Highest-paying Cities for Dental Assistants

The top 100 highest paying cities for dental assistants (ranked by average annual salary) are listed in Table 1. The entry level salary (as measured by the salary of the lowest 10% paid earners) and the number of employment of dental assistants in those cities are also shown in the table. As shown in the table, with a annual salary of $62,880, San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, California is the highest paying city for dental assistants. It is followed by Minneapolis-St Paul-Bloomington, Wisconsin (average annual salary $61,850). The salary and employment information is computed from data published by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in April 2023 [1]. For more salary information of dental assistants in a specific city, use the links in the table.

Table 1. 100 Highest-paying cities/areas for Dental Assistants

Rank	City/Area	Average Salary i	Entry Level Salary i	# of Empl. i
1	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, California	$62,880	$46,610	5,550
2	Minneapolis-St Paul-Bloomington, Wisconsin	$61,850	$46,700	3,930
3	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, California	$60,540	$38,120	680
4	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California	$60,290	$46,020	3,700
5	Burlington-South Burlington, Vermont	$59,270	$39,430	250
6	Mankato-North Mankato, Minnesota	$57,260	$47,650	110
7	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, California	$57,020	$37,530	530
8	Southeast Minnesota nonmetropolitan area, Minnesota	$56,140	$47,670	250
9	Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts	$55,330	$44,160	7,330
10	St Cloud, Minnesota	$55,290	$46,360	240
11	Napa, California	$54,940	$38,970	230
12	Rochester, Minnesota	$54,360	$49,030	350
13	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Washington	$53,890	$44,430	3,270
14	Bismarck, North Dakota	$53,140	$37,720	190
15	San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, California	$52,260	$31,840	2,080
16	Salem, Oregon	$51,580	$46,360	550
17	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington	$51,250	$37,180	6,050
18	Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region of California nonmetropolitan area, California	$51,200	$37,350	240
19	Duluth, Wisconsin	$51,060	$38,440	250
20	El Centro, California	$50,920	$36,170	120
21	Peabody, Massachusetts	$50,500	$34,640	260
22	Other New Hampshire nonmetropolitan area, New Hampshire	$50,480	$37,580	230
23	Nashua, New Hampshire	$50,310	$37,050	340
24	East North Dakota nonmetropolitan area, North Dakota	$50,150	$36,910	90
25	Des Moines-West Des Moines, Iowa	$50,070	$38,150	680
26	Medford, Oregon	$50,030	$37,920	300
27	Southwest Minnesota nonmetropolitan area, Minnesota	$50,020	$47,800	270
28	Alaska nonmetropolitan area, Alaska	$49,980	$44,980	310
29	Grand Forks, North Dakota	$49,810	$37,190	100
30	Fairbanks, Alaska	$49,800	$39,000	140
31	Yuba City, California	$49,750	$36,730	230
32	Northwest Minnesota nonmetropolitan area, Minnesota	$49,740	$48,040	450
33	West Central-Southwest New Hampshire nonmetropolitan area, New Hampshire	$49,650	$37,230	220
34	Haverhill-North Andover-Amesbury, New Hampshire	$49,580	$40,060	170
35	Naples-Marco Island, Florida	$49,520	$37,440	420
36	North Valley-Northern Mountains Region of California nonmetropolitan area, California	$49,510	$37,940	340
37	Fargo, North Dakota	$49,480	$40,160	270
38	Manchester, New Hampshire	$49,460	$39,250	230
39	Northeast Minnesota nonmetropolitan area, Minnesota	$49,380	$41,120	90
40	Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, California	$49,250	$37,250	3,310
41	Central Oregon nonmetropolitan area, Oregon	$49,150	$36,730	250
