Dental Hygienists salary

SOC 29-1292 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$98,100

per year, nationally

Middle half

$83,570–$108,480

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

222,740

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+7.0%

15,300 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.

$74,880$126,050

10th: $74,880
25th: $83,570
Median: $98,100
75th: $108,480
90th: $126,050

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Associate's 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 dental hygienists 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	District of Columbia	$137,220	109.9	320	0.31×
2	Alaska	$132,690	102.4	790	1.70×
3	Washington	$131,160	107.0	6,330	1.24×
4	California	$124,930	110.7	24,500	0.94×
5	Oregon	$122,080	103.4	3,600	1.28×
6	Nevada	$115,290	100.0	1,510	0.68×
7	Colorado	$109,580	103.1	4,270	1.04×
8	Maryland	$107,830	105.0	3,500	0.88×
9	New Jersey	$107,040	108.8	7,230	1.18×
10	New York	$106,130	107.9	13,660	0.98×
11	Minnesota	$103,970	98.6	4,110	0.97×
12	Virginia	$102,950	101.1	3,770	0.64×
13	New Hampshire	$101,250	104.2	1,360	1.39×
14	Arizona	$101,010	100.7	4,530	0.98×
15	Connecticut	$100,690	103.6	3,240	1.33×
16	Massachusetts	$100,640	105.8	6,850	1.31×
17	Texas	$99,240	97.1	16,380	0.81×
18	Delaware	$98,910	99.8	750	1.09×
19	Montana	$98,440	94.6	860	1.17×
20	North Carolina	$97,850	94.3	6,690	0.95×
21	Maine	$97,680	97.0	1,060	1.16×
22	Oklahoma	$97,580	87.8	2,860	1.17×
23	Hawaii	$97,570	110.0	830	0.92×
24	Vermont	$97,470	98.0	560	1.28×
25	Illinois	$96,670	100.0	8,970	1.03×
26	Wisconsin	$96,540	94.1	5,080	1.21×
27	New Mexico	$95,940	92.2	1,420	1.14×
28	Georgia	$95,490	96.3	7,440	1.06×
29	Idaho	$94,650	95.5	2,060	1.68×
30	Missouri	$92,750	90.8	3,810	0.91×
31	Nebraska	$92,580	90.1	1,280	0.88×
32	Indiana	$92,330	93.3	5,020	1.09×
33	South Dakota	$92,210	88.6	630	0.96×
34	Florida	$91,980	103.4	11,980	0.84×
35	Utah	$91,120	98.9	3,780	1.52×
36	North Dakota	$90,530	89.0	660	1.08×
37	Ohio	$88,990	92.8	8,630	1.09×
38	Rhode Island	$86,910	102.3	770	1.07×
39	Arkansas	$86,760	86.9	1,740	0.93×
40	Louisiana	$85,240	88.2	2,690	0.97×
41	Wyoming	$85,130	92.7	500	1.24×
42	Tennessee	$84,640	91.9	4,570	0.97×
43	South Carolina	$84,340	93.7	3,160	0.96×
44	Iowa	$84,010	87.8	2,440	1.09×
45	Michigan	$83,790	96.2	8,640	1.37×
46	Pennsylvania	$80,610	97.6	7,970	0.92×
47	Kentucky	$78,830	90.2	2,070	0.72×
48	West Virginia	$73,840	89.5	1,250	1.25×
49	Mississippi	$67,280	87.0	1,140	0.68×
50	Alabama	$61,160	88.8	3,170	1.05×

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 dental hygienists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for dental hygienists

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	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$146,760	115.6	3,780	1.11×
2	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$139,990	110.4	1,620	0.99×
3	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$136,210	107.8	310	1.05×
4	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$135,990	108.8	260	0.89×
5	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$133,740	111.1	3,500	1.17×
6	Anchorage, AK	$132,740	105.4	490	1.93×
7	Fairbanks-College, AK	$131,860	103.2	70	1.41×
8	Napa, CA	$131,370	112.6	100	0.94×
9	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$131,040	105.6	190	1.43×
10	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$130,600	109.9	220	1.59×
11	Boulder, CO	$130,000	105.2	300	1.09×
12	Vallejo, CA	$128,570	108.5	270	1.32×
13	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$127,470	102.4	130	1.68×
14	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$126,530	110.5	500	1.07×
15	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$125,670	108.6	220	1.29×
16	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$125,130	105.1	480	1.17×
17	Bellingham, WA	$124,850	103.3	150	1.15×
18	Yuba City, CA	$124,780	104.2	60	0.86×
19	Modesto, CA	$123,910	104.1	390	1.40×
20	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$123,790	111.9	1,940	0.88×
21	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$123,100	105.4	2,380	1.38×
22	Longview-Kelso, WA	$123,020	97.5	100	1.66×
23	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$122,980	113.6	7,940	0.88×
24	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$122,950	103.7	220	1.20×
25	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$122,540	106.7	2,200	1.42×
26	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$122,480	100.1	270	1.46×
27	Salinas, CA	$122,370	109.0	240	0.88×
28	Carson City, NV	$121,500	98.1	60	1.20×
29	Yakima, WA	$120,690	95.5	160	1.15×
30	Bend, OR	$119,650	103.6	230	1.47×
31	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$119,170	108.9	2,200	0.49×
32	Salem, OR	$119,050	103.6	300	1.09×
33	Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA	$118,820	103.9	110	1.47×
34	Chico, CA	$118,800	101.2	150	1.31×
35	Colorado Springs, CO	$118,410	100.7	500	1.10×
36	Redding, CA	$118,130	100.7	130	1.29×
37	Reno, NV	$117,850	101.0	390	0.99×
38	Merced, CA	$117,400	98.3	100	0.89×
39	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$116,690	100.3	500	1.36×
40	Grants Pass, OR	$116,210	97.8	60	1.40×

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 dental hygienists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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