Library Technicians salary

SOC 25-4031 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$44,580

per year, nationally

Middle half

$35,740–$52,430

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

68,690

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-6.8%

13,000 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.

$29,300$63,080

10th: $29,300
25th: $35,740
Median: $44,580
75th: $52,430
90th: $63,080

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Postsecondary nondegree award
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: None

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

Where library 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	Washington	$62,570	107.0	1,850	1.18×
2	District of Columbia	$61,040	109.9	390	1.27×
3	Connecticut	$57,060	103.6	930	1.25×
4	California	$53,260	110.7	7,190	0.89×
5	Minnesota	$51,110	98.6	1,180	0.90×
6	Hawaii	$50,870	110.0	110	0.40×
7	Massachusetts	$50,430	105.8	1,910	1.19×
8	Vermont	$50,090	98.0	150	1.10×
9	New York	$50,060	107.9	3,390	0.79×
10	Oregon	$49,970	103.4	1,810	2.09×
11	Maryland	$48,920	105.0	1,980	1.62×
12	New Jersey	$48,840	108.8	1,060	0.56×
13	Rhode Island	$48,740	102.3	160	0.74×
14	New Hampshire	$48,650	104.2	280	0.94×
15	Delaware	$47,580	99.8	210	0.96×
16	Illinois	$47,120	100.0	2,140	0.79×
17	Alaska	$46,940	102.4	220	1.53×
18	Colorado	$46,680	103.1	2,250	1.77×
19	North Carolina	$46,520	94.3	2,350	1.08×
20	Pennsylvania	$46,100	97.6	1,560	0.58×
21	Nevada	$45,650	100.0	410	0.59×
22	Virginia	$45,560	101.1	2,580	1.42×
23	Maine	$44,520	97.0	320	1.13×
24	Kansas	$41,960	90.1	480	0.76×
25	Florida	$41,080	103.4	3,070	0.70×
26	Arizona	$40,510	100.7	820	0.57×
27	Utah	$40,160	98.9	310	0.40×
28	North Dakota	$39,240	89.0	370	1.97×
29	Louisiana	$39,180	88.2	1,410	1.64×
30	Missouri	$39,160	90.8	1,360	1.05×
31	New Mexico	$38,830	92.2	540	1.41×
32	Texas	$38,640	97.1	5,180	0.83×
33	Iowa	$38,590	87.8	1,510	2.19×
34	Montana	$38,220	94.6	370	1.66×
35	Ohio	$37,920	92.8	4,020	1.64×
36	Georgia	$37,320	96.3	2,130	0.99×
37	Alabama	$37,150	88.8	390	0.42×
38	Nebraska	$36,920	90.1	710	1.56×
39	Tennessee	$36,400	91.9	390	0.27×
40	South Carolina	$36,070	93.7	650	0.64×
41	Kentucky	$35,700	90.2	670	0.76×
42	Indiana	$35,560	93.3	1,470	1.04×
43	Wisconsin	$35,000	94.1	2,890	2.22×
44	Michigan	$34,680	96.2	2,180	1.12×
45	Idaho	$34,510	95.5	520	1.37×
46	West Virginia	$30,300	89.5	280	0.91×
47	South Dakota	$29,590	88.6	650	3.20×
48	Oklahoma	$29,440	87.8	830	1.10×
49	Arkansas	$28,570	86.9	390	0.67×
50	Mississippi	$27,080	87.0	270	0.53×
51	Wyoming	$26,850	92.7	400	3.19×

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 library technicians wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for library technicians

The 40 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	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$65,690	111.1	1,290	1.39×
2	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$65,630	103.7	60	0.97×
3	New Haven, CT	$63,970	104.6	230	1.86×
4	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$63,690	115.6	730	0.70×
5	Yakima, WA	$63,270	95.5	40	1.05×
6	Ithaca, NY	$62,960	103.3	50	2.50×
7	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$62,550	110.4	310	0.62×
8	Fairbanks-College, AK	$61,960	103.2	50	3.03×
9	Rochester, MN	$61,750	90.8	40	0.71×
10	Binghamton, NY	$61,720	92.9	70	1.59×
11	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$61,470	107.8	160	1.71×
12	Iowa City, IA	$61,300	91.5	90	2.05×
13	Syracuse, NY	$58,520	95.7	180	1.38×
14	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$58,380	102.7	360	1.37×
15	Bellingham, WA	$57,990	103.3	60	1.56×
16	Vallejo, CA	$57,670	108.5	70	1.14×
17	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$57,510	108.6	90	1.61×
18	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$57,330	108.3	1,290	1.08×
19	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$57,290	108.9	2,060	1.49×
20	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$57,050	105.4	990	1.85×
21	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$56,510	106.4	870	1.15×
22	Mankato, MN	$56,310	91.0	30	1.36×
23	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$56,270	100.3	60	0.56×
24	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$56,160	108.8	140	1.60×
25	Albuquerque, NM	$56,140	95.5	150	0.82×
26	Hanford-Corcoran, CA	$55,960	101.6	50	2.09×
27	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$55,630	106.7	580	1.21×
28	Modesto, CA	$55,440	104.1	80	0.96×
29	Corvallis, OR	$55,360	104.0	50	3.22×
30	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$54,920	111.9	720	1.06×
31	Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY	$54,360	95.8	70	0.31×
32	Champaign-Urbana, IL	$53,680	92.7	190	4.04×
33	Salinas, CA	$53,460	109.0	80	0.96×
34	Charlottesville, VA	$52,690	99.1	110	2.11×
35	Urban Honolulu, HI	$52,450	111.0	80	0.42×
36	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$52,040	112.6	2,850	0.68×
37	Raleigh-Cary, NC	$52,020	98.2	120	0.36×
38	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$51,820	105.6	80	1.92×
39	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$51,520	104.8	780	0.91×
40	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$51,230	106.9	190	1.06×

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 library technicians wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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

Librarians and Media Collections Specialists$68,270
Museum Technicians and Conservators$51,440
Curators$63,420
Archivists$64,550