42	Albany, Oregon	$49,040	$45,240	120
43	North Coast Region of California nonmetropolitan area, California	$48,970	$37,960	340
44	Cedar Rapids, Iowa	$48,930	$37,520	310
45	Anchorage, Alaska	$48,910	$38,540	620
46	West North Dakota nonmetropolitan area, North Dakota	$48,870	$38,310	140
47	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, New York	$48,770	$32,040	900
48	Barnstable Town, Massachusetts	$48,760	$36,070	200
49	Salinas, California	$48,660	$37,720	700
50	Elkhart-Goshen, Indiana	$48,530	$37,650	170
51	Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina	$48,460	$38,520	730
52	Grants Pass, Oregon	$48,350	$36,740	100
53	Southern Vermont nonmetropolitan area, Vermont	$48,340	$38,860	230
54	Northern New Hampshire nonmetropolitan area, New Hampshire	$48,300	$32,140	60
55	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, California	$48,280	$37,350	370
56	Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, Colorado	$48,240	$36,820	3,420
57	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, Washington	$48,180	$38,310	200
58	Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Connecticut	$48,100	$39,260	830
59	Eugene-Springfield, Oregon	$48,060	$36,440	590
60	Vallejo-Fairfield, California	$47,960	$42,190	540
61	Bremerton-Silverdale, Washington	$47,920	$35,730	450
62	Massachusetts nonmetropolitan area, Massachusetts	$47,890	$40,430	140
63	Sioux Falls, South Dakota	$47,870	$38,280	340
64	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, District of Columbia	$47,810	$36,260	6,520
65	Iowa City, Iowa	$47,790	$37,230	250
66	Lewiston-Auburn, Maine	$47,760	$36,220	90
67	Indianapolis-Carmel, Indiana	$47,750	$30,540	2,350
68	Portland-South Portland-Biddeford, Maine	$47,720	$37,120	510
69	Ocean City, New Jersey	$47,650	$29,120	60
70	Coast Oregon nonmetropolitan area, Oregon	$47,590	$38,210	280
71	Corvallis, Oregon	$47,590	$40,110	100
72	Winston-Salem, North Carolina	$47,580	$34,820	520
73	New Haven, Connecticut	$47,480	$31,750	560
74	Southeast Alaska nonmetropolitan area, Alaska	$47,470	$33,540	90
75	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, California	$47,440	$35,960	790
76	Waterloo-Cedar Falls, Iowa	$47,430	$36,920	170
77	Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, Washington	$47,420	$37,510	480
78	Olympia, Washington	$47,420	$37,750	470
79	Bend, Oregon	$47,420	$37,830	250
80	Atlantic City-Hammonton, New Jersey	$47,340	$33,220	190
81	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, Connecticut	$47,320	$39,120	1,330
82	Longview, Washington	$47,320	$36,860	160
83	Burlington, North Carolina	$47,300	$35,830	190
84	Cincinnati-Middletown, Ohio	$47,270	$36,890	1,970
85	Wilmington, North Carolina	$47,220	$36,130	390
86	Greensboro-High Point, North Carolina	$47,220	$37,500	890
87	Stockton, California	$47,160	$37,050	820
88	San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, California	$47,140	$38,310	5,050
89	Asheville, North Carolina	$47,100	$38,060	700
90	Fresno, California	$47,050	$35,200	1,390
91	Baltimore-Towson, Maryland	$47,050	$31,750	1,860
92	Reno-Sparks, Nevada	$47,010	$31,780	570
93	Portsmouth, New Hampshire	$46,980	$39,170	170
94	Danbury, Connecticut	$46,930	$36,760	230
95	Western Washington nonmetropolitan area, Washington	$46,900	$37,740	390
96	Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville, South Carolina	$46,840	$36,930	870
97	Northeastern Pennsylvania nonmetropolitan area, Pennsylvania	$46,800	$31,410	310
98	Southwest Iowa nonmetropolitan area, Iowa	$46,800	$31,200	170
99	Hanford-Corcoran, California	$46,760	$37,340	200
100	Dayton, Ohio	$46,760	$34,550	800

See also: 💰 Highest paying industries for dental assistants.