Surgical Technologists salary

SOC 29-2055 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$64,650

per year, nationally

Middle half

$54,690–$79,750

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

117,460

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+4.5%

7,000 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.

$45,940$96,940

10th: $45,940
25th: $54,690
Median: $64,650
75th: $79,750
90th: $96,940

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 surgical technologists 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	Hawaii	$82,640	110.0	290	0.60×
2	Oregon	$81,390	103.4	1,090	0.74×
3	California	$81,310	110.7	11,920	0.87×
4	Massachusetts	$80,870	105.8	2,220	0.81×
5	Alaska	$80,380	102.4	310	1.28×
6	Minnesota	$80,210	98.6	1,770	0.80×
7	Connecticut	$79,890	103.6	1,220	0.95×
8	New York	$79,550	107.9	6,540	0.89×
9	District of Columbia	$77,520	109.9	340	0.63×
10	Washington	$77,270	107.0	2,510	0.94×
11	New Jersey	$77,200	108.8	2,780	0.86×
12	Colorado	$75,740	103.1	2,100	0.97×
13	Nevada	$75,480	100.0	1,110	0.94×
14	New Hampshire	$75,040	104.2	370	0.71×
15	Rhode Island	$74,130	102.3	240	0.63×
16	Wisconsin	$74,120	94.1	2,180	0.98×
17	Idaho	$72,550	95.5	1,100	1.70×
18	Arizona	$72,260	100.7	2,410	0.98×
19	Maryland	$68,970	105.0	1,880	0.90×
20	Virginia	$67,580	101.1	1,910	0.62×
21	Texas	$65,220	97.1	10,160	0.96×
22	Illinois	$64,650	100.0	3,570	0.78×
23	Indiana	$64,240	93.3	2,680	1.11×
24	Georgia	$64,010	96.3	4,380	1.19×
25	Nebraska	$63,880	90.1	770	0.99×
26	Michigan	$63,320	96.2	3,840	1.15×
27	Maine	$62,860	97.0	470	0.98×
28	Utah	$62,720	98.9	1,170	0.89×
29	Pennsylvania	$62,680	97.6	4,490	0.98×
30	Florida	$62,440	103.4	9,120	1.22×
31	Ohio	$62,420	92.8	3,730	0.89×
32	Delaware	$62,250	99.8	340	0.93×
33	South Carolina	$62,160	93.7	2,680	1.54×
34	North Dakota	$61,640	89.0	370	1.14×
35	Oklahoma	$61,190	87.8	1,940	1.51×
36	Missouri	$61,120	90.8	2,100	0.95×
37	Montana	$60,970	94.6	490	1.26×
38	North Carolina	$60,920	94.3	4,400	1.18×
39	Vermont	$60,660	98.0	140	0.60×
40	Kansas	$60,600	90.1	1,200	1.10×
41	Iowa	$60,540	87.8	950	0.81×
42	Tennessee	$60,530	91.9	3,310	1.34×
43	Kentucky	$60,490	90.2	1,440	0.96×
44	South Dakota	$59,870	88.6	600	1.73×
45	Wyoming	$58,850	92.7	210	1.00×
46	Arkansas	$57,400	86.9	1,640	1.66×
47	Louisiana	$57,370	88.2	2,230	1.53×
48	New Mexico	$51,780	92.2	540	0.83×
49	Mississippi	$49,810	87.0	1,110	1.26×
50	Alabama	$49,420	88.8	2,480	1.56×
51	West Virginia	$49,110	89.5	580	1.10×

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 surgical technologists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for surgical technologists

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 Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$106,840	110.4	700	0.81×
2	Vallejo, CA	$105,260	108.5	100	0.89×
3	Napa, CA	$102,490	112.6	60	1.06×
4	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$100,130	109.9	80	1.09×
5	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$99,960	107.8	120	0.80×
6	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$99,390	115.6	1,440	0.80×
7	Redding, CA	$89,940	100.7	80	1.45×
8	Urban Honolulu, HI	$87,330	111.0	230	0.68×
9	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$86,790	106.9	250	0.83×
10	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$84,120	112.6	6,320	0.88×
11	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$83,580	102.7	380	0.84×
12	Barnstable Town, MA	$82,860	98.4	50	0.67×
13	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$82,430	105.4	650	0.72×
14	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$82,300	105.1	170	0.77×
15	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$82,260	111.9	1,110	0.95×
16	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$82,000	104.8	1,080	0.73×
17	Boulder, CO	$81,600	105.2	130	0.92×
18	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$81,580	113.6	3,440	0.73×
19	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$81,500	108.3	1,550	0.76×
20	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$81,470	102.4	50	1.18×
21	Anchorage, AK	$80,880	105.4	210	1.54×
22	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$80,730	108.6	100	1.11×
23	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$80,060	110.5	200	0.80×
24	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$79,990	103.1	2,790	0.91×
25	Modesto, CA	$79,950	104.1	120	0.81×
26	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$79,900	111.1	1,460	0.92×
27	Eugene-Springfield, OR	$79,210	101.6	110	0.90×
28	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$78,750	108.9	1,430	0.61×
29	Waterbury-Shelton, CT	$78,610	99.8	90	0.76×
30	Springfield, MA	$78,510	96.1	220	1.45×
31	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$78,510	108.8	170	1.12×
32	Bakersfield-Delano, CA	$78,470	100.9	240	0.94×
33	Rochester, MN	$78,070	90.8	170	1.85×
34	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$78,050	103.3	1,790	1.00×
35	Chico, CA	$78,050	101.2	90	1.57×
36	Salem, OR	$78,010	103.6	100	0.71×
37	Ithaca, NY	$77,760	103.3	30	0.84×
38	Greeley, CO	$77,750	100.2	50	0.59×
39	Worcester, MA	$77,610	102.5	210	0.80×
40	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$77,490	106.4	1,190	0.92×

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 surgical technologists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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

Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses$64,400
Pharmacy Technicians$45,750
Clinical Laboratory Technologists and Technicians$62,930
Radiologic Technologists and Technicians$80,110
Medical Records Specialists$51,140
Health Technologists and Technicians, All Other$50,290
Emergency Medical Technicians$44,470
Psychiatric Technicians$45,130