support · SOC 31-9091
Dental Assistants
National median $48,070 / yr · 387,790 jobs nationally. Same job, very different outcomes by state — see the WageBench Score below.
National median
$48,070
BLS OEWS
Top state by Score
ND
Score 76 · North Dakota
Top-paying metro
San Jose
$74,600 median
Top WageBench Score
76
North Dakota
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 | North Dakota | $57,770 | $56,615 | 2.0% | 89 | ✓ | 76 |
| #2 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $62,040 | $62,040 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 75 |
| #3 | Raleigh-Cary, NC | $58,750 | $56,253 | 4.3% | — | ✓ | 74 |
| #4 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $74,600 | $70,124 | 6.0% | — | — | 73 |
| #5 | Maine | $60,070 | $56,586 | 5.8% | 97 | ✓ | 72 |
| #6 | Washington | $58,090 | $58,090 | 0.0% | 107 | ✓ | 71 |
| #7 | North Carolina | $50,380 | $48,239 | 4.3% | 94 | ✓ | 71 |
| #8 | South Dakota | $47,900 | $47,900 | 0.0% | 89 | ✓ | 71 |
| #9 | Kentucky | $47,730 | $45,821 | 4.0% | 90 | ✓ | 70 |
| #10 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $64,390 | $60,527 | 6.0% | — | — | 70 |
National wage distribution
How pay spreads across the workforce — from the 10th percentile (entry / low-COL settings) to the 90th (highest-paying environments).
P10
$37,130
P25
$44,340
MEDIAN
$48,070
P75
$58,090
P90
$62,250
Hourly mean
$24
Hourly median
$23
Annual mean
$50,200
Total US jobs
387,790
Every state & metro, ranked
Filter by state, set a minimum WageBench Score, or restrict to Nurse Licensure Compact members. 574 scored areas total.
574 areas · page 1 of 23
| Area | State | Median | Take-Home | State Tax | COL Index | NLC | HPSA | WageBench Score ↓ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Dakota | ND | $57,770 | $56,615 | 2.0% | 89 | ✓ | 23 | 76 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | WA | $62,040 | $62,040 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 21 | 75 |
| Raleigh-Cary, NC | NC | $58,750 | $56,253 | 4.3% | — | ✓ | 24 | 74 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | CA | $74,600 | $70,124 | 6.0% | — | — | 24 | 73 |
| Maine | ME | $60,070 | $56,586 | 5.8% | 97 | ✓ | 19 | 72 |
| Washington | WA | $58,090 | $58,090 | 0.0% | 107 | ✓ | 21 | 71 |
| North Carolina | NC | $50,380 | $48,239 | 4.3% | 94 | ✓ | 24 | 71 |
| South Dakota | SD | $47,900 | $47,900 | 0.0% | 89 | ✓ | 22 | 71 |
| Kentucky | KY | $47,730 | $45,821 | 4.0% | 90 | ✓ | 23 | 70 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | CA | $64,390 | $60,527 | 6.0% | — | — | 24 | 70 |
| Jacksonville, FL | FL | $50,270 | $50,270 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 24 | 70 |
| Indiana | IN | $48,670 | $47,186 | 3.0% | 93 | ✓ | 23 | 70 |
| Iowa | IA | $48,430 | $46,590 | 3.8% | 88 | ✓ | 21 | 70 |
| Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | TX | $48,500 | $48,500 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 70 |
| New Hampshire | NH | $59,530 | $59,530 | 0.0% | 104 | ✓ | 20 | 70 |
| Missouri | MO | $45,970 | $43,901 | 4.5% | 91 | ✓ | 24 | 70 |
| Tennessee | TN | $46,720 | $46,720 | 0.0% | 92 | ✓ | 23 | 70 |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | FL | $47,860 | $47,860 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 24 | 70 |
| Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | NC | $50,060 | $47,932 | 4.3% | — | ✓ | 24 | 70 |
| Ohio | OH | $47,970 | $46,531 | 3.0% | 93 | ✓ | 23 | 70 |
| Columbus, OH | OH | $48,760 | $47,297 | 3.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 69 |
| Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN | OH | $49,590 | $48,102 | 3.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 69 |
| Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN | KY | $49,100 | $47,136 | 4.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 69 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | MN | $72,370 | $67,449 | 6.8% | — | — | 19 | 69 |
| St. Louis, MO-IL | MO | $48,120 | $45,955 | 4.5% | — | ✓ | 24 | 69 |
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Not published by BLS (1) — BLS suppresses wage estimates where employment is too low to disclose. These states likely still employ this occupation; there's just no public wage to rank: Kansas.
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 →