Ophthalmic Medical Technicians salary

SOC 29-2057 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$45,570

per year, nationally

Middle half

$38,170–$51,390

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

71,010

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+19.8%

12,500 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.

$35,700$61,940

10th: $35,700
25th: $38,170
Median: $45,570
75th: $51,390
90th: $61,940

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 ophthalmic medical 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	Minnesota	$63,080	98.6	720	0.53×
2	Hawaii	$58,240	110.0	190	0.66×
3	Wisconsin	$56,420	94.1	1,260	0.94×
4	California	$54,490	110.7	2,500	0.30×
5	District of Columbia	$50,790	109.9	—	—
6	Vermont	$50,090	98.0	150	1.11×
7	Maryland	$50,070	105.0	1,300	1.03×
8	Oregon	$50,020	103.4	1,060	1.18×
9	Alaska	$49,970	102.4	90	0.61×
10	Massachusetts	$49,750	105.8	2,330	1.40×
11	New Hampshire	$49,110	104.2	300	0.95×
12	New Jersey	$49,050	108.8	4,150	2.12×
13	Washington	$48,840	107.0	1,250	0.77×
14	New York	$48,440	107.9	4,250	0.96×
15	Connecticut	$48,270	103.6	780	1.00×
16	Maine	$48,120	97.0	320	1.09×
17	Montana	$47,290	94.6	380	1.63×
18	Illinois	$47,100	100.0	3,250	1.17×
19	Arizona	$47,040	100.7	1,630	1.10×
20	Florida	$46,830	103.4	7,020	1.55×
21	Michigan	$46,750	96.2	1,800	0.90×
22	Rhode Island	$46,500	102.3	410	1.79×
23	Colorado	$46,260	103.1	1,470	1.12×
24	North Dakota	$46,190	89.0	220	1.14×
25	Nebraska	$45,210	90.1	530	1.13×
26	North Carolina	$45,150	94.3	1,630	0.72×
27	Pennsylvania	$45,050	97.6	2,890	1.04×
28	Delaware	$44,540	99.8	—	—
29	Iowa	$44,030	87.8	500	0.70×
30	Kansas	$43,700	90.1	630	0.96×
31	Texas	$43,640	97.1	6,540	1.02×
32	Indiana	$43,490	93.3	1,610	1.10×
33	South Dakota	$42,430	88.6	300	1.43×
34	Virginia	$40,920	101.1	1,540	0.82×
35	South Carolina	$40,400	93.7	1,470	1.40×
36	Ohio	$40,350	92.8	2,510	0.99×
37	Missouri	$40,290	90.8	960	0.72×
38	Georgia	$39,150	96.3	2,570	1.15×
39	Kentucky	$38,990	90.2	1,570	1.72×
40	Tennessee	$38,890	91.9	1,760	1.18×
41	Louisiana	$38,750	88.2	890	1.01×
42	New Mexico	$38,610	92.2	400	1.01×
43	Idaho	$38,280	95.5	230	0.58×
44	Oklahoma	$37,920	87.8	980	1.25×
45	Nevada	$37,660	100.0	960	1.35×
46	Arkansas	$37,340	86.9	540	0.91×
47	West Virginia	$36,730	89.5	260	0.81×
48	Alabama	$36,680	88.8	1,260	1.30×
49	Mississippi	$36,220	87.0	690	1.29×
50	Utah	$35,950	98.9	680	0.85×
51	Wyoming	$35,740	92.7	110	0.83×

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 ophthalmic medical technicians wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for ophthalmic medical 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	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$102,540	107.8	40	0.42×
2	Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	$65,000	97.6	130	0.81×
3	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$63,300	115.6	420	0.39×
4	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$63,080	104.8	450	0.51×
5	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$62,390	105.4	—	—
6	Duluth, MN-WI	$61,880	88.8	40	0.64×
7	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$61,580	96.9	300	0.81×
8	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$60,600	113.6	—	—
9	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$60,440	111.9	310	0.44×
10	Bend, OR	$59,990	103.6	100	2.05×
11	Madison, WI	$59,180	97.3	220	1.21×
12	Urban Honolulu, HI	$58,240	111.0	160	0.78×
13	La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN	$56,010	91.8	100	2.51×
14	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$55,710	103.7	80	1.41×
15	Ithaca, NY	$55,570	103.3	60	2.84×
16	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$55,100	112.6	5,670	1.31×
17	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$53,990	111.1	530	0.55×
18	Anchorage, AK	$52,710	105.4	70	0.84×
19	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$52,670	108.3	1,740	1.41×
20	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$52,600	99.6	210	1.04×
21	Portland-South Portland, ME	$51,620	101.9	150	1.14×
22	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$51,380	104.5	640	1.04×
23	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$51,300	110.4	340	0.66×
24	Burlington-South Burlington, VT	$51,020	100.9	100	1.83×
25	Green Bay, WI	$50,730	93.1	70	0.87×
26	Lancaster, PA	$50,700	98.3	130	1.10×
27	Salem, OR	$50,600	103.6	—	—
28	Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY	$50,310	109.4	260	2.12×
29	Manchester-Nashua, NH	$50,280	105.7	110	1.19×
30	Grants Pass, OR	$50,020	97.8	30	2.42×
31	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$50,010	103.6	2,390	1.16×
32	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$49,950	103.1	2,310	1.25×
33	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$49,870	105.8	620	0.85×
34	Bozeman, MT	$49,810	102.5	70	2.12×
35	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$49,780	102.4	50	2.25×
36	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	$49,710	114.2	1,880	1.46×
37	Grand Junction, CO	$49,620	95.5	40	1.20×
38	Sheboygan, WI	$49,610	94.0	40	1.38×
39	Worcester, MA	$49,610	102.5	210	1.33×
40	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$49,460	106.7	130	0.26×

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 ophthalmic medical technicians 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