How much do ophthalmic technicians make?
The median for the occupation BLS calls ophthalmic medical technicians (SOC 29-2057) was $45,570 a year — $21.91 an hour — in May 2025, across all industries.
Where you work moves the number: the median in offices of optometrists was $38,650, and the hospitals row reached $61,620.
This page breaks down the percentiles, hourly pay, pay by certification level and setting, and the levers that move it.
Median and hourly pay: the national numbers
The Bureau of Labor Statistics' OEWS survey put the median wage for ophthalmic medical technicians (SOC 29-2057) at $45,570 a year, or $21.91 an hour in May 2025, across all industries.
The mean was $47,060, and the survey counted 71,010 wage-and-salary jobs in the occupation.
The mean sits above the median — wages at the upper end pull an average upward — which is why this page quotes medians first.
Half of the field earned between the 25th percentile ($38,170) and the 75th percentile ($51,390).
| Percentile | Annual wage, May 2025 |
|---|---|
| 10th | $35,700 |
| 25th | $38,170 |
| 50th (median) | $45,570 |
| 75th | $51,390 |
| 90th | $61,940 |
OEWS surveys employers and counts payroll employees, so self-employed workers sit outside these numbers.
BLS's own name for the occupation is ophthalmic medical technicians; there is no separate SOC code for the optometric technician title, and 29-2057 is the closest group for that job.
The occupation-wide numbers are the headline, and the setting numbers are where they move: the same release puts the median at $38,650 a year ($18.58 an hour) in offices of optometrists — the split the next sections take apart.
What these pay numbers are
COA vs COT vs COMT pay: what the data can and cannot say
In ophthalmology, the certification ladder is IJCAHPO's — the International Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology — with three core levels: Certified Ophthalmic Assistant (COA), Certified Ophthalmic Technician (COT) and Certified Ophthalmic Medical Technologist (COMT).
So does each rung come with a pay bump?
The federal data cannot answer that: BLS reports the occupation's wages as one set of rows and does not split them by certification.
Our research also did not find an official salary survey that quantifies pay differences between COA, COT and COMT holders — treat any per-credential average you see on salary-estimate sites with caution.
What the numbers do show is the occupation's overall spread: the 25th percentile earned $38,170 and the 90th earned $61,940 — and the setting and state rows below show how far those two factors move it.
Two framing points before you chase a figure: the three levels are certifications, not state licenses, and the criteria for each level are IJCAHPO's to set, so confirm them with IJCAHPO.
Ophthalmology practice vs optometry practice: pay by setting
BLS keeps a separate wage row for each industry the occupation works in.
Four of those rows:
| Industry row (OEWS May 2025) | Median | Mean | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| General medical and surgical hospitals (NAICS 622100) | $61,620 | $61,800 | 3,000 |
| Offices of physicians (NAICS 621100) | $47,200 | $48,540 | 38,900 |
| Offices of optometrists (NAICS 621320) | $38,650 | $41,090 | 22,900 |
| Health and personal care retailers (NAICS 456100) | $37,850 | $40,320 | 2,630 |
Our sources carry no ophthalmology-only industry row: ophthalmology practice pay reads through the offices-of-physicians row, NAICS 621100 — whose title is "Offices of Physicians", not ophthalmology.
The optometry split is explicit: the 22,900 ophthalmic medical technicians employed in offices of optometrists earned a median of $38,650 ($18.58 an hour), against $47,200 in the offices-of-physicians row.
Because BLS has no separate SOC code for the optometric technician title, that offices-of-optometrists row is the labelled closest group for that job.
The hospitals and retail rows are also the small employment bases in the table — 3,000 and 2,630 jobs — so read both with that in mind.
Read every row as a median across employers, not a promise for any one practice.
Surgical and lead ophthalmic technician pay
Titles such as lead ophthalmic technician, lead tech and ophthalmic surgical assistant raise a natural question: what do they pay?
Our sources carry no separate wage figure for a lead or surgical variant of the occupation: the national percentiles above cover everyone BLS counts in SOC 29-2057.
Two figures from the rows above sit at the top: the national 90th percentile was $61,940, and inside the hospitals row — the highest median of the four — the 90th percentile reached $81,470.
Our research found no source that quantifies a lead or surgical pay premium, so treat any figure attached to one of those titles as one employer's number, not an occupation-wide rate.
Which responsibilities carry more pay in a given practice is that employer's call — compare the postings themselves.
How to earn more as an ophthalmic technician
The levers the federal data actually shows are setting, state and hours.
Setting first: the same occupation shows a $61,620 median in hospitals, $47,200 in offices of physicians, $38,650 in offices of optometrists and $37,850 in health and personal care retailers.
State next: Minnesota's median was $63,080, Hawaii's $58,240 and Wisconsin's $56,420, while Wyoming's was $35,740, Utah's $35,950 and Mississippi's $36,220.
Those state figures are not adjusted for cost of living, and the small-employment states carry wide error margins — see ophthalmic technician pay by state (BLS) for the full tables.
The largest job counts sit elsewhere: Florida (7,020 jobs, $46,830 median), Texas (6,540, $43,640), New York (4,250, $48,440), New Jersey (4,150, $49,050) and Illinois (3,250, $47,100) — the high-pay and high-volume states are not the same places.
As for experience, the percentiles only put numbers on how wide the occupation's range is — the 10th percentile earned $35,700 while the 90th earned $61,940, a range wider than the gap between the highest and lowest industry medians in the table above.
If you are hourly, overtime is a lever: under the Fair Labor Standards Act — the Department of Labor's wage law — non-exempt employees earn at least one and one-half times their regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek.
On exemptions: 29 CFR 541.600(e) — the Department of Labor's rule under the FLSA — says the salary exception for medical practitioners does not apply to professions that "service the medical profession", naming technologists among them.
Our reading is that it covers ophthalmic technicians too, and that a technician would be exempt only if they met another exemption's duties and salary tests.
Classification is fact-specific, so check the Department of Labor's rules for your own situation.
Certification is the lever this page cannot price: no official survey we found quantifies a COA, COT or COMT premium, and the federal wage rows are not split by credential.
The ladder itself is real — IJCAHPO's COA, COT and COMT; the ophthalmic technician career guide covers the levels, the eligibility routes and the work behind them.
Demand is the backdrop: BLS's Employment Projections program projects 21.4% growth for the occupation from 2025 to 2035, with a projected 11,800 openings a year — a projection that counts self-employed workers too, so its baseline is larger than the OEWS survey's 71,010 employees.
Career information, not licensing, legal, medical, clinical, billing or coding advice. Pay figures are BLS OEWS May 2025 wage-and-salary data; for classification and overtime questions use the Department of Labor's rules, and confirm certification criteria with IJCAHPO.