Surgical Tech Schools, Salaries, and Job Data

Job Numbers and Growth

Government estimates of jobs for surgical techs total about 86,000. This career is ranked very low for jobless rates in comparison to other careers. The unemployment rate for employees was about 2% in 2008.

Area Job Conditions

Relative to population, you will find the most employees in Rochester (Minnesota), Owensboro (Kentucky), and Florence (South Carolina), and the least in Edison (New Jersey), Des Moines (Iowa), and Tacoma (Washington).

Statistics show that you can earn the most in this career in Bethesda (Maryland), Oakland (California), and Santa Rosa (California), and will have the lowest earnings in Pascagoula (Mississippi), Mobile (Alabama), and Anniston (Alabama).

Training and Education

People often have a postsecondary vocational award before landing a job in this field. Four year degrees are held by 16% of employees. About 57% of surgical techs started college but did not get a 4 year degree. A high school education is the highest level achieved by 27% of workers. Recommended schools are shown in the column to the right; request information from them to help you decide which if any could help you with this career.

Part-Time Work and Self-Employment

Part-time workers represent 21% of all surgical techs.

Surgical Techs: An Introductory Video

Surgical Techs Around the Country

In the list below, each metro area is rated for the relative popularity of surgical techs compared to other locations (that is, jobs per population). Single or double up or down arrows indicate the relative popularity in that location. Within each state listing, metro areas are sorted by the actual number of jobs for surgical techs.

Alabama

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Birmingham	$33,000	470
Huntsville	$38,000	260
Montgomery	$35,000	250
Mobile	$27,000	170
Dothan	$34,000	100
Anniston	$29,000	50

Alaska

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Anchorage	$43,000	50

Arizona

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Phoenix	$41,000	800
Tucson	$43,000	250
Kingman	$35,000	40

Arkansas

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Little Rock	$34,000	440
Fayetteville	$39,000	130
Fort Smith	$31,000	100
Jonesboro	$31,000	40

California

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Santa Ana	$47,000	820
San Diego	$48,000	800
San Francisco	$52,000	760
Riverside	$42,000	620
Oakland	$55,000	580
San Jose	$53,000	550
Sacramento	$45,000	550
Oxnard	$41,000	230
Bakersfield	$39,000	170
Fresno	$50,000	150
Modesto	$47,000	140
Stockton	$48,000	140
Santa Barbara	$47,000	130
San Luis Obispo	$41,000	100
Visalia	$44,000	80
Santa Rosa	$52,000	80
Salinas	$46,000	50
Napa	$47,000	50

Colorado

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Denver	$44,000	940
Colorado Springs	$47,000	130
Boulder	$45,000	110
Pueblo	$41,000	70
Fort Collins	$41,000	70

Connecticut

Location	Median Pay	Workers
New Haven	$41,000	390
Hartford	$48,000	230
Bridgeport	$47,000	160
Norwich	$44,000	70

Delaware

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Wilmington	$42,000	170

District of Columbia

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Washington	$45,000	1,130

Florida

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Miami	$37,000	870
Tampa	$37,000	770
Orlando	$34,000	560
Fort Lauderdale	$38,000	540
Jacksonville	$36,000	470
West Palm Beach	$37,000	340
Sarasota	$36,000	200
Cape Coral	$39,000	200
Palm Bay	$50,000	170
Gainesville	$37,000	150
Deltona	$42,000	140
Panama City	$33,000	140
Pensacola	$35,000	140
Tallahassee	$35,000	120
Lakeland	$38,000	110
Naples	$40,000	80
Ocala	$35,000	80
Sebastian	$37,000	60
Port St Lucie	$36,000	50

Georgia

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Atlanta	$38,000	1,350
Savannah	$32,000	220
Augusta	$37,000	180
Macon	$33,000	180
Athens	$33,000	140
Columbus	$32,000	110
Albany	$32,000	90
Rome	$42,000	70
Gainesville	$32,000	50
Dalton	$31,000	50

Hawaii

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Honolulu	$45,000	220

Idaho

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Boise	$38,000	290

Illinois

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Chicago	$46,000	2,050
Peoria	$38,000	180
Rockford	$46,000	100
Champaign	$44,000	70

Indiana

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Indianapolis	$41,000	750
Evansville	$35,000	260
Gary	$40,000	250
Fort Wayne	$37,000	180
Lafayette	$38,000	130
South Bend	$39,000	90
Terre Haute	$39,000	70
Michigan City	$38,000	60
Bloomington	$35,000	50
Anderson	$37,000	40
Kokomo	$33,000	30

Iowa

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Sioux City	$35,000	100
Des Moines	$37,000	90
Davenport	$38,000	70

Kansas

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Wichita	$34,000	290
Topeka	$36,000	80

Kentucky

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Louisville	$38,000	630
Lexington	$35,000	320
Owensboro	$31,000	120
Bowling Green	$35,000	100

Louisiana

Location	Median Pay	Workers
New Orleans	$39,000	450
Baton Rouge	$39,000	170
Shreveport	$30,000	150
Lafayette	$35,000	110
Lake Charles	$36,000	70
Alexandria	$34,000	60
Monroe	$34,000	60
Houma	$37,000	50

Maine

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Portland	$40,000	190
Bangor	$37,000	60
Lewiston	$38,000	50

