Opticians, Dispensing salary

SOC 29-2081 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$47,260

per year, nationally

Middle half

$38,820–$61,700

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

73,530

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+2.9%

6,800 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.

$35,610$76,750

10th: $35,610
25th: $38,820
Median: $47,260
75th: $61,700
90th: $76,750

Getting in

Typical education to enter: High school diploma or equivalent
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Long-term on-the-job training

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

Where opticians, dispensing 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	$75,300	110.0	110	0.38×
2	Connecticut	$75,300	103.6	610	0.76×
3	New Jersey	$72,460	108.8	2,010	0.99×
4	Massachusetts	$67,210	105.8	1,360	0.79×
5	New York	$63,880	107.9	3,520	0.77×
6	District of Columbia	$61,310	109.9	80	0.24×
7	Florida	$58,850	103.4	5,080	1.08×
8	Alaska	$58,250	102.4	90	0.59×
9	California	$57,990	110.7	7,840	0.91×
10	Vermont	$57,350	98.0	70	0.47×
11	Virginia	$55,820	101.1	1,860	0.96×
12	New Hampshire	$51,980	104.2	440	1.38×
13	Ohio	$50,500	92.8	2,960	1.13×
14	North Carolina	$50,190	94.3	2,020	0.87×
15	Tennessee	$49,840	91.9	1,530	0.98×
16	Washington	$49,220	107.0	2,100	1.25×
17	Oregon	$49,210	103.4	1,000	1.08×
18	Maryland	$48,700	105.0	1,060	0.81×
19	Arizona	$48,210	100.7	1,400	0.91×
20	Minnesota	$48,020	98.6	1,490	1.07×
21	Georgia	$48,010	96.3	2,290	0.99×
22	South Carolina	$48,000	93.7	890	0.82×
23	Rhode Island	$47,400	102.3	350	1.46×
24	Colorado	$47,310	103.1	1,520	1.12×
25	Maine	$47,220	97.0	350	1.14×
26	Montana	$47,050	94.6	330	1.34×
27	Nevada	$46,910	100.0	960	1.31×
28	Delaware	$46,220	99.8	270	1.18×
29	Pennsylvania	$45,450	97.6	2,230	0.78×
30	North Dakota	$45,230	89.0	230	1.14×
31	Wisconsin	$44,820	94.1	1,430	1.03×
32	Iowa	$44,480	87.8	920	1.25×
33	Kentucky	$44,290	90.2	950	1.00×
34	Illinois	$43,960	100.0	3,250	1.13×
35	Idaho	$43,950	95.5	530	1.30×
36	South Dakota	$43,400	88.6	430	1.97×
37	Arkansas	$42,880	86.9	690	1.12×
38	Utah	$41,780	98.9	700	0.85×
39	Michigan	$41,180	96.2	3,080	1.48×
40	Kansas	$40,140	90.1	630	0.92×
41	Nebraska	$39,830	90.1	870	1.79×
42	Indiana	$39,370	93.3	2,010	1.33×
43	Wyoming	$39,100	92.7	130	0.96×
44	New Mexico	$39,090	92.2	340	0.83×
45	Missouri	$38,750	90.8	1,600	1.15×
46	Texas	$38,720	97.1	6,700	1.01×
47	West Virginia	$38,120	89.5	350	1.05×
48	Oklahoma	$37,940	87.8	730	0.90×
49	Alabama	$36,880	88.8	880	0.88×
50	Mississippi	$36,680	87.0	560	1.01×
51	Louisiana	$36,360	88.2	720	0.79×

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 opticians, dispensing wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for opticians, dispensing

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	Vallejo, CA	$78,830	108.5	90	1.32×
2	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$78,600	106.9	130	0.66×
3	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$77,460	107.8	120	1.19×
4	Waterbury-Shelton, CT	$76,820	99.8	70	0.93×
5	Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT	$76,170	100.4	60	1.06×
6	Urban Honolulu, HI	$75,300	111.0	90	0.42×
7	New Haven, CT	$72,410	104.6	100	0.72×
8	Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ	$72,290	98.9	70	0.82×
9	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$71,440	102.7	220	0.77×
10	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$71,050	112.6	3,460	0.77×
11	Springfield, MA	$71,000	96.1	70	0.72×
12	Barnstable Town, MA	$69,530	98.4	60	1.28×
13	Syracuse, NY	$68,880	95.7	180	1.25×
14	Worcester, MA	$67,630	102.5	160	0.96×
15	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$67,110	103.2	100	0.88×
16	Watertown-Fort Drum, NY	$65,870	87.7	30	1.67×
17	Amherst Town-Northampton, MA	$65,000	100.2	60	1.78×
18	Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY	$64,280	109.4	150	1.14×
19	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$64,170	108.3	950	0.75×
20	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$63,710	99.6	180	0.87×
21	Kingston, NY	$63,390	100.7	40	1.50×
22	Harrisonburg, VA	$62,980	94.9	30	1.09×
23	Naples-Marco Island, FL	$62,940	103.2	80	1.01×
24	Utica-Rome, NY	$62,930	92.7	50	0.94×
25	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$62,240	106.7	580	1.13×
26	Rochester, NY	$62,230	97.0	240	1.05×
27	Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL	$62,030	100.0	140	1.21×
28	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	$61,880	114.2	1,250	0.94×
29	Glens Falls, NY	$61,850	94.9	40	1.59×
30	Port St. Lucie, FL	$61,150	100.2	110	1.38×
31	Gainesville, FL	$60,680	96.7	50	0.70×
32	Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY	$60,620	95.8	280	1.12×
33	Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor, FL	$60,490	98.3	40	1.50×
34	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$60,480	110.4	390	0.73×
35	Punta Gorda, FL	$60,360	100.5	60	2.14×
36	Binghamton, NY	$60,290	92.9	30	0.74×
37	Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA	$60,140	103.9	30	1.40×
38	Anchorage, AK	$59,940	105.4	60	0.69×
39	Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL	$59,800	102.3	240	1.64×
40	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$59,520	108.9	1,080	0.73×

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 opticians, dispensing 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