Pay for dental assistants in every state, what it comes to after tax, and how far it goes after local prices and rent.
Dental assistants earn a median of $48,070 a year, or $23.11 an hour, 5.7% less than the $50,980 median for all jobs. Pay is highest in Minnesota ($65,270) and lowest in Utah ($37,760). Occupation code 31-9091 in the Bureau of Labor Statistics survey.
Half of the 387,790 dental assistants in the survey earn between $44,340 and $58,090. The bottom tenth earn under $37,130, the figure the Bureau itself uses as a rough guide to starting pay, and the top tenth more than $62,250. The average is $50,200; it sits above the median because the top earners pull it up.
| Nationally | Per year | Per hour |
|---|---|---|
| Bottom 10% earn less than | $37,130 | $17.85 |
| Bottom quarter earn less than | $44,340 | $21.32 |
| Median | $48,070 | $23.11 |
| Top quarter earn more than | $58,090 | $27.93 |
| Top 10% earn more than | $62,250 | $29.93 |
Hourly figures divide the yearly ones by 2,080 hours, the survey's own full-time year. Convert any salary.
The highest state medians are in Minnesota ($65,270), District of Columbia ($60,580), Maine ($60,070), New Hampshire ($59,530) and Oregon ($59,490). The lowest are in Utah ($37,760), West Virginia ($37,960), Alabama ($39,080), Mississippi ($39,160) and Arkansas ($42,830). The survey does not publish a figure for 1 state, usually because too few people do the job there.
Higher pay often comes with higher prices. Adjusted for each state's price level, pay goes furthest in Minnesota ($66,183 at national prices), North Dakota ($64,940), Maine ($61,896), Oregon ($57,556) and New Hampshire ($57,150).
The most dental assistants work in California (56,220), Texas (33,230) and Florida (26,620). Relative to all jobs, the work is most common in Utah (3.8 per 1,000 jobs), Washington (3.7) and Alaska (3.5).
On the national median of $48,070, a single filer in a state with no income tax takes home about $40,804 a year after federal tax, Social Security and Medicare, or $1,569 every two weeks. On each state's own median and taxes, take-home ranges from $30,840 in Utah to $50,669 in Minnesota. Work out your own paycheck.
The typical rent in each state's median county takes a median 38.6% of a dental assistant's gross pay, and stays under the usual 30% guideline in 5 of the 49 states and DC. With 10% down at a 7.03% mortgage rate, a single dental assistant earning the state median could afford the typical home in its median county in 0 of the 49 states and DC, under the 28% guideline. On the national median alone, that guideline stretches to about $130,923. Try it with your own numbers, or see where this pay covers the typical rent.
| Alabama | $39,080 | $18.79 | −18.7% | $43,998 | $31,667 | 42.2% | 3,740 |
| Alaska | $57,710 | $27.74 | +20.1% | $56,380 | $48,550 | 38.0% | 1,140 |
| Arizona | $49,000 | $23.56 | +1.9% | $48,671 | $40,327 | 40.9% | 8,680 |
| Arkansas | $42,830 | $20.59 | −10.9% | $49,266 | $35,376 | 30.8% | 2,950 |
| California | $50,110 | $24.09 | +4.2% | $45,258 | $40,902 | 58.7% | 56,220 |
| Colorado | $48,340 | $23.24 | +0.6% | $46,908 | $38,894 | 50.1% | 8,360 |
| Connecticut | $56,850 | $27.33 | +18.3% | $54,869 | $45,482 | 42.1% | 3,840 |
| Delaware | $47,600 | $22.89 | −1.0% | $47,692 | $38,171 | 47.7% | 990 |
| District of Columbia | $60,580 | $29.13 | +26.0% | $55,122 | $47,307 | 50.1% | 630 |
| Florida | $47,620 | $22.89 | −0.9% | $46,048 | $40,443 | 48.2% | 26,620 |
