Real Healthcare
Pay, By
State.
National salary averages are a lie of omission. We show what surgical techs, sonographers, hygienists, and 11 other allied-health roles actually earn — state by state, after cost of living.
- Professions
- 14
- States
- 50
- Workers
- 4.3M
Top medians
Highest-paid allied health
National median · BLS May 2024
- 1 Physical Therapist244,400 U.S. workers · top 10% $130,870$99,710+15% / 10yr
- 2 Occupational Therapist145,800 U.S. workers · top 10% $128,610$98,340+11% / 10yr
- 3 Cardiac Sonographer28,100 U.S. workers · top 10% $131,580$96,810+13% / 10yr
- 4 Dental Hygienist226,400 U.S. workers · top 10% $124,750$94,260+9% / 10yr
Every profession
14 professions, 50 states, real BLS data.
We focus on technician and assistant-level allied health — the segment most career sites underweight in favor of nursing and medicine. Each page has a sortable 50-state pay table, real-pay rankings, top metros, and a career assessment that doesn't sound like a school brochure.
- #1 · SOC 29-1123+15%Physical Therapist$99,710national mediantop 10%
$130,870 - #2 · SOC 29-1122+11%Occupational Therapist$98,340national mediantop 10%
$128,610 - #3 · SOC 29-2032+13%Cardiac Sonographer$96,810national mediantop 10%
$131,580 - #4 · SOC 29-1292+9%Dental Hygienist$94,260national mediantop 10%
$124,750 - #5 · SOC 29-2032+11%Ultrasound Technician$84,470national mediantop 10%
$113,900 - #6 · SOC 29-2032+11%Diagnostic Medical Sonographer$84,470national mediantop 10%
$113,900 - #7 · SOC 29-2035+6%MRI Technologist$84,400national mediantop 10%
$112,800 - #8 · SOC 29-1126+13%Respiratory Therapist$77,960national mediantop 10%
$105,980 - #9 · SOC 29-2034+6%Radiologic Technologist$76,020national mediantop 10%
$107,900 - #10 · SOC 29-2055+5%Surgical Technologist$60,610national mediantop 10%
$86,700 - #11 · SOC 29-2072+9%Health Information Technician$50,250national mediantop 10%
$84,150 - #12 · SOC 29-2072+7%Medical Billing & Coding$47,840national mediantop 10%
$75,320 - #13 · SOC 31-9091+7%Dental Assistant$47,350national mediantop 10%
$65,610 - #14 · SOC 43-3021+4%Medical Biller$45,540national mediantop 10%
$67,320 - #15 · SOC 31-9092+14%Medical Assistant$42,000national mediantop 10%
$59,330 - #16 · SOC 31-9097+8%Phlebotomist$41,810national mediantop 10%
$58,550 - #17 · SOC 29-2052+7%Pharmacy Technician$40,300national mediantop 10%
$60,310
Free tools
The questions a counselor should answer but usually doesn't.
Tuition + lost wages vs. expected new salary. Real payback math, not marketing math.
A San Francisco salary in Houston dollars. Real purchasing power, side by side.
700+ profession × state cells. Filter by profession, state, or minimum pay.
Why we exist
Different from every other healthcare salary site.
We focus on the underserved tier
Most healthcare salary sites lead with nursing and medicine. We focus on technicians, assistants, and therapy roles — the highest-CPC segment with the softest competition online.
We adjust for cost of living
A $90K salary in San Francisco isn't a $90K salary anywhere else. Every page shows real purchasing power using BEA Regional Price Parities.
We tell you when the math doesn't work
DPT debt vs PT salary. $15K medical-billing programs that teach $1,500 of content. The honest answer, not the affiliate-friendly one.
Career guides
Three deep dives into questions that actually matter.
The 10 best-paying credentials below RN-level, ranked by both pay and ROI.
Eight roles you can enter with a certificate. Pay, paths, and the honest tradeoffs.
Where wages are rising, where they're flattening, and what's driving the splits.
Why state matters more than averages.
The U.S. median surgical tech salary is $60,610. In Vallejo, California, the same role pays $96,100. In Tupelo, Mississippi, it pays $43,200. Same credential, same scrubs, same OR — and a $52,900 gap between two cities working under the same federal credentialing body. National averages bury this. We don't.
Cost of living explains some of the gap (California is genuinely more expensive), but not most of it. After applying BEA Regional Price Parities, Vallejo still pays 18% above Tupelo in real purchasing power. The structural drivers — union density, hospital ownership patterns, state staffing rules, regional employer concentration — produce wage gaps that are durable, not just temporary, and largely invisible on national-average career sites.
This site exists because the question "what does a healthcare job pay?" has a different answer in 50 different states, and most of the time the difference matters more than the headline number.