Dental Lab Technician Salary By State - CRATEX Abrasives

Dental lab technicians are the guys you probably won’t see when you go to the dentist to try your new crown. While they are not patient-facing, their job is crucial and the most important one for having a comfortable implant or natural-looking restoration.   

How Much Money Does a Dental Lab Technician Make?

Ask Google about an average dental laboratory technician salary and you’ll be shown info from PayScale – average dental lab tech in the US makes around $17.41 per hour. Almost the same salary figures come from Indeed. These numbers are in general and way too broad since payroll can depend on experience, the degree you hold, state and few other factors. 

Let us crunch all variables and show you the determinant factors of a dental lab technician salary.

Job Statistics & Summary

• Job satisfaction - 80%
• Gender structure: female 42%, male 58%
• The largest employers –Commercial dental labs, medical equipment and supplies manufacturing, healthcare stores and offices of dentists
• Entry-level education & academic requirements – High school
• Job demand – High. Projected growth is 13% (from 2016 to 2016). Average growth for all occupations in the US is 7%
• Job outlook & prospects – Good
• Work schedules – Mainly full-time job
• The most required skill for this occupation: Precision and attention to details
• Recommended experience - Minimum 4 years for fully trained dental lab technician.

Average Salary

What is the average pay for a dental lab technician? It is hard to say with 100% accuracy since different sources offer different numbers. But if you manage to combine all data available online you can have a decent perspective about an average earning per hour and annually.

Factors that influence earnings for technicians are:

1. Location (State),
2. Experience and skill level,
3. Degree and certificate,
4. Self-employment (business owner),
5. Lab size (number of employees),
6. Bonuses and overtime pay.

The most important is the location of a laboratory. Be careful if you are looking to increase your earning moving to another state. Always calculate the cost of living before you decide to move and look for a job opportunity in another state.

After Geo location, there comes experience and skill level. The difference in average hourly wage between the least experienced and the most experienced technician can be more than $15 for those who work in laboratories with 25 or more employees.

If you decide to run the laboratory on your own, your average hourly wage will be higher that is for sure. But you need to be prepared for many expenses from the very start. You’ll need to buy dental lab tools and equipment. Read previous chapters to learn more about dental lab tools and CRATEX tools for dental technicians. You also need to calculate tax and business insurance that you will need to pay by yourself. 

According to National Association of Dental Laboratories average salary in small and medium-sized labs are higher compared to those at large labs with more than 25 employees.

Degree and certificates are self-explanatory. If you hold several certificates it is more likely that you have a wide knowledge spectrum that makes you capable to successfully complete the most advanced orthodontic and dental projects.

Dental Lab Technician Salary by State

According to the survey from May 2016, states with the highest employment rate in this occupation are California, Florida, Texas, New York and Pennsylvania. 

Same research from Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that states with the highest salaries for dental lab technicians are: District of Columbia, Alaska, New York, Vermont and Rhode Island. See table below for dental lab technician salary by state.

State	Hourly Wage	Annual Wage
District of Columbia	$37.70	$78,410
Alaska	$25.50	$53,030
New York	$23.28	$48,420
Vermont	$22.67	$47,150
Rhode Island	$22.63	$47,060

 

Dental lab technician salaries are the highest at offices of dentists followed by commercial dental laboratories and medical equipment manufacturing.

Dental Lab Technician Jobs Salary by Experience Level

Based on a research (PayScale.com) conducted on more than 250 salaries provided by anonymous users, pay by experience for dental lab technicians has a positive trend. 

Experience plays an important role in this research from 2015 by NADL. Technicians with 20 years of experience (or more) can almost double their annual wages compared with the time when they had to beg for a career. at the begging of a career.

How Do You Become a Dental Lab Technician?

If you liked the numbers above and you find this occupation interesting start looking for a good education in this field. There are some great schools for dental lab technics in the US. If you want to learn more about them, read our next chapter.

Jobs for Dental Lab Technicians

If you are just about to start your career as a technician in the dental laboratory and looking for some good jobs start from an online search. Search the Internet for “dental lab technician job openings” and you’ll get decent job opportunities on the websites like Indeed, ZipRecruiter, Monster or SimplyHired.com.

Resources

http://www.ada.org/en - American Dental Association
http://www.adea.org/ - American Dental Education Association
https://nbccert.org/homepage.cfm - National Board for Certification in Dental Laboratory Technology
https://nadl.org/home-page.cfm - National Association of Dental Laboratories