Dentists, General salary

SOC 29-1021 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$170,950

per year, nationally

Middle half

$125,710–$224,040

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

124,390

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+4.1%

3,900 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.

$86,250$319,630

10th: $86,250
25th: $125,710
Median: $170,950
75th: $224,040
90th: $319,630

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Doctoral or professional degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: None

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

Where dentists, general 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	Alaska	$230,990	102.4	310	1.18×
2	North Dakota	$220,660	89.0	260	0.76×
3	Minnesota	$219,200	98.6	2,370	1.01×
4	Tennessee	$215,290	91.9	2,200	0.84×
5	Oregon	$211,690	103.4	1,660	1.05×
6	Maine	$209,200	97.0	310	0.60×
7	North Carolina	$207,000	94.3	4,140	1.05×
8	Georgia	$206,760	96.3	2,620	0.67×
9	Vermont	$204,960	98.0	240	1.00×
10	Missouri	$204,960	90.8	2,440	1.04×
11	Virginia	$197,110	101.1	4,140	1.26×
12	Arizona	$194,180	100.7	3,470	1.34×
13	Wisconsin	$193,690	94.1	2,560	1.09×
14	New York	$183,060	107.9	7,340	0.95×
15	Massachusetts	$181,600	105.8	2,780	0.96×
16	Iowa	$181,520	87.8	1,240	0.99×
17	Nebraska	$179,750	90.1	790	0.97×
18	Arkansas	$178,930	86.9	1,210	1.16×
19	New Hampshire	$177,480	104.2	500	0.91×
20	Florida	$174,900	103.4	9,320	1.17×
21	New Jersey	$171,330	108.8	2,980	0.87×
22	Louisiana	$170,750	88.2	1,500	0.97×
23	West Virginia	$170,370	89.5	420	0.75×
24	Michigan	$169,930	96.2	3,620	1.03×
25	Washington	$169,730	107.0	3,240	1.14×
26	Maryland	$168,500	105.0	2,100	0.95×
27	Hawaii	$167,820	110.0	830	1.66×
28	Ohio	$167,410	92.8	2,790	0.63×
29	Montana	$167,200	94.6	380	0.94×
30	Indiana	$166,650	93.3	2,300	0.90×
31	Colorado	$166,240	103.1	2,940	1.28×
32	Oklahoma	$166,170	87.8	980	0.72×
33	California	$165,950	110.7	16,770	1.15×
34	Pennsylvania	$163,390	97.6	4,460	0.92×
35	Texas	$162,360	97.1	8,920	0.79×
36	Nevada	$162,200	100.0	1,100	0.88×
37	Rhode Island	$161,560	102.3	360	0.91×
38	Connecticut	$160,440	103.6	1,950	1.44×
39	South Carolina	$158,640	93.7	2,140	1.16×
40	South Dakota	$158,140	88.6	390	1.05×
41	Illinois	$156,110	100.0	6,940	1.42×
42	New Mexico	$155,260	92.2	780	1.12×
43	Mississippi	$143,660	87.0	740	0.80×
44	Kentucky	$134,160	90.2	790	0.49×
45	Utah	$133,320	98.9	1,020	0.73×
46	Idaho	$124,190	95.5	650	0.94×
47	Wyoming	$123,830	92.7	240	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. States where dentists, general wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for dentists, general

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	North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL	$241,850	102.4	450	1.67×
2	Memphis, TN-MS-AR	$238,040	92.2	280	0.58×
3	Columbia, SC	$228,820	93.7	480	1.53×
4	Anchorage, AK	$228,030	105.4	180	1.29×
5	Evansville, IN	$225,620	91.5	70	0.69×
6	Bend, OR	$224,990	103.6	120	1.39×
7	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$222,690	100.1	1,710	0.74×
8	Hanford-Corcoran, CA	$222,430	101.6	60	1.49×
9	Portland-South Portland, ME	$221,190	101.9	150	0.64×
10	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$219,980	104.8	1,760	1.13×
11	Richmond, VA	$218,880	97.9	650	1.23×
12	El Centro, CA	$217,830	95.2	40	0.69×
13	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$216,750	103.2	170	0.89×
14	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN	$215,290	96.3	1,170	1.33×
15	Visalia, CA	$214,950	99.8	170	1.28×
16	Rockford, IL	$214,670	92.2	130	1.21×
17	Springfield, MO	$214,100	88.6	250	1.39×
18	Corvallis, OR	$214,060	104.0	40	1.26×
19	Grants Pass, OR	$213,240	97.8	30	1.41×
20	Canton-Massillon, OH	$212,640	89.4	90	0.66×
21	Salem, OR	$212,310	103.6	140	0.90×
22	Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL	$212,300	101.4	1,320	1.17×
23	Eugene-Springfield, OR	$212,240	101.6	140	1.08×
24	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$212,000	102.4	50	1.13×
25	Rochester, MN	$211,190	90.8	110	1.11×
26	Burlington-South Burlington, VT	$210,940	100.9	90	0.91×
27	St. Louis, MO-IL	$210,430	95.1	1,250	1.17×
28	Gainesville, GA	$210,400	96.8	60	0.66×
29	Eau Claire, WI	$209,750	92.8	80	1.22×
30	Racine-Mount Pleasant, WI	$209,550	96.0	60	1.06×
31	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$209,440	105.4	990	1.02×
32	Springfield, IL	$209,430	92.7	120	1.47×
33	Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA	$209,300	91.7	360	1.11×
34	Jefferson City, MO	$208,630	88.0	50	0.85×
35	Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	$208,490	97.6	200	0.74×
36	Janesville-Beloit, WI	$208,000	93.7	50	0.91×
37	St. Cloud, MN	$208,000	87.6	70	0.89×
38	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$207,910	110.4	1,130	1.24×
39	Columbia, MO	$207,450	89.4	60	0.74×
40	St. Joseph, MO-KS	$207,450	86.4	50	1.20×

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 dentists, general wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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