Posts tagged ‘registered dental hygienist vs dental hygienist’

One of the main considerations when somebody picked a job is the salary. This time, we are going to talk about the registered dental hygienist salary in the United States. Which states has the highest average annual wage for a dental hygienist?

Before we discuss this matter, let’s see some information about this particular job. This job has developed tremendously since the first time it was founded back in early 1900s by Dr. Alfred Fones from Connecticut. The development is very positive thanks to the steady demand of the job. Moreover, the growth of salary is promising and steady too. Being a registered dental hygienist has become a popular option for entry-level career choice today.

Regarding the amount of salary, it is varied across the United States. However, two most significant factors determine how much of the annual wage is. First, your wage is depending on whether you are working at a specialist office or not. Second, the location of your job, meaning that the annual salary in metropolitan area is higher due to higher demands; and non-metropolitan area offers less money.

That said, the higher the salaries don’t always mean a happier life. Financially, living in metropolitan area also cost more than living in rural and other non-metropolitan areas. There are also people who prefer to live in a calming environment than the busy town.

registered dental hygienist salary 2013

Other things that may influence the amount of salary you will receive are amount of experience, level of degree, and your grades during college.  Currently, the annual registered dental hygienist salary is set at $80,000. As we have told you earlier, the number varies across states.

Based on the salary alone, the top five states that offer the highest salary as a registered dental hygienist are Massachusetts, Wyoming, Virginia, Maryland and California. Statistics have shown that the District of Columbia have a positive feedback for all health-related career.

That being said, if you are one of those people who think that there should be other reasons when choosing a workplace, we have found a rather interesting ranking, that is based on three factors that include:

  • “Ease in making a living” that includes salary, tax, cost of living, monthly mortgage rate, etc
  • “Ease in enjoying life” that includes a ranking of best living places from statemater.com, rate of violent crime, etc
  • “Ease in rendering patients” that includes number of times people visited dental clinics, etc

So based on those criteria, here are some of the states you may or may not want to work as a dental hygienist:

  • Iowa (healthy community, average cost of living and taxes, average annual salary at $74,000)
  • South Dakota (low unemployment, low tax, low cost of living, low mortgage rate, below average annual salary at $65,000)
  • New Hampshire (low cost of living, low mortgage payments, slightly below average annual salary, easy patients at $75,000)
  • North Dakota (low violent crimes, low unemployment, easy patients, above average payment at $78,000)
  • Connecticut  (a lot of patients, high mortgage payment, high annual salary at $88,000)

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