• Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2022

31-9091 Dental Assistants

Perform limited clinical duties under the direction of a dentist. Clinical duties may include equipment preparation and sterilization, preparing patients for treatment, assisting the dentist during treatment, and providing patients with instructions for oral healthcare procedures. May perform administrative duties such as scheduling appointments, maintaining medical records, billing, and coding information for insurance purposes.

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National estimates for Dental Assistants
Industry profile for Dental Assistants
Geographic profile for Dental Assistants

National estimates for Dental Assistants:

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for Dental Assistants:

Employment (1)	Employment RSE (3)	Mean hourly wage	Mean annual wage (2)	Wage RSE (3)
363,880	1.0 %	$ 21.50	$ 44,710	0.4 %

Percentile wage estimates for Dental Assistants:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$ 15.12	$ 17.75	$ 21.55	$ 23.50	$ 28.46
Annual Wage (2)	$ 31,450	$ 36,910	$ 44,820	$ 48,870	$ 59,200

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Industry profile for Dental Assistants:

Industries with the highest published employment and wages for Dental Assistants are provided. For a list of all industries with employment in Dental Assistants, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Industries with the highest levels of employment in Dental Assistants:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Offices of Dentists	332,540	33.03	$ 21.46	$ 44,640
Outpatient Care Centers	6,420	0.63	$ 21.84	$ 45,420
Offices of Physicians	6,410	0.23	$ 20.52	$ 42,680
Employment Services	4,870	0.12	$ 22.02	$ 45,790
Federal Executive Branch (OEWS Designation)	3,550	0.17	$ 22.90	$ 47,630

Industries with the highest concentration of employment in Dental Assistants:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Offices of Dentists	332,540	33.03	$ 21.46	$ 44,640
Outpatient Care Centers	6,420	0.63	$ 21.84	$ 45,420
Offices of Physicians	6,410	0.23	$ 20.52	$ 42,680
Federal Executive Branch (OEWS Designation)	3,550	0.17	$ 22.90	$ 47,630
Employment Services	4,870	0.12	$ 22.02	$ 45,790

Top paying industries for Dental Assistants:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Home Health Care Services	(8)	(8)	$ 26.03	$ 54,140
State Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OEWS Designation)	1,130	0.05	$ 25.31	$ 52,640
Management of Companies and Enterprises	(8)	(8)	$ 25.01	$ 52,020
Specialty (except Psychiatric and Substance Abuse) Hospitals	110	0.04	$ 24.48	$ 50,920
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	2,150	0.04	$ 23.75	$ 49,410

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Geographic profile for Dental Assistants:

States and areas with the highest published employment, location quotients, and wages for Dental Assistants are provided. For a list of all areas with employment in Dental Assistants, see the Create Customized Tables function.

States with the highest employment level in Dental Assistants:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
California	55,360	3.14	1.28	$ 23.55	$ 48,990
Texas	32,360	2.49	1.01	$ 18.83	$ 39,170
Florida	22,670	2.46	1.00	$ 20.51	$ 42,650
New York	19,040	2.09	0.85	$ 23.02	$ 47,880
Illinois	12,940	2.20	0.89	$ 19.85	$ 41,290

States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Dental Assistants:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Utah	5,920	3.64	1.48	$ 17.83	$ 37,080
Idaho	2,820	3.53	1.44	$ 18.68	$ 38,840
Alaska	1,080	3.52	1.43	$ 25.21	$ 52,430
Washington	11,290	3.32	1.35	$ 24.24	$ 50,430
California	55,360	3.14	1.28	$ 23.55	$ 48,990

Top paying states for Dental Assistants:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Minnesota	5,890	2.08	0.85	$ 28.31	$ 58,890
District of Columbia	660	0.95	0.39	$ 25.39	$ 52,820
Delaware	900	1.97	0.80	$ 25.24	$ 52,500
Alaska	1,080	3.52	1.43	$ 25.21	$ 52,430
Massachusetts	9,650	2.71	1.10	$ 25.10	$ 52,200

Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in Dental Assistants:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	20,750	2.26	0.92	$ 23.35	$ 48,570
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	20,160	3.31	1.34	$ 21.16	$ 44,020
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	10,550	2.77	1.13	$ 19.84	$ 41,270
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	10,220	2.32	0.94	$ 20.35	$ 42,320
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	8,080	3.08	1.25	$ 19.72	$ 41,020
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX	7,720	2.53	1.03	$ 18.79	$ 39,080
Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH	7,330	2.71	1.10	$ 25.51	$ 53,060
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	6,760	2.48	1.01	$ 20.50	$ 42,630
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ	6,610	2.98	1.21	$ 21.94	$ 45,620
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	6,520	2.15	0.88	$ 23.28	$ 48,430

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Dental Assistants:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Provo-Orem, UT	1,730	6.07	2.47	$ 17.52	$ 36,430
Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ	320	5.97	2.43	$ 19.71	$ 41,000
Sherman-Denison, TX	260	5.50	2.24	$ 17.23	$ 35,840
Bremerton-Silverdale, WA	450	4.92	2.00	$ 23.54	$ 48,950
St. George, UT	380	4.75	1.93	$ 16.80	$ 34,940
Fayetteville, NC	610	4.74	1.93	$ 20.01	$ 41,610
Modesto, CA	900	4.71	1.92	$ 22.36	$ 46,500
Dalton, GA	300	4.69	1.90	$ 18.96	$ 39,430
Pocatello, ID	170	4.64	1.89	$ 17.21	$ 35,790
Hanford-Corcoran, CA	200	4.62	1.88	$ 24.64	$ 51,240