truewise Honest US education data

Dental Assisting and Hygiene

Health Professions · federal classification: Dental Support Services and Allied Professions

Dental Assisting and Hygiene graduates with a bachelor's typically earned about $67,927, measured a few years after finishing (median across US programs, College Scorecard).
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Median earnings by degree level

Earnings range across schools, by degree levelEach row is a degree level: the bar is the middle half of schools' program medians (25th to 75th percentile) and the dot is the overall median. Certificate median $35,215, $31,507 to $38,964; Associate's median $64,459, $57,051 to $72,145; Bachelor's median $67,927, $62,783 to $74,215.$32k$53k$74kCertificate$35,215Associate's$64,459Bachelor's$67,927
Earnings range across schools, by degree levelEach row is a degree level: the bar is the middle half of schools' program medians (25th to 75th percentile) and the dot is the overall median. Certificate median $35,215, $31,507 to $38,964; Associate's median $64,459, $57,051 to $72,145; Bachelor's median $67,927, $62,783 to $74,215.$32k$53k$74kCertificate$35,215Associate's$64,459Bachelor's$67,927
DegreeMedian earningsTypical rangeSchoolsClear the bar
Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma$35,215$31,507 to $38,96421746%
Associate's Degree$64,459$57,051 to $72,14522596%
Bachelor's Degree$67,927$62,783 to $74,2157799%

"Clear the bar" is the share of programs whose graduates out-earn a typical high-school graduate (the federal earnings-premium test). Typical range is the 25th to 75th percentile of program medians.

Job outlook

Projected employment growth +8% (2025 to 2035), about 96,500 openings a year across the occupations this field commonly leads to.

OccupationMedian payGrowthOpenings/yr
Dental Assistants$48,070+7.4%53,000
Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary$107,310+17.9%24,900
Dental Hygienists$98,100+8%15,000
Dental Laboratory Technicians$49,610-5.9%3,600

Occupation pay and outlook: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS wages, Employment Projections). A field maps to several occupations, and the same occupations serve many majors, so these are the jobs this major commonly leads to, not positions reserved for its graduates; the openings should not be added up across majors.

Where this is studied

The 8 colleges where the most students complete a dental assisting and hygiene program, of 766 that report one. Ordered by number of completions only: this is where people study it, not a judgement about where to.

Earnings source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (release 2026-06-10), median earnings of graduates measured up to four years after completing. Figures describe past graduates and are never a promise. Method: methodology. Report an error.