| Georgia | $46,840 | $22.52 | −2.6% | $48,643 | $37,479 | 42.9% | 10,540 |
| Hawaii | $44,720 | $21.50 | −7.0% | $40,673 | $35,809 | 85.0% | 1,960 |
| Idaho | $45,880 | $22.06 | −4.6% | $48,045 | $36,613 | 40.4% | 2,680 |
| Illinois | $48,610 | $23.37 | +1.1% | $48,630 | $38,832 | 29.7% | 13,740 |
| Indiana | $48,670 | $23.40 | +1.2% | $52,149 | $39,851 | 29.2% | 6,690 |
| Iowa | $48,430 | $23.28 | +0.7% | $55,183 | $39,253 | 25.6% | 3,210 |
| Kansas | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Kentucky | $47,730 | $22.95 | −0.7% | $52,940 | $38,861 | 31.6% | 4,530 |
| Louisiana | $44,090 | $21.20 | −8.3% | $49,985 | $36,284 | 36.3% | 4,540 |
| Maine | $60,070 | $28.88 | +25.0% | $61,896 | $46,652 | 33.1% | 1,550 |
| Maryland | $48,620 | $23.38 | +1.1% | $46,323 | $38,989 | 47.9% | 6,560 |
| Massachusetts | $57,980 | $27.88 | +20.6% | $54,824 | $45,868 | 50.5% | 9,680 |
| Michigan | $48,820 | $23.47 | +1.6% | $50,739 | $39,332 | 33.0% | 11,990 |
| Minnesota | $65,270 | $31.38 | +35.8% | $66,183 | $50,669 | 23.6% | 5,980 |
| Mississippi | $39,160 | $18.83 | −18.5% | $45,036 | $32,479 | 44.2% | 3,080 |
| Missouri | $45,970 | $22.10 | −4.4% | $50,618 | $37,137 | 33.6% | 6,760 |
| Montana | $46,680 | $22.44 | −2.9% | $49,321 | $37,493 | 39.2% | 1,450 |
| Nebraska | $46,660 | $22.43 | −2.9% | $51,785 | $37,849 | 33.3% | 2,520 |
| Nevada | $47,110 | $22.65 | −2.0% | $47,120 | $40,033 | 46.2% | 4,230 |
| New Hampshire | $59,530 | $28.62 | +23.8% | $57,150 | $50,012 | 41.9% | 1,600 |
| New Jersey | $49,390 | $23.74 | +2.7% | $45,393 | $40,629 | 55.8% | 9,990 |
| New Mexico | $44,400 | $21.35 | −7.6% | $48,150 | $36,178 | 39.9% | 2,150 |
| New York | $48,110 | $23.13 | +0.1% | $44,579 | $38,403 | 38.6% | 19,800 |
| North Carolina | $50,380 | $24.22 | +4.8% | $53,411 | $40,650 | 38.5% | 11,450 |
| North Dakota | $57,770 | $27.78 | +20.2% | $64,940 | $48,417 | 25.2% | 860 |
| Ohio | $47,970 | $23.06 | −0.2% | $51,706 | $40,121 | 32.5% | 12,150 |
| Oklahoma | $45,740 | $21.99 | −4.8% | $52,070 | $37,089 | 33.3% | 4,550 |
| Oregon | $59,490 | $28.60 | +23.8% | $57,556 | $45,094 | 34.5% | 5,930 |
| Pennsylvania | $47,930 | $23.05 | −0.3% | $49,123 | $39,220 | 32.8% | 12,080 |
| Rhode Island | $50,150 | $24.11 | +4.3% | $49,032 | $40,595 | 59.0% | 1,050 |
| South Carolina | $47,320 | $22.75 | −1.6% | $50,475 | $38,702 | 38.6% | 5,530 |
| South Dakota | $47,900 | $23.03 | −0.4% | $54,072 | $40,668 | 32.4% | 1,290 |
| Tennessee | $46,720 | $22.46 | −2.8% | $50,854 | $39,720 | 38.2% | 7,420 |
| Texas | $45,430 | $21.84 | −5.5% | $46,808 | $38,683 | 38.9% | 33,230 |
| Utah | $37,760 | $18.16 | −21.4% | $38,194 | $30,840 | 55.4% | 6,640 |
| Vermont | $52,760 | $25.37 | +9.8% | $53,860 | $42,647 | 40.2% | 580 |
| Virginia | $46,670 | $22.44 | −2.9% | $46,160 | $37,253 | 47.1% | 10,760 |
| Washington | $58,090 | $27.93 | +20.8% | $54,283 | $48,855 | 37.7% | 13,050 |
| West Virginia | $37,960 | $18.25 | −21.0% | $42,415 | $31,639 | 34.9% | 1,290 |
| Wisconsin | $47,520 | $22.85 | −1.1% | $50,502 | $38,407 | 30.6% | 7,760 |
| Wyoming | $44,990 | $21.63 | −6.4% | $48,538 | $38,329 | 35.6% | 630 |
Click a column to sort it. “After local prices” divides the median by the state's price level (national average = 100). Take-home is for a single filer on the state median with no retirement or health deductions. Rent share is a year of the typical rent in the state's median county against the median pay. A dash means the survey publishes no figure.
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