Dental Assistant Salary: A Closer Look At Rates And Factors Affecting Salary

In general, a dental assistant makes $10 per hour, with the dental assistant salary amounting to a minimum of $24,000 per year. With experience, a dental assistant can earn more. Like any other profession, the amount that dental assistants receive as salaries depend on further qualifications and performance displayed over the years. Also, the pay rate for dental assistants vary by location.

Figures up close:

Based on recent statistics, half of dental assistants in the United States have an annual income between $30,000 and $37,000. The data can be extrapolated and interpreted as such that 25% of dental assistants are making under $30,000 annually and 25% are making over $37,000 annually. Narrowing down the data further, it can be observed that the upper 10% of dental assistant salary is over $40,000 annually.

Hourly rates range between $9.74 and $18.89, and overtime rates per hour range between $11.13 and $28.05. A dental assistant who is fresh out of school stands to earn an average of $11.55 per hour. With more experience and service years, hourly rates can easily go beyond $20 an hour.

Dental assistant salary varies by location:

The salaries received by dental assistants vary based on geographic location. Factors that contribute to this variance include demand for dental assistants and local factors. According to state by state comparisons, professionals practicing in the state of New York receive $14.92 per hour on average. This rate is roughly about $2 more than those who practice in the state of California with an average of $12.96 an hour.

Comparing by cities, those employed in the city of New York are paid hourly an average of $17. The city of Houston, on the other hand, is well below this average with $12.33 being paid to these professionals per hour. On average, dental assistants employed in the cities of Las Vegas, Chicago, Atlanta, and Charlotte pull in an hourly rate of $16.

Other things that have an effect on dental assistant salary:

Certifications and level of education are two factors that dental assistants have greater control of. They are more likely to get hired in higher-paying dental offices if they get the proper training at reputable and accredited institutions. Their salary is going to increase too if they diligently acquire relevant certifications as they work. Of course, experience acquired through the years of practicing the profession as well as excellent display of performance in the actual working area provide greater chances of being promoted to more decent annual salaries and incentives.

As the profession's popularity continues to grow, the dental assistant salary will become more standardized. As their roles are becoming more recognized in the field of dentistry, so does the demand for the dental assistant profession making it a very promising career path.