The highest-paying metropolitan area for dental assistants is the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif., region, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The agency released updated compensation data April 3 to reflect May 2023 information, the latest available.
Here are the 10 highest-paying metropolitan regions for dental assistants, along with the annual mean wage for each area:
1. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.: $66,640
2. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn.-Wis.: $66,300
3. Santa Rosa, Calif.: $62,680
4. San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calif.: $62,000
5. Rochester, Minn.: $60,180
6. Vallejo-Fairfield, Calif.: $60,120
7. Mankato-North Mankato, Minn.: $57,780
8. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash.: $57,680
9. Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, Mass.-N.H.: $57,680
10. Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Ore.-Wash.: $57,670