Dental hygienist salary is one of the highest salary of people who work in medical field. Of course you cannot compare dental hygienist salary with M.D who have to go through up to 6 years in medical schools and additional years for other certification. However, the pay for dental hygienist is good enough for these specialists have quite comfortable lifestyle.
As in other jobs, dental hygienist salary has quite a large range. The highest earners may have three times higher income than the lowest earners. This is quite understandable as the salary might depend on where you work and how good skills as well as education are. With higher education base and better skills, higher salary for dental hygienist is not something too hard to understand.
Current Dental Hygienist Salary
Generally, dental hygienists are paid from $17 to $62 hourly and from $30,000 to $120,000 annually. The average dental hygienist salary over the United States is around $73,989. In comparison to dental assistant, the other one who work along with the dental hygienist to assist the dentist, this pay is quite higher. Dental assistant has lower salary, from $22,000 to $50,000 annually. The table and chart below represent current situation of dental hygienist salaries in some of U.S. states:
State
Average Salary
Alabama
$43656
Alaska
$110180
Arizona
$84325
Arkansas
$75016
California
$96523
Colorado
$80800
Connecticut
$83004
Delaware
$68612
Georgia
$51744
Hawaii
$66215
Idaho
$68496
Illinois
$64784
Indiana
$73906
New Jersey
$85320
Newyork
$54101
Ohio
$66749
Rhode Island
$79818
Texas
$67192
Utah
$40442
Washington
$101288
Washington DC
$98867
West Virginia
$76048
Wyoming
72823
Dental hygienist salary varies from states to states. For example, there are two dental hygienists who have the same diploma, education and skill. However, one works in Anaheim, CA and the another works in Anniston, AL. The one who works in Alaska get paid around $110,000 per year while the one who works at Utah gets more than $40,000 per year. That’s the reason why choosing the right place to work can make a huge different in dental hygienist salary.
Dental Hygienist Salary 2012 Data
For a starter, who have graduated from dental hygienist schools, the starting salary can range from $30,000 to $35,000 per year. If you want to have good salary, you should go to big cities as people from those places are always willing to pay higher than people from rural areas. However, you should also consider the living standard in big cities. It is a fact that you will spend a lot more for living, services… when you live in a big city than when you stay at a hospital, clinic in the smaller ones. Another way to have better salary as a dental hygienist is to obtain higher education. In dental hygienist, you can get master degree, which is the highest one. In addition, with time you will be skillful. This is the time to search for better clinics or hospitals where you can get a lot better salary than the starting point.
Dental hygienist education path
In order to earn salary as a dental hygienist, you need to attend dental hygiene school and after that, a State license is required to work for this job. Depends on schools, the requirements are different. Some schools only require high school diploma but some other require you to have at least one year at the college to attend the course to be a dental hygienist. The dental hygienist education doesn’t offer only one certification. In fact, you can get certificate, bachelor’s degree or even a master degree. As you can guess, the higher degree you have, the better chance you get higher payout.
Dental Hygienist Salary
Dental hygienist salary is one of the highest salary of people who work in medical field. Of course you cannot compare dental hygienist salary with M.D who have to go through up to 6 years in medical schools and additional years for other certification. However, the pay for dental hygienist is good enough for these specialists have quite comfortable lifestyle.
As in other jobs, dental hygienist salary has quite a large range. The highest earners may have three times higher income than the lowest earners. This is quite understandable as the salary might depend on where you work and how good skills as well as education are. With higher education base and better skills, higher salary for dental hygienist is not something too hard to understand.
Current Dental Hygienist Salary
Generally, dental hygienists are paid from $17 to $62 hourly and from $30,000 to $120,000 annually. The average dental hygienist salary over the United States is around $73,989. In comparison to dental assistant, the other one who work along with the dental hygienist to assist the dentist, this pay is quite higher. Dental assistant has lower salary, from $22,000 to $50,000 annually. The table and chart below represent current situation of dental hygienist salaries in some of U.S. states:
Dental hygienist salary varies from states to states. For example, there are two dental hygienists who have the same diploma, education and skill. However, one works in Anaheim, CA and the another works in Anniston, AL. The one who works in Alaska get paid around $110,000 per year while the one who works at Utah gets more than $40,000 per year. That’s the reason why choosing the right place to work can make a huge different in dental hygienist salary.
Dental Hygienist Salary 2012 Data
For a starter, who have graduated from dental hygienist schools, the starting salary can range from $30,000 to $35,000 per year. If you want to have good salary, you should go to big cities as people from those places are always willing to pay higher than people from rural areas. However, you should also consider the living standard in big cities. It is a fact that you will spend a lot more for living, services… when you live in a big city than when you stay at a hospital, clinic in the smaller ones. Another way to have better salary as a dental hygienist is to obtain higher education. In dental hygienist, you can get master degree, which is the highest one. In addition, with time you will be skillful. This is the time to search for better clinics or hospitals where you can get a lot better salary than the starting point.
Dental hygienist education path
In order to earn salary as a dental hygienist, you need to attend dental hygiene school and after that, a State license is required to work for this job. Depends on schools, the requirements are different. Some schools only require high school diploma but some other require you to have at least one year at the college to attend the course to be a dental hygienist. The dental hygienist education doesn’t offer only one certification. In fact, you can get certificate, bachelor’s degree or even a master degree. As you can guess, the higher degree you have, the better chance you get higher payout.