Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2020

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)
312,140	0.9 %	$ 20.34	$ 42,310	0.4 %

Percentile wage estimates for Dental Assistants:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$ 13.91	$ 16.57	$ 19.80	$ 23.95	$ 28.07
Annual Wage (2)	$ 28,940	$ 34,470	$ 41,180	$ 49,810	$ 58,390

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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	279,850	33.06	$ 20.34	$ 42,300
Offices of Physicians	7,360	0.28	$ 19.23	$ 39,990
Outpatient Care Centers	5,500	0.57	$ 20.17	$ 41,940
Federal Executive Branch (OEWS Designation)	3,670	0.18	$ 21.76	$ 45,260
Employment Services	3,610	0.11	$ 19.93	$ 41,450

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	279,850	33.06	$ 20.34	$ 42,300
Outpatient Care Centers	5,500	0.57	$ 20.17	$ 41,940
Offices of Physicians	7,360	0.28	$ 19.23	$ 39,990
Federal Executive Branch (OEWS Designation)	3,670	0.18	$ 21.76	$ 45,260
Employment Services	3,610	0.11	$ 19.93	$ 41,450

Top paying industries for Dental Assistants:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
State Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OEWS Designation)	1,260	0.06	$ 24.08	$ 50,080
Nursing Care Facilities (Skilled Nursing Facilities)	(8)	(8)	$ 22.29	$ 46,370
Other Ambulatory Health Care Services	340	0.11	$ 22.16	$ 46,090
Management of Companies and Enterprises	140	0.01	$ 22.12	$ 46,010
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	2,180	0.04	$ 21.93	$ 45,620

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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	47,140	2.87	1.28	$ 21.61	$ 44,940
Texas	29,950	2.48	1.10	$ 19.08	$ 39,680
Florida	20,690	2.45	1.09	$ 19.79	$ 41,170
New York	14,420	1.66	0.74	$ 20.74	$ 43,150
Illinois	11,390	2.02	0.90	$ 19.61	$ 40,780

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	5,640	3.79	1.69	$ 16.76	$ 34,850
Colorado	8,390	3.26	1.45	$ 21.12	$ 43,930
New Mexico	2,460	3.13	1.40	$ 17.98	$ 37,410
Alaska	920	3.12	1.39	$ 24.63	$ 51,230
Montana	1,420	3.11	1.39	$ 17.95	$ 37,330

Top paying states for Dental Assistants:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Minnesota	5,110	1.89	0.84	$ 25.80	$ 53,670
Massachusetts	6,020	1.80	0.80	$ 24.88	$ 51,750
Alaska	920	3.12	1.39	$ 24.63	$ 51,230
New Hampshire	1,150	1.85	0.82	$ 24.43	$ 50,820
Oregon	4,550	2.52	1.12	$ 23.23	$ 48,320

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)
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	16,680	2.86	1.28	$ 19.83	$ 41,250
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	16,250	1.84	0.82	$ 21.45	$ 44,610
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	9,580	2.67	1.19	$ 20.72	$ 43,110
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	8,740	2.00	0.89	$ 20.36	$ 42,350
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	7,070	2.82	1.26	$ 19.35	$ 40,250
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX	7,010	2.36	1.05	$ 18.35	$ 38,170
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ	5,680	2.69	1.20	$ 20.38	$ 42,380
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA	5,630	2.41	1.08	$ 25.72	$ 53,510
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	5,410	1.79	0.80	$ 24.64	$ 51,250
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	5,050	1.92	0.85	$ 20.86	$ 43,390

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)
Pocatello, ID	240	7.25	3.23	$ 14.56	$ 30,280
Johnstown, PA	250	5.41	2.41	$ 18.14	$ 37,730
Provo-Orem, UT	1,320	5.20	2.32	$ 15.94	$ 33,160
Yakima, WA	440	4.87	2.17	$ 19.75	$ 41,070
Pueblo, CO	280	4.78	2.13	$ 19.87	$ 41,330
Ogden-Clearfield, UT	1,200	4.61	2.05	$ 15.59	$ 32,420
Colorado Springs, CO	1,270	4.55	2.03	$ 20.08	$ 41,760
Bellingham, WA	370	4.54	2.02	$ 22.50	$ 46,810
Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	210	4.53	2.02	$ 21.02	$ 43,720
Bremerton-Silverdale, WA	390	4.51	2.01	$ 21.71	$ 45,170