Surgical Tech vs Sterile Processing Tech: pay, jobs and what each takes

Surgical technologists, by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (May 2025): a median of $31.08 an hour ($64,650 a year), against $22.93 ($47,700 a year) for sterile processing technicians, $8.15 an hour more. The open jobs on this board today post medians of $36.87 an hour for surgical technologists and $27.12 for sterile processing technicians.

On this board today: 3,556 open surgical technologist jobs and 1,097 sterile processing technician jobs, read from each employer's own job board. BLS expects about 7,100 openings a year for surgical technologists and 10,700 for sterile processing technicians, with employment changing +5.0% and +10.8% over 2025-2035.

Surgical technologists set up the operating room, scrub in and pass instruments to the surgeon, and keep the sterile field safe, in hospital ORs, surgery centers and labor and delivery. Sterile processing technicians clean, inspect, assemble and sterilize surgical instruments and trays so every case has what it needs, in hospital sterile processing departments around the clock.

A certificate or associate degree from an accredited surgical technology program, then the CST exam. (BLS: Postsecondary nondegree award.) A high school diploma and a sterile processing course or on-the-job training. (BLS: High school diploma or equivalent.) Each occupation's page lists its credentials and who grants them: Surgical technologists, Sterile processing technicians.