Annual Salary, Salary Range, and Highest Paying States and Industries
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Dental Assistants
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.
Table of contents
- Average salary
- Starting salary
- Salary rank
- Salary range
- Highest paying states
- Highest paying industries
Average salary
Starting salary
Entry-level Dental Assistants with little to no experience can expect to make anywhere between $28,940 to $34,470 per year or $14 to $17 per hour. Similar to any other job, their salary will increase as they gain experience.
Salary rank
We wanted to make it easy for our readers to compare the salary of Dental Assistants to all the other careers out there. So we created Salary Rank. We compared the salary of all careers then we gave them a rank of A, B, C, or D depending on where their average salary sit in comparison to other careers.
Salary range
| Level | Hourly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| Highest (Top 10%) | $28 | $58,390 |
| Senior (Top 25%) | $24 | $49,810 |
| Middle (Mid 50%) | $20 | $41,180 |
| Junior (Bottom 25%) | $17 | $34,470 |
| No experience (Bottom 10%) | $14 | $28,940 |
Highest paying states
| State | Hourly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| MN | $26 | $53,670 |
| MA | $25 | $51,750 |
| AK | $25 | $51,230 |
| NH | $24 | $50,820 |
| OR | $23 | $48,320 |
| ND | $23 | $47,390 |
| WA | $22 | $46,690 |
| RI | $22 | $46,560 |
| VT | $22 | $45,810 |
| NJ | $22 | $45,370 |
Another simple way to increase your salary as a Dental Assistant is to move to a higher paying state. However moving to a higher paying state like MN doesn’t guarantee that you will make more because the expenses at MN might be much higher than where you are currently living at right now.
According to BLS, the highest paid Dental Assistants are in the states of MN, MA, AK, NH and OR.
Highest paying industries
| Salary by industry | Annual | Hourly |
|---|---|---|
| State Government | $50080 | $24.08 |
| Nursing Care Facilities (Skilled Nursing Facilities) | $46370 | $22.29 |
| Other Ambulatory Health Care Services | $46090 | $22.16 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises | $46010 | $22.12 |
| General Medical and Surgical Hospitals | $45620 | $21.93 |
| Specialty Hospitals | $45340 | $21.80 |
| Federal Executive Branch | $45260 | $21.76 |
| Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Hospitals | $45220 | $21.74 |
| Technical and Trade Schools | $44350 | $21.32 |
| Local Government | $42650 | $20.50 |
| Offices of Dentists | $42300 | $20.34 |
| Outpatient Care Centers | $41940 | $20.17 |
| Office Administrative Services | $41910 | $20.15 |
| Residential Intellectual and Developmental Disability, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse Facilities | $41860 | $20.12 |
| Junior Colleges | $41680 | $20.04 |
| Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools | $41660 | $20.03 |
| Offices of Other Health Practitioners | $41500 | $19.95 |
| Employment Services | $41450 | $19.93 |
| Facilities Support Services | $40080 | $19.27 |
| Offices of Physicians | $39990 | $19.23 |
| Individual and Family Services | $39800 | $19.14 |
| Medical Equipment and Supplies Manufacturing | $39770 | $19.12 |
| Community Food and Housing, and Emergency and Other Relief Services | $39250 | $18.87 |
| Home Health Care Services | $37000 | $17.79 |
| Vocational Rehabilitation Services | $34990 | $16.82 |
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