Orthodontists salary

SOC 29-1023 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$289,140

per year, nationally

Middle half

$146,580–$342,300

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

6,210

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+4.4%

200 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.

$99,850$416,000

10th: $99,850
25th: $146,580
Median: $289,140
75th: $342,300
90th: $416,000

Getting in

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

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

Where orthodontists 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	Connecticut	$478,680	103.6	—	—
2	Colorado	$416,000	103.1	160	1.35×
3	Maryland	$361,030	105.0	—	—
4	Michigan	$357,090	96.2	140	0.78×
5	Illinois	$343,100	100.0	—	—
6	Tennessee	$339,610	91.9	—	—
7	Missouri	$332,630	90.8	—	—
8	Montana	$312,840	94.6	—	—
9	South Carolina	$311,450	93.7	—	—
10	Pennsylvania	$311,180	97.6	—	—
11	Maine	$301,250	97.0	60	2.37×
12	Washington	$290,430	107.0	290	2.03×
13	Arizona	$272,330	100.7	120	0.90×
14	Alabama	$253,670	88.8	—	—
15	North Carolina	$224,990	94.3	160	0.81×
16	Ohio	$219,300	92.8	250	1.13×
17	Wisconsin	$212,860	94.1	90	0.77×
18	New York	$172,980	107.9	130	0.35×
19	Georgia	$159,230	96.3	—	—

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 orthodontists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for orthodontists

The 10 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	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN	$361,650	96.3	—	—
2	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$361,040	104.5	—	—
3	Portland-South Portland, ME	$323,460	101.9	—	—
4	Cleveland, OH	$318,070	93.9	—	—
5	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$311,180	102.6	—	—
6	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$281,850	112.6	—	—
7	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$272,330	103.3	100	1.08×
8	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$248,110	108.9	—	—
9	Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	$199,990	97.6	—	—
10	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$159,230	100.1	—	—

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 orthodontists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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