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Dental assistant salary

Open dental assistant jobs post a median of $24.50 an hour, with the middle half paying $22.50–$28.50: about $51,000 a year full time. Measured from 293 jobs at 97 employers that state their pay, read from each employer's own job board.

$24.50
Median posted /hr
$23–$29
Middle half /hr
$51,000
A year, full time
estimate, 2,080 hours
$23.11
BLS median /hr
May 2025

The jobs themselves: Dental assistant jobs

What dental assistants are paid

Each bar counts the open jobs posting an hourly rate in its step of pay (a range at its midpoint). The middle half of employers' rates is in the darker color.

Posted hourly rates of 293 open jobs. The chart spans the 2nd to the 98th percentile; the lowest rate posted is $10, the highest $53.17.

Posted on open jobs

$22.50–$28.50/hr

Middle half of 210 employer rates (each employer's advertised range once), median $24.50. 45% of the 652 open dental assistant jobs state an hourly rate.

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Dental assistant pay by employer

What each employer posts for dental assistants, the employers with the most jobs stating pay first. An employer with at least 5 such jobs has a page of its own with every range it posts.

EmployerMedian postedPosted rangeJobs stating pay
Orthodontic Experts$22$18–$2623
SGA Dental Partners$22.75$16–$4022
Park Dental$32.50$30.50–$34.6520
Aspen Dental$24$10–$4516
Smile Brands$25.50$18–$4013
Kaiser Permanente$30$26.63–$34.8012
Willamette Dental Group$31.50$22–$46.8810
Denver Health$27.50$21.71–$32.0910
Great Lakes Dental Partners$23.50$20–$32.507
AltaMed Health Services$27.75$25–$36.196
Guardian Dentistry Partners$25.50$20–$285
Chord Specialty Dental Partners$24$19–$345
Prime Dental$23$17–$275
Sea Mar Community Health Centers$22.75$22.34–$25.275
Choice Healthcare Services$26.25$20.77–$32.024
Peak Dental Services$24.75$17–$324
University of Rochester Medical Center$23.75$20.30–$30.934
Mid America Health$21.50$19–$354
Asian Health Services$37$32.20–$42.283
SEARHC$31$25–$38.623
Perfect Dental Management$30$25–$343
Watts Dental Florida$29.50$20–$353
MB2 Dental$27.50$22–$453
btyDENTAL$26$19–$323
Vista Community Clinic$25.50$23.74–$27.323
Community Health Care$25$21–$383
Dental Excellence Group$21.50$18.40–$243
HealthPartners$32.75$29.04–$36.622
Dental Associates$29.75$22–$372
Elica Health Centers$29.50$25–$33.152
Heritage Health$29$23.93–$34.062
Specialty Dental Brands$29$20–$352
Forsyth Dental Infirmary for Children$28$26–$302
NHOMS$28$22–$322
Marin Community Clinics$26$262
Tend$26$23–$292
Verber Dental Group$25.25$17–$31.502
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center$25$20.43–$29.952
Big Smiles$24.50$18–$302
Cowlitz Family Health Center$24.50$23.62–$25.442

Median of each employer's own jobs (a range at its midpoint), and the lowest and highest rate it posts. Jobs stating pay link to the employer's open jobs.

Dental assistant pay by state

States where at least 8 open jobs from 3 employers state an hourly rate, highest median first. Each opens the state's own page, with its towns and employers.

StateMedian postedMiddle halfBLS medianJobs
Minnesota$32.25$24.75–$34$31.38 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)31
Oregon$30.50$28.75–$31.50$28.60 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)24
Idaho$28$25.50–$30.25$22.06 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)8
California$27.25$25–$33$24.09 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)39
Florida$27$24–$28.25$22.89 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)10
Massachusetts$26.50$22.50–$29$27.88 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)20
Colorado$26.50$24.50–$27.50$23.24 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)17
Washington$26$24–$29.25$27.93 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)20
New Jersey$26$24.75–$29.75$23.74 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)11
Pennsylvania$24.75$23.50–$26.75$23.05 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)10
New York$24$20.25–$26.75$23.13 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)21
Illinois$23.75$22.25–$24.50$23.37 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)27
Ohio$23.75$21.50–$27.50$23.06 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)18
Wisconsin$23.50$20.75–$26$22.85 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)11
Connecticut$23.50$22.25–$27$27.33 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)9
Texas$23.25$21.75–$24.75$21.84 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)15
Indiana$23$22–$26$23.40 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)14
Michigan$23$21.75–$23.75$23.47 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)9
Utah$20.50$20–$22$18.16 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)8

Median and middle half of employers' rates in the state. BLS medians are for the occupation's main SOC code in the state (May 2025).

