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Dental

Dental hygienist salary

Open dental hygienist jobs post a median of $50 an hour, with the middle half paying $42.50–$57.50: about $104,000 a year full time. Measured from 181 jobs at 67 employers that state their pay, read from each employer's own job board.

$50
Median posted /hr
$43–$58
Middle half /hr
$104,000
A year, full time
estimate, 2,080 hours
$47.16
BLS median /hr
May 2025

The jobs themselves: Dental hygienist jobs

What dental hygienists 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 181 open jobs. The chart spans the 2nd to the 98th percentile; the lowest rate posted is $25, the highest $92.

Posted on open jobs

$42.50–$57.50/hr

Middle half of 129 employer rates (each employer's advertised range once), median $50. 49% of the 366 open dental hygienist jobs state an hourly rate. 1 more state an "up to" ceiling, a weekly travel rate, a per-visit fee, or a rate far from the rest (a differential read as pay), left out.

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Dental hygienist pay by employer

What each employer posts for dental hygienists, 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
Park Dental$60$51.25–$6032
SGA Dental Partners$52$28–$8016
Aspen Dental$54$40–$709
Smile Brands$56$45–$728
Kaiser Permanente$62.50$60.20–$64.597
Guardian Dentistry Partners$55$30–$707
Willamette Dental Group$58.50$45–$715
Chord Specialty Dental Partners$52$43–$575
Archway Dental Partners$50$45–$655
UPMC$34.75$25.08–$51.795
Dental Care Alliance$63.25$48–$704
PepperPointe Partnerships$40.50$38–$504
Rochester Regional Health$39.50$34–$474
Peak Dental Services$57.50$50–$653
CommonSpirit Health$42.25$34–$52.993
Tend$86$78–$922
Dental Associates$66.25$65–$702
Great Lakes Dental Partners$52.50$45–$602
Community Health Care$51.25$30–$722
Tri-Cities Community Health$51$41.82–$57.012
Vista Community Clinic$50.50$48–$532
Anthony L. Jordan Health$46.50$42.75–$502
North Shore Community Health$46.50$36.15–$502
North American Dental Group$46$40–$522
Appalachian Mountain Community Health Centers$45$40–$502
MAHEC$40$402
Bassett Healthcare Network$34.75$34.642
Cedars-Sinai$68.25$52.55–$84.081
btyDENTAL$61.50$48–$751
Elica Health Centers$60$55–$651
Advocate Health$59.50$47.50–$71.251
Heritage Health$58.75$48.53–$69.071
Smile America Partners$56.50$53–$601
Mountain Community Health$56$52–$601
AZ Cosmetic & Family Dentistry$54$48–$601
HealthPartners$53.50$45.07–$61.821
Jefferson Healthcare$53.50$41.92–$64.831
Brown University Health$52.50$39.56–$65.281
Family Care Health Centers$52.50$50–$551
Boston Children's Hospital$52$40.02–$64.041

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 hygienist 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
Washington$61.50$53.75–$66.25$63.06 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)9
California$60$51–$66.25$60.06 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)8
Virginia$56.50$46.50–$63$49.50 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)8
Minnesota$56$52–$66.25$49.99 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)40
Wisconsin$53.75$49.25–$58.25$46.41 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)10
Massachusetts$50$45.50–$52$48.39 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)8
North Carolina$48.25$41.25–$54.25$47.04 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)9
New York$45$40.50–$51$51.03 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)18
Pennsylvania$40$34.75–$48.50$38.76 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)11

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 hygienist 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.

22 open jobs from 14 employers state a yearly salary: a median of $92,000, the middle half $85,000 to $110,700, from $64,480 to $143,673 posted.

Best-paid open dental hygienist jobs

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

Every open job: Dental hygienist 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 Hygienists (29-1292)$36.00 (source: BLS OEWS, Dental Hygienists, opens in a new tab)$40.18 (source: BLS OEWS, Dental Hygienists, opens in a new tab)$47.16 (source: BLS OEWS, Dental Hygienists, opens in a new tab)$52.16 (source: BLS OEWS, Dental Hygienists, opens in a new tab)$60.60 (source: BLS OEWS, Dental Hygienists, opens in a new tab)222,740 (source: BLS OEWS, Dental Hygienists, opens in a new tab)

The posted median ($50) is $2.84 above the BLS median ($47.16 (source: BLS OEWS May 2025, Dental Hygienists, 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 hygienist salary: common questions

How much does a dental hygienist make an hour?

Open dental hygienist jobs on CareJobs.Now that state an hourly rate post a median of $50, with the middle half between $42.50–$57.50 (181 jobs from 67 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 $47.16/hr ($98,100 a year) for dental hygienists in May 2025.

How much does a dental hygienist make a year?

At the posted median of $50 an hour, full time (2,080 hours a year) comes to about $104,000, and the middle half to $88,400 to $119,600. That is arithmetic on the hourly rate, not a salary any job states. 22 open jobs state a yearly salary instead, a median of $92,000.

Which states pay dental hygienists the most?

By the median hourly rate open jobs post: Washington ($61.50), California ($60) and Virginia ($56.50). The lowest: Pennsylvania ($40), New York ($45) and North Carolina ($48.25). Each state's page breaks its pay down by town and employer.

Which employers pay dental hygienists the most?

Among employers stating a rate on at least 5 open jobs: Kaiser Permanente ($62.50), Park Dental ($60) and Willamette Dental Group ($58.50). 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: 181 of 366 open dental hygienist jobs (49%) 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

Dental hygienist jobs →Every healthcare salary →Pay explorer →

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 Hygienists (SOC 29-1292), published May 15, 2026
  3. BLS OEWS May 2025: Dental Hygienists by state, published May 15, 2026
  4. BLS Employment Projections 2025-2035: Dental Hygienists (Occupational Outlook Handbook), published August 27, 2026

Cite this page

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

How the board counts