Health
What you can do with Dental Hygiene
Cleaning teeth, taking X-rays and screening patients for oral disease.
- Careers
- 2
- Early career
- $62,000
- Mid-career
- $80,000
- Growing fast
- 2 of 2
How these numbers work: A major does not have its own salary. Early and mid-career pay is what people who hold this degree earn at the start of their careers and midway through them. Career pay comes from the 2 careers a Dental Hygiene degree commonly leads to, and counts everyone in those jobs, including people who have been doing them for thirty years. The two answer different questions, which is why they do not match.
The New York Fed does not report Dental Hygiene on its own. Its early and mid-career figures here are for Medical Technicians, the broader group it places this major in.
2 of 2 careers this degree leads to are projected to grow faster than average from 2024 to 2034. Of those, Dental Assistant has the most openings, about 52,900 a year.
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2 careers this degree leads to
Dental Hygienist
$98,100Examine patients for oral diseases, clean teeth, and provide preventive dental care and education.
- Middle half of workers
- $83,570 to $108,480
- Growth
- Much faster than average
- Openings a year
- 15,300
Work-life78Remote2Satisfaction75- Periodontal Care
- Patient Education
- Radiography
- Anatomy
Dental Assistant
$48,070Keep dental practices running chairside and front-of-office: prep, assist, and manage patient flow.
- Middle half of workers
- $44,340 to $58,090
- Growth
- Faster than average
- Openings a year
- 52,900
Work-life84Remote0- Chairside Assisting
- Sterilization
- Patient Communication
- Scheduling
Related majors
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Where these pay figures come from
Early and mid-career pay is the median annual wage of full-time workers who hold a bachelor's degree in that major, ages 22 to 27 and ages 35 to 45, from 2024 data. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (IPUMS). Published as Outcomes by Major by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Career pay is the annual wage of everyone working in that occupation, not only recent graduates, so it includes people who have done the job for decades. The middle half is the 25th to the 75th percentile. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and O*NET OnLine (median and percentile annual wages May 2025; employment projections 2024-2034).
All figures are national. What you earn depends on where you work, who you work for, and how far you take the degree.