Dental assistant jobs that state a yearly salary

Some jobs state a salary for the year instead of an hourly rate. They are measured on their own here, never converted.

5 open jobs from 4 employers state a yearly salary: a median of $47,800, the middle half $45,100 to $54,000, from $42,156 to $79,572 posted.

Best-paid open dental assistant jobs

The open jobs posting the highest hourly rates tonight, at most two from one employer.

Every open job: Dental assistant jobs

What BLS measures

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics surveys what people employed in the occupation earn, at every level of experience. A posting advertises what a new hire is offered, so the two measure different things.

Hourly wages, BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national. Each figure opens its BLS page.
BLS occupation10th pct25th pctMedian75th pct90th pctEmployed
Dental Assistants (31-9091)$17.85 (source: BLS OEWS, Dental Assistants, opens in a new tab)$21.32 (source: BLS OEWS, Dental Assistants, opens in a new tab)$23.11 (source: BLS OEWS, Dental Assistants, opens in a new tab)$27.93 (source: BLS OEWS, Dental Assistants, opens in a new tab)$29.93 (source: BLS OEWS, Dental Assistants, opens in a new tab)387,790 (source: BLS OEWS, Dental Assistants, opens in a new tab)

The posted median ($24.50) is $1.39 above the BLS median ($23.11 (source: BLS OEWS May 2025, Dental Assistants, opens in a new tab)). Posted ranges run from a new hire's rate to an experienced one's, and their midpoint is counted here.

Dental assistant salary: common questions

How much does a dental assistant make an hour?

Open dental assistant jobs on CareJobs.Now that state an hourly rate post a median of $24.50, with the middle half between $22.50–$28.50 (293 jobs from 97 employers, each employer's advertised range counted once). Postings advertise a base rate, usually before shift differentials and bonuses. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics measured a median of $23.11/hr ($48,070 a year) for dental assistants in May 2025.

How much does a dental assistant make a year?

At the posted median of $24.50 an hour, full time (2,080 hours a year) comes to about $51,000, and the middle half to $46,800 to $59,300. That is arithmetic on the hourly rate, not a salary any job states. 5 open jobs state a yearly salary instead, a median of $47,800.

Which states pay dental assistants the most?

By the median hourly rate open jobs post: Minnesota ($32.25), Oregon ($30.50) and Idaho ($28). The lowest: Utah ($20.50), Michigan ($23) and Indiana ($23). Each state's page breaks its pay down by town and employer.

Which employers pay dental assistants the most?

Among employers stating a rate on at least 5 open jobs: Park Dental ($32.50), Willamette Dental Group ($31.50) and Kaiser Permanente ($30). The employer table lists the 40 employers with the most jobs stating pay.

Where do these figures come from?

From the pay CareJobs.Now's open jobs state, read every night from each employer's own job board: 293 of 652 open dental assistant jobs (45%) state an hourly rate. No pay is estimated for a job that states none, "up to" ceilings and weekly travel rates are left out, and each employer's advertised range counts once in the median, so no single employer sets it.

More pay by job: Dental

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Sources and method

Only pay a job states is used: a plain hourly or yearly figure or range in US dollars, read from the job's own posting. A range counts at its midpoint. In the median and the middle half each employer's advertised range counts once, so an employer posting one range in many towns does not set the figure; an employer's own figures count its jobs one by one. "Up to" ceilings, weekly travel rates and rates under a third or over three times the occupation's median are left out. The yearly estimate is the hourly rate times 2,080 hours (40 a week). A job counts under its occupation and every occupation above it, and under every state it is open in. A page exists while at least 8 jobs from 3 employers state a rate. BLS figures are as published.
  1. CareJobs.Now job board: the pay open jobs state, read nightly from each employer's own careers site, published October 24, 2026
  2. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: Dental Assistants (SOC 31-9091), published May 15, 2026
  3. BLS OEWS May 2025: Dental Assistants by state, published May 15, 2026
  4. BLS Employment Projections 2025-2035: Dental Assistants (Occupational Outlook Handbook), published August 27, 2026

Cite this page

CareJobs.Now. (2026). Dental assistant salary. Data as of October 24, 2026. https://carejobs.now/salaries/dental-assistant

How the board counts