Orderlies salary

SOC 31-1132 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$38,290

per year, nationally

Middle half

$35,570–$44,560

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

52,440

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+3.3%

7,800 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.

$32,240$50,600

10th: $32,240
25th: $35,570
Median: $38,290
75th: $44,560
90th: $50,600

Getting in

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

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

Where orderlies 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	California	$49,920	110.7	4,870	0.79×
2	Washington	$48,690	107.0	200	0.17×
3	Vermont	$48,120	98.0	70	0.65×
4	Hawaii	$47,130	110.0	80	0.36×
5	New York	$46,600	107.9	4,680	1.43×
6	Oregon	$45,120	103.4	500	0.75×
7	Minnesota	$44,550	98.6	430	0.43×
8	Delaware	$43,800	99.8	190	1.19×
9	Colorado	$43,570	103.1	540	0.56×
10	Maine	$42,530	97.0	150	0.68×
11	Wisconsin	$41,380	94.1	660	0.66×
12	New Hampshire	$40,850	104.2	140	0.59×
13	Pennsylvania	$40,140	97.6	3,550	1.74×
14	Rhode Island	$39,830	102.3	210	1.23×
15	Illinois	$39,450	100.0	2,110	1.02×
16	Alaska	$39,410	102.4	70	0.62×
17	District of Columbia	$39,250	109.9	120	0.50×
18	Massachusetts	$38,970	105.8	1,810	1.48×
19	North Carolina	$38,680	94.3	1,730	1.04×
20	New Jersey	$38,670	108.8	2,640	1.83×
21	Idaho	$38,650	95.5	300	1.02×
22	Indiana	$38,540	93.3	1,060	0.98×
23	North Dakota	$38,240	89.0	70	0.49×
24	Maryland	$38,210	105.0	1,580	1.69×
25	Texas	$37,650	97.1	2,320	0.49×
26	New Mexico	$37,650	92.2	130	0.45×
27	Connecticut	$37,550	103.6	980	1.72×
28	Wyoming	$37,410	92.7	50	0.52×
29	Arizona	$37,380	100.7	1,220	1.12×
30	Kansas	$37,140	90.1	200	0.42×
31	Ohio	$37,030	92.8	2,360	1.26×
32	Virginia	$36,960	101.1	900	0.65×
33	Iowa	$36,850	87.8	260	0.49×
34	South Carolina	$36,480	93.7	1,430	1.84×
35	Michigan	$36,220	96.2	1,700	1.15×
36	Georgia	$36,100	96.3	2,410	1.46×
37	Nevada	$35,850	100.0	470	0.89×
38	Missouri	$35,620	90.8	870	0.88×
39	Florida	$35,420	103.4	4,440	1.32×
40	Kentucky	$35,260	90.2	710	1.05×
41	Oklahoma	$34,430	87.8	370	0.65×
42	Tennessee	$31,840	91.9	1,200	1.08×
43	West Virginia	$31,770	89.5	250	1.04×
44	Arkansas	$31,540	86.9	170	0.39×
45	Alabama	$31,310	88.8	400	0.57×
46	Mississippi	$29,790	87.0	440	1.11×
47	Louisiana	$27,330	88.2	600	0.93×

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 orderlies wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for orderlies

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	$69,870	115.6	480	0.61×
2	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$65,790	110.4	300	0.78×
3	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$63,780	107.8	40	0.62×
4	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$62,380	106.7	370	1.01×
5	Bakersfield-Delano, CA	$50,110	100.9	80	0.68×
6	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$50,040	108.8	50	0.70×
7	Modesto, CA	$49,890	104.1	80	1.28×
8	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$49,760	113.6	1,890	0.89×
9	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$49,410	111.9	330	0.63×
10	Rochester, MN	$48,290	90.8	70	1.78×
11	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$47,510	104.8	260	0.40×
12	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$47,440	106.4	620	1.07×
13	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$46,560	111.1	100	0.14×
14	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$45,850	112.6	4,970	1.55×
15	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$45,110	105.4	290	0.72×
16	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$44,920	105.8	280	0.52×
17	Utica-Rome, NY	$44,890	92.7	50	1.30×
18	Boulder, CO	$44,660	105.2	40	0.54×
19	Reading, PA	$44,510	97.1	100	1.63×
20	Rochester, NY	$44,260	97.0	310	1.84×
21	Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ	$43,930	100.0	300	2.34×
22	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$43,570	102.6	1,740	1.78×
23	Colorado Springs, CO	$42,920	100.7	80	0.72×
24	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$42,840	96.9	360	1.29×
25	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$42,170	103.2	270	3.33×
26	Urban Honolulu, HI	$42,080	111.0	60	0.41×
27	Fort Collins-Loveland, CO	$41,120	101.1	—	—
28	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$40,420	95.7	500	1.34×
29	Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV	$40,380	94.2	30	0.94×
30	Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA	$39,950	98.7	280	2.52×
31	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$39,800	108.3	1,330	1.46×
32	Greensboro-High Point, NC	$39,680	92.9	100	0.84×
33	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$39,640	103.6	1,770	1.16×
34	York-Hanover, PA	$39,630	96.0	170	2.79×
35	Anchorage, AK	$39,410	105.4	—	—
36	Flint, MI	$39,310	93.0	70	1.49×
37	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	$39,210	98.1	110	0.24×
38	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$39,180	101.8	370	1.52×
39	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$39,160	108.9	720	0.68×
40	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$39,000	106.9	170	1.24×

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 orderlies wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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

Home Health and Personal Care Aides$35,800
Nursing Assistants$42,260
Psychiatric Aides$44,910