Maryland

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Baltimore	$46,000	930
Bethesda	$55,000	310
Hagerstown	$39,000	90
Salisbury	$39,000	50
Cumberland	$38,000	50

Massachusetts

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Boston	$44,000	1,290
Springfield	$40,000	280
Worcester	$45,000	160
Barnstable Town	$50,000	90

Michigan

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Warren	$41,000	490
Detroit	$43,000	480
Grand Rapids	$43,000	260
Kalamazoo	$36,000	140
Ann Arbor	$39,000	110
Flint	$41,000	110
Muskegon	$40,000	60
Holland	$43,000	30

Minnesota

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Minneapolis	$46,000	990
Rochester		340
Duluth	$42,000	230
St Cloud	$44,000	100

Mississippi

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Jackson	$36,000	310
Gulfport	$34,000	170
Hattiesburg	$31,000	120
Pascagoula	$30,000	50

Missouri

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Kansas City	$41,000	720
St Louis	$38,000	610
Springfield	$36,000	300
Joplin	$29,000	130
Columbia	$38,000	90

Montana

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Missoula	$39,000	90
Billings	$41,000	40

Nebraska

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Omaha	$40,000	370

Nevada

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Las Vegas	$47,000	650
Reno	$45,000	200

New Hampshire

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Nashua	$42,000	60
Manchester	$41,000	50

New Jersey

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Newark	$42,000	430
Edison	$42,000	320
Camden	$42,000	180
Trenton	$42,000	70
Atlantic City	$46,000	60

New Mexico

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Albuquerque	$35,000	250

New York

Location	Median Pay	Workers
New York	$45,000	3,070
Nassau	$47,000	860
Buffalo	$41,000	240
Rochester	$32,000	230
Albany	$34,000	210
Syracuse	$40,000	190
Poughkeepsie	$44,000	80
Kingston	$34,000	40

North Carolina

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Charlotte	$36,000	670
Durham	$38,000	300
Raleigh	$40,000	300
Greensboro	$36,000	270
Winston Salem	$38,000	170
Greenville	$37,000	140
Fayetteville	$41,000	110
Asheville	$36,000	110
Hickory	$40,000	110
Wilmington	$35,000	80

Ohio

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Cleveland	$37,000	750
Cincinnati	$37,000	660
Columbus	$37,000	550
Dayton	$41,000	390
Akron	$38,000	290
Toledo	$41,000	160
Youngstown	$38,000	150
Lima	$33,000	60
Springfield	$33,000	40

Oklahoma

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Oklahoma City	$34,000	660
Tulsa	$34,000	420
Lawton	$29,000	70

Oregon

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Portland	$46,000	490
Eugene	$45,000	70
Salem	$41,000	50
Medford	$43,000	40

Pennsylvania

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Pittsburgh	$34,000	1,040
Philadelphia	$40,000	840
Scranton	$34,000	220
Harrisburg	$37,000	220
Allentown	$39,000	150
Lancaster	$41,000	90
Erie	$31,000	80
Altoona	$39,000	50

Rhode Island

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Providence	$44,000	320

South Carolina

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Columbia	$36,000	380
Greenville	$36,000	300
Florence	$35,000	210
Charleston	$33,000	130
Spartanburg	$36,000	130
Myrtle Beach	$34,000	60

South Dakota

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Sioux Falls	$37,000	190

Tennessee

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Nashville	$40,000	1,280
Memphis	$37,000	830
Chattanooga	$37,000	470
Knoxville	$34,000	460
Kingsport	$35,000	130
Johnson City	$36,000	110
Jackson	$39,000	40

Texas

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Houston	$43,000	1,570
Dallas	$40,000	1,390
Fort Worth	$41,000	820
San Antonio	$35,000	740
Austin	$40,000	540
Mcallen	$39,000	180
El Paso	$38,000	150
Corpus Christi	$37,000	150
Tyler	$36,000	140
Lubbock	$35,000	120
Amarillo	$37,000	100
Odessa	$31,000	100
Brownsville	$38,000	100
College Station	$35,000	80
Wichita Falls	$31,000	70
Sherman	$38,000	70
San Angelo	$43,000	60
Longview	$32,000	50
Abilene		50

Utah

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Salt Lake City	$39,000	290
Ogden	$34,000	170
Provo	$34,000	150

Vermont

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Burlington	$39,000	40

Virginia

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Virginia Beach	$39,000	440
Richmond	$42,000	390
Charlottesville	$41,000	100
Blacksburg	$36,000	40

Washington

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Seattle	$48,000	670
Spokane	$44,000	260
Tacoma	$46,000	70
Kennewick	$39,000	60

West Virginia

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Charleston	$31,000	190
Huntington	$31,000	140
Parkersburg	$30,000	70
Wheeling	$30,000	40

Wisconsin

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Milwaukee	$45,000	710
Madison	$46,000	280
Green Bay	$42,000	240
La Crosse		120
Appleton	$42,000	110
Eau Claire	$46,000	100
Wausau	$41,000	90
Oshkosh	$43,000	90
Racine	$42,000	80
Janesville	$39,000	50
Fond	$42,000	30

Wyoming

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Casper	$36,000	40

Our surgical tech career and school information is provided by CTI Career Search.