From the top paying states to average annual salary, here are 24 statistics on dental hygienist pay in 2022:
- Dental hygienists make more than double the average base cost of living in most states, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Cambridge-based Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Living Wage Calculator.
- The mean hourly wage for dental hygienists is $39.12 per hour.
- The mean annual salary for dental hygienists is $81,360 per year.
- Here are the top paying industries for dental hygienists:
- Community food and housing, and emergency and other relief services
- Facilities support services
- Employment services
- Other ambulatory health care services
- Offices of dentists
- Here are the top paying states for dental hygienists:
- Alaska
- California
- Washington
- Oregon
- Nevada
- Top paying metropolitan areas for dental hygienists:
- Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, Calif.
- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.
- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calif.
- Anchorage, Alaska
- Santa Rosa, Calif.
- Santa Cruz-Watsonville, Calif.
- Fairbanks, Ark.
- Napa, Calif.
- Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash.
- Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, Calif.
- Top paying nonmetropolitan areas for dental hygienists:
- Alaska nonmetropolitan area
- Western Washington
- North Valley-Northern Mountains region of California
- North coast region of California
- Eastern Washington
- Percentile annual wage estimates for dental hygienists:
- 90th percentile: $100,200
- 75th percentile: $98,260
- 50th percentile: $77,810
- 25th percentile: $73,540
- 10th percentile: $60,100
- The average annual salary for dental hygienists exceeded the average household income in most states, except for three.
- Dental hygienists in Alaska — the highest paid in the U.S. — make on average about $45.19 more per hour than the state's minimum wage.
- How much dental hygienists make in the four best states for dental health:
- Connecticut: $88,610
- Washington, D.C.: $81,400
- Massachusetts: $87,030
- Hawaii: $81,970
- New Jersey: $87,070
- Here is what dental hygienists make in the worst states for dental health:
- Arkansas: $74,360
- West Virginia: $61,050
- Louisiana: $74,240
- Mississippi: $57,670
- Texas: $75,970