West)--Saratoga Springs, Payson & Lehi (Southwest) Cities PUMA, UT. The locations with a relatively high concentration of Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians are South Region--George, Hancock, Pearl River & Stone Counties PUMA, MS, Benton (Southwest), Sherburne (Northwest) & Stearns (East) Counties--St. Cloud City PUMA, MN, and Orange County (Northwest)--Garden Grove City (East) PUMA, CA.

Production Occupations Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations

Employment

Employment and salary information for the Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians workforce. Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians workforce in 2024 was 83,983 people, of which 57.6% were women and 42.4% were men. Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians are paid most in Houston, Geneva & Henry Counties--Dothan City PUMA, AL but are relatively concentrated in South Region--George, Hancock, Pearl River & Stone Counties PUMA, MS.

Employment Over Time

Metric

Grouping

35,632

Male Workforce

± 4.63k

48,351

Female Workforce

± 5.4k

The Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians workforce in 2024 was 83,983 people (57.6% women and 42.4% men). This implies an average annual growth of 2.73% between 2014 (81,752) and 2024 (83,983).

Employment by Location

Level

Metric

This map shows the states in the United States shaded by average wage for Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians.

During 2024, the states that concentrated the best average annual wage were Connecticut ($70,559), Montana ($56,208), and New Jersey ($52,946).

Yearly Wage Ranking

$45,824

AVERAGE WAGE

#316 in the ranking (2014)

$69,878

NATIONAL AVERAGE WAGE

For all occupations across the US

In 2024, Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians earned an average of $45,824, $24,053 less than the average national salary of $69,878

The graph shows the ranking of Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians in relation to all Detailed Occupation in 2014.

Wage Distribution

Gender

0.317

WAGE GINI

In 2024, Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians had a wage GINI coefficient of 0.317, which is lower than the national average of 0.474. In other words, wages are distributed more evenly for Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians (shown in red) than for the overall labor force (shown in gray).

The graphic shows the distribution of average salaries by buckets for Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians compared to the entire workforce in the country.

Industry

Information on the industries that employ Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians and on wages for those in the field. Medical equipment & supplies manufacturing is the industry that employs the most Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians, both by share and by number, though the highest paid industry for Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians, by average wage, is Electronic & precision equipment repair and maintenance ($68,746).

Occupations by Industries

Metric

Value

84k

2024 Workforce

± 7,113

−1.05%

1 YEAR GROWTH

± 12.1%

This graphic shows the share of Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians employed by various industries. Medical equipment & supplies manufacturing employs the largest share of Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians at 45.5%, followed by Offices of dentists with 22.1% and Offices of physicians with 20.9%.

Diversity

Demographic information on Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians in the US. The workforce of Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians in 2024 was 83,983 people, with 57.6% woman, and 42.4% men. The average age of male Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians in the workforce is 43.9 and of female Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians is 40.3, and the most common race/ethnicity for Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians is White.

Gender and Age

Metric

The workforce of Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians in 2024 was 83,983 people, with 57.6% woman, and 42.4% men.

The age ranges that concentrated the largest workforce were 25 to 29 years (11,051 people), 30 to 34 years (10,708 people), and 20 to 24 years (10,097 people). Among them they concentrated 38% of the total workforce.

Ethnicity

Gender

In 2024, 20.8% of Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians workers were Hispanic and 79.2% non-Hispanic.

The treemap shows the distribution of Hispanic workers according to their origin, highlighting Mexican (50.7%), Puerto Rican (14.3)%, and Colombian (6.23)%

You can review this information by gender using the selectors above.

Races

In 2024, 60.3% of the Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians workforce were White, of which 59.1% were women and 40.9% men. Other races that concentrated a significant number of workers were Two or More Races (12.9%) and Asian (10.8%).

Education & Skills

Data on higher education choices for Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians from The Department of Education and Census Bureau. The most common major for Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians is Biology but the most specialized major according to RCA in 2024 were Biology.

Among the necessary skills for Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians, Critical Thinking stands, but the revealed comparative advantage (RCA) shows that Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians need more than the average amount of Repairing.

Majors

ACS PUMS data only shows the major for bachelor's degrees. However, we can filter the data based on highest degree obtained.

Type of Majors

Degree

The most common majors achieved by Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians in 2024 (counting all academic degrees) were Biology (2,861 people), Health (2,837 people), and Business (1,892 people).

You can review this information for different academic grades by modifying the option selected in the selector above.

Education Levels

Metric

The main educational levels achieved by the Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians workers were Some college (26,769 people), High School or Equivalent (23,095 people), and Bachelors Degree (13,662 people).

The graphic shows the Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians workforce by gender and educational level.

Skills

Chart

Value

Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Reading Comprehension, Time Management.

Medical, dental, & ophthalmic laboratory technicians

Keep Exploring