What Is an Optician's Salary?
Opticians assist customers with selecting and fitting glasses and contact lenses that are practical, comfortable and stylish. They also prepare work orders for patients that provide opthalmic technicians with the prescription information they need to create lenses. An optician's salary varies depending on her employer, location and level of experience.
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Salary
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Opticians earn an average salary of $34,790 in the United States as of May 2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The salary scale ranges from $21,120 earned by opticians in the bottom 10 percent to $50,560 earned by opticians in the top ten percent, with the median salary at $32,740.
Common Industries
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The two industries with the highest levels of employed opticians are the offices of other health practitioners, where opticians earn an average salary of $32,050, and health and personal care stores, where the average income of an optician is $36,190. In other general merchandise stores, opticians earn an average of $38,810, and those in department stores earn $32,630 on average. Opticians may also work in the offices of physicians for the average annual wage of $36,430.
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Other Industries
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Opticians may seek job positions in other industries with less employment opportunities but higher wages. Those working in medical equipment and supplies manufacturing earn an average salary of $39,520, according to the Bureau, and in outpatient care centers the average income of an optician is $42,120. Opticians working in general medical and surgical hospitals earn $43,000 a year on average, and employment services offers the highest salary average of $47,320 for opticians.
Location
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Connecticut is the state with the highest wages for opticians at a salary average of $52,180, according to the Bureau. Massachusetts, New Jersey, Virginia and New York follow with salary averages ranging from $45,940 to $49,690. The Nassau-Suffolk metropolitan area of New York is the nation's highest-paying area for opticians with a salary average of $60,420, followed by Lynchburg, Virginia with a salary average of $58,300.
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References
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