Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians salary

SOC 51-9083 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$39,460

per year, nationally

Middle half

$36,470–$47,010

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

18,660

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+2.3%

2,400 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.

$33,530$57,380

10th: $33,530
25th: $36,470
Median: $39,460
75th: $47,010
90th: $57,380

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 ophthalmic 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	Connecticut	$62,410	103.6	170	0.83×
2	New Hampshire	$59,460	104.2	180	2.19×
3	Washington	$49,230	107.0	260	0.61×
4	Colorado	$48,540	103.1	320	0.92×
5	Rhode Island	$47,440	102.3	70	1.13×
6	New Jersey	$47,420	108.8	—	—
7	California	$47,410	110.7	1,630	0.75×
8	Maryland	$47,100	105.0	360	1.08×
9	Ohio	$46,320	92.8	560	0.84×
10	Oregon	$45,780	103.4	250	1.06×
11	Michigan	$45,490	96.2	330	0.63×
12	Georgia	$45,050	96.3	960	1.64×
13	Kansas	$44,920	90.1	—	—
14	North Carolina	$44,140	94.3	210	0.35×
15	Maine	$43,520	97.0	50	0.64×
16	Massachusetts	$43,100	105.8	—	—
17	Wisconsin	$42,920	94.1	200	0.56×
18	New York	$42,450	107.9	1,250	1.08×
19	Nebraska	$40,640	90.1	170	1.37×
20	Minnesota	$40,280	98.6	1,110	3.13×
21	Nevada	$38,990	100.0	240	1.31×
22	Missouri	$38,740	90.8	360	1.03×
23	Arizona	$38,620	100.7	150	0.39×
24	New Mexico	$38,590	92.2	130	1.26×
25	Florida	$38,020	103.4	1,230	1.03×
26	Texas	$37,920	97.1	3,380	2.00×
27	Pennsylvania	$37,680	97.6	510	0.70×
28	Tennessee	$37,370	91.9	130	0.34×
29	Indiana	$37,360	93.3	330	0.85×
30	Louisiana	$37,160	88.2	300	1.28×
31	West Virginia	$37,140	89.5	—	—
32	Arkansas	$37,060	86.9	170	1.08×
33	Alabama	$37,010	88.8	190	0.75×
34	Illinois	$36,840	100.0	830	1.13×
35	Kentucky	$36,650	90.2	610	2.53×
36	Oklahoma	$35,620	87.8	210	1.03×
37	Mississippi	$35,230	87.0	220	1.59×
38	Virginia	$34,170	101.1	470	0.96×
39	South Carolina	$34,140	93.7	130	0.47×
40	Iowa	$33,910	87.8	100	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 ophthalmic laboratory technicians wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for ophthalmic 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	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$52,510	105.8	120	0.61×
2	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$51,090	115.6	180	0.62×
3	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$50,770	111.1	190	0.74×
4	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$50,120	113.6	870	1.15×
5	Eugene-Springfield, OR	$48,860	101.6	30	1.63×
6	Madison, WI	$48,530	97.3	40	0.79×
7	Jacksonville, FL	$48,410	99.5	190	2.09×
8	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$48,140	108.3	—	—
9	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$47,470	106.4	110	0.55×
10	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$47,440	101.8	90	1.07×
11	Manchester-Nashua, NH	$47,410	105.7	60	2.66×
12	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$47,100	104.5	260	1.60×
13	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$46,350	105.4	160	1.13×
14	Cleveland, OH	$46,320	93.9	170	1.35×
15	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$46,280	100.3	230	1.03×
16	Syracuse, NY	$46,250	95.7	80	2.25×
17	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$45,870	100.1	830	2.40×
18	Kansas City, MO-KS	$45,750	92.5	90	0.67×
19	Peoria, IL	$45,620	91.2	90	4.67×
20	Rochester, NY	$45,420	97.0	490	8.34×
21	Colorado Springs, CO	$44,150	100.7	50	1.23×
22	Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI	$43,850	95.5	40	0.55×
23	Reno, NV	$43,410	101.0	30	0.99×
24	Chattanooga, TN-GA	$43,270	91.5	40	1.20×
25	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	$42,280	97.3	60	0.37×
26	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$41,780	104.8	570	2.42×
27	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	$41,590	98.1	180	1.14×
28	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$41,140	98.6	270	0.68×
29	North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL	$40,660	102.4	40	1.02×
30	Omaha, NE-IA	$40,640	91.9	—	—
31	Modesto, CA	$40,570	104.1	40	1.72×
32	Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR	$39,460	91.4	30	0.91×
33	St. Cloud, MN	$39,370	87.6	520	41.64×
34	Baton Rouge, LA	$39,260	90.8	90	1.73×
35	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$38,940	103.3	90	0.30×
36	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$38,770	95.7	140	1.09×
37	St. Louis, MO-IL	$38,740	95.1	340	2.13×
38	Pittsburgh, PA	$38,650	94.7	100	0.76×
39	Albuquerque, NM	$38,590	95.5	90	1.90×
40	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	$38,370	100.2	200	1.48×

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

Similar occupations

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

Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where ophthalmic laboratory technicians earn the most

Best paying metro areas for ophthalmic laboratory technicians

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