Nuclear Technicians salary

SOC 19-4051 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$110,240

per year, nationally

Middle half

$99,110–$123,990

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

6,470

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-7.7%

700 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$73,150$133,600

10th: $73,150
25th: $99,110
Median: $110,240
75th: $123,990
90th: $133,600

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Associate's degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Moderate-term on-the-job training

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where nuclear technicians earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Florida	$135,550	103.4	60	0.14×
2	New York	$129,780	107.9	260	0.66×
3	Pennsylvania	$124,070	97.6	310	1.24×
4	Texas	$124,060	97.1	110	0.20×
5	Massachusetts	$113,390	105.8	50	0.34×
6	North Carolina	$110,430	94.3	420	2.03×
7	Illinois	$110,390	100.0	780	3.08×
8	Alabama	$110,240	88.8	280	3.24×
9	South Carolina	$108,490	93.7	750	7.79×
10	Washington	$108,200	107.0	90	0.61×
11	Missouri	$104,580	90.8	150	1.25×
12	California	$99,270	110.7	—	—
13	Virginia	$98,930	101.1	680	3.96×
14	Tennessee	$91,980	91.9	110	0.83×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where nuclear technicians wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for nuclear technicians

The 9 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$171,470	112.6	100	0.25×
2	Birmingham, AL	$126,930	91.6	60	2.70×
3	Richmond, VA	$122,210	97.9	60	2.13×
4	Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC	$114,910	97.9	90	2.92×
5	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$113,390	108.3	50	0.45×
6	Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC	$108,210	91.9	260	26.51×
7	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$99,990	103.6	470	2.51×
8	Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC	$96,730	93.3	30	1.71×
9	Knoxville, TN	$78,850	92.6	60	3.39×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where nuclear technicians wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Life, Physical, and Social Science Technicians, All Other$62,280
Biological Technicians$57,510
Chemical Technicians$60,390
Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health$55,090
Social Science Research Assistants$61,990
Forest and Conservation Technicians$54,560
Forensic Science Technicians$72,060
Agricultural Technicians$49,630