allied · SOC 29-2055
Surgical Technologists
National median $64,650 / yr · 117,460 jobs nationally. Same job, very different outcomes by state — see the WageBench Score below.
National median
$64,650
BLS OEWS
Top state by Score
WI
Score 72 · Wisconsin
Top-paying metro
San Jose
$106,840 median
Top WageBench Score
75
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
Top 10 destinations
Same job. Wildly different outcomes by metro. Click any column to re-sort.
| Rank | Area | Annual Median | Take-Home | State Tax | COL Index | NLC | WageBench Score ↓ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $106,840 | $100,430 | 6.0% | — | — | 75 |
| #2 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $79,900 | $79,900 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 74 |
| #3 | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | $79,990 | $79,990 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 73 |
| #4 | Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | $73,810 | $73,810 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 73 |
| #5 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $99,390 | $93,427 | 6.0% | — | — | 73 |
| #6 | Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | $77,020 | $73,631 | 4.4% | — | ✓ | 72 |
| #7 | Wisconsin | $74,120 | $70,192 | 5.3% | 94 | ✓ | 72 |
| #8 | Washington | $77,270 | $77,270 | 0.0% | 107 | ✓ | 71 |
| #9 | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | $68,970 | $65,522 | 5.0% | — | ✓ | 71 |
| #10 | Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI | $74,830 | $70,864 | 5.3% | — | ✓ | 71 |
National wage distribution
How pay spreads across the workforce — from the 10th percentile (entry / low-COL settings) to the 90th (highest-paying environments).
P10
$45,940
P25
$54,690
MEDIAN
$64,650
P75
$79,750
P90
$96,940
Hourly mean
$33
Hourly median
$31
Annual mean
$68,710
Total US jobs
117,460
Every state & metro, ranked
Filter by state, set a minimum WageBench Score, or restrict to Nurse Licensure Compact members. 445 scored areas total.
445 areas · page 1 of 18
| Area | State | Median | Take-Home | State Tax | COL Index | NLC | HPSA | WageBench Score ↓ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | CA | $106,840 | $100,430 | 6.0% | — | — | 24 | 75 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | WA | $79,900 | $79,900 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 21 | 74 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | TX | $79,990 | $79,990 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 73 |
| Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | TX | $73,810 | $73,810 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 73 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | CA | $99,390 | $93,427 | 6.0% | — | — | 24 | 73 |
| Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | CO | $77,020 | $73,631 | 4.4% | — | ✓ | 22 | 72 |
| Wisconsin | WI | $74,120 | $70,192 | 5.3% | 94 | ✓ | 21 | 72 |
| Washington | WA | $77,270 | $77,270 | 0.0% | 107 | ✓ | 21 | 71 |
| Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | MD | $68,970 | $65,522 | 5.0% | — | ✓ | 24 | 71 |
| Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI | WI | $74,830 | $70,864 | 5.3% | — | ✓ | 21 | 71 |
| Colorado | CO | $75,740 | $72,407 | 4.4% | 103 | ✓ | 22 | 71 |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | AZ | $78,050 | $76,099 | 2.5% | — | ✓ | 21 | 71 |
| North Dakota | ND | $61,640 | $60,407 | 2.0% | 89 | ✓ | 23 | 71 |
| Idaho | ID | $72,550 | $68,342 | 5.8% | 95 | ✓ | 21 | 70 |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | FL | $65,520 | $65,520 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 24 | 70 |
| Missouri | MO | $61,120 | $58,370 | 4.5% | 91 | ✓ | 24 | 70 |
| South Dakota | SD | $59,870 | $59,870 | 0.0% | 89 | ✓ | 22 | 70 |
| Indiana | IN | $64,240 | $62,281 | 3.0% | 93 | ✓ | 23 | 70 |
| Connecticut | CT | $79,890 | $75,896 | 5.0% | 104 | ✓ | 21 | 70 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | PA | $69,650 | $67,512 | 3.1% | — | ✓ | 21 | 70 |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX | TX | $71,050 | $71,050 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 70 |
| Ohio | OH | $62,420 | $60,547 | 3.0% | 93 | ✓ | 23 | 69 |
| Tennessee | TN | $60,530 | $60,530 | 0.0% | 92 | ✓ | 23 | 69 |
| Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN | TN | $63,120 | $63,120 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 69 |
| North Carolina | NC | $60,920 | $58,331 | 4.3% | 94 | ✓ | 24 | 69 |
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Employer benchmark
Download the full national benchmark (PDF)
National percentile wages, 51-state ranking by WageBench Score, top-25 metros, and methodology footer — formatted for HR / compensation review.
WageBench Score blends pay, taxes, COL, demand, license access and livability into one 0-100 number.
How we calculate it →