Dental Laboratory Technicians salary

SOC 51-9081 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$49,610

per year, nationally

Middle half

$40,420–$62,070

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

34,410

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-4.7%

3,900 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.

$36,660$76,940

10th: $36,660
25th: $40,420
Median: $49,610
75th: $62,070
90th: $76,940

Getting in

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

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

Where dental laboratory 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	Massachusetts	$72,800	105.8	440	0.55×
2	North Dakota	$67,580	89.0	60	0.67×
3	Maine	$64,020	97.0	120	0.88×
4	Colorado	$61,220	103.1	410	0.65×
5	New Hampshire	$60,610	104.2	120	0.78×
6	Florida	$59,790	103.4	2,330	1.06×
7	Nebraska	$58,590	90.1	190	0.83×
8	Kansas	$56,790	90.1	570	1.78×
9	Washington	$56,400	107.0	670	0.86×
10	Minnesota	$56,090	98.6	390	0.59×
11	New York	$52,460	107.9	1,890	0.88×
12	Virginia	$51,900	101.1	1,050	1.16×
13	Illinois	$51,380	100.0	2,030	1.50×
14	Arkansas	$49,960	86.9	840	2.93×
15	Indiana	$49,920	93.3	680	0.95×
16	North Carolina	$49,700	94.3	990	0.91×
17	Michigan	$49,570	96.2	1,180	1.22×
18	Georgia	$49,310	96.3	1,460	1.35×
19	Pennsylvania	$49,280	97.6	930	0.69×
20	Tennessee	$48,880	91.9	610	0.84×
21	Oregon	$48,800	103.4	570	1.31×
22	Oklahoma	$48,670	87.8	250	0.65×
23	Ohio	$48,480	92.8	1,160	0.94×
24	South Dakota	$48,370	88.6	120	1.16×
25	Nevada	$48,190	100.0	200	0.59×
26	Arizona	$47,930	100.7	950	1.33×
27	Maryland	$47,850	105.0	590	0.97×
28	Mississippi	$47,770	87.0	140	0.55×
29	West Virginia	$47,740	89.5	—	—
30	Montana	$47,560	94.6	110	0.96×
31	Iowa	$47,520	87.8	380	1.11×
32	California	$47,410	110.7	4,480	1.11×
33	Idaho	$47,380	95.5	370	1.94×
34	New Jersey	$47,270	108.8	780	0.82×
35	Wisconsin	$47,170	94.1	800	1.23×
36	Utah	$47,110	98.9	1,300	3.39×
37	Missouri	$46,870	90.8	740	1.14×
38	Kentucky	$46,770	90.2	420	0.96×
39	Texas	$46,330	97.1	1,770	0.57×
40	Alabama	$45,760	88.8	1,050	2.24×
41	Rhode Island	$45,320	102.3	—	—
42	Hawaii	$45,300	110.0	120	0.84×
43	New Mexico	$45,300	92.2	130	0.65×
44	Delaware	$38,500	99.8	—	—
45	Louisiana	$38,490	88.2	330	0.78×
46	South Carolina	$37,170	93.7	260	0.51×

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 laboratory technicians wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for dental laboratory 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	Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL	$78,010	102.3	110	1.65×
2	Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA	$76,170	93.6	—	—
3	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$75,480	108.3	350	0.58×
4	Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL	$68,640	99.4	40	0.80×
5	Colorado Springs, CO	$68,230	100.7	60	0.92×
6	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$65,500	107.8	40	0.80×
7	Portland-South Portland, ME	$64,020	101.9	60	0.92×
8	Worcester, MA	$63,730	102.5	40	0.50×
9	Ann Arbor, MI	$61,370	100.9	30	0.64×
10	North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL	$61,360	102.4	100	1.29×
11	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$61,250	108.9	490	0.70×
12	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$61,220	105.8	230	0.66×
13	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$60,940	115.6	280	0.53×
14	Manchester-Nashua, NH	$60,600	105.7	60	1.26×
15	Naples-Marco Island, FL	$60,560	103.2	50	1.18×
16	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$60,510	110.4	190	0.75×
17	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	$59,940	114.2	590	0.94×
18	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL	$59,920	100.9	520	1.61×
19	Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL	$59,730	100.0	80	1.41×
20	Bellingham, WA	$59,660	103.3	30	1.56×
21	Twin Falls, ID	$59,390	92.1	30	2.88×
22	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$59,110	105.1	40	0.55×
23	Jacksonville, FL	$58,880	99.5	130	0.77×
24	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$58,780	104.8	270	0.63×
25	Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC	$58,720	97.9	280	1.66×
26	Omaha, NE-IA	$58,630	91.9	90	0.80×
27	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$58,160	112.6	1,400	0.67×
28	Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL	$58,040	97.1	70	1.27×
29	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$57,610	111.1	380	0.82×
30	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$57,020	106.4	240	0.63×
31	Kansas City, MO-KS	$56,790	92.5	420	1.75×
32	Lexington-Fayette, KY	$55,540	92.9	70	1.14×
33	Knoxville, TN	$55,340	92.6	50	0.52×
34	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$55,170	100.3	490	1.16×
35	Salem, OR	$55,050	103.6	40	1.04×
36	New Orleans-Metairie, LA	$54,170	92.6	50	0.49×
37	Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC	$53,930	91.9	80	1.63×
38	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$53,150	95.4	140	0.59×
39	Ogden, UT	$52,970	100.3	110	1.91×
40	Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL	$52,880	97.7	80	1.89×

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 laboratory technicians wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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