Annual Salary by State from Dept. of Labor

[stevec]

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I know there is always a lot of confusion on here about how much optometrists make, and a lot of what is out there really isn't very accurate because it varies so much by state. Even average annual salaries tend to be a bit high because of the few outliers who make much more money than the rest. Here is the data from the Dept of Labor website for May 2004 broken down by state, average salary, and median salary. I made it easy for you here, but if you want to know how I got all this go here:
http://www.bls.gov/oes/2004/may/oes291041.htm#st
If you want detailed information on every state, you can scroll down on that page and download an excel spreadsheed featuring every state. The optometrist salaries are mixed in with other occupations, so I sorted it out for you here.

I don't know how to do tables on here, so I had to do an image, and I don't know why that one state has missing data.

 

[cpw]

You also have to consider.. a lot of these are going to part-timers.. which brings down the average a lot ! This table makes me happier about what I make 😀

 

[still_confused]

time to pack up my snow gear and move to alaska!

 

[mthomas2]

time to pack up my snow gear and move to alaska!

That's exactly what I was thinking!

 

[luvthemhogs]

I was kind of surprised to see OK have such a low figure considering they have LASIK privileges and all.

 

[jefguth]

I was kind of surprised to see OK have such a low figure considering they have LASIK privileges and all.

Notice the $14 000 difference between the OK mean and median? Perhaps there are but only a handful of OK OD's performing laser procedures, making big money and pulling the average of everyone else up...

 

[xmattODx]

Don't believe statistics...

from someone who has practiced in three states.

 

[Ma1]

Don't believe statistics...

from someone who has practiced in three states.

From your experience then, what should we believe?

 

[stevec]

Remember these are means and medians, so don't expect everyone to make these figures. If you click on that link, you'll see there's still 25% who make about 64,000 or less nationally.

 

[cpw]

Remember these are means and medians, so don't expect everyone to make these figures. If you click on that link, you'll see there's still 25% who make about 64,000 or less nationally.

yes... and many ODs don't work full-time thus bringing the averages down

 

[stevec]

yes... and many ODs don't work full-time thus bringing the averages down

assuming that the statistics even count ODs working part time...do they?

 

[xmattODx]

double post sorry.

 

[xmattODx]

From your experience then, what should we believe?

WA state: Fulltime Position working for a doc leasing a commercial practice
$52,000/year. Best offer available (ended up being part-time so take 3/5 of that add to it any fill-in that you might be able to find at $250 a day).

Oregon: $40,000 - $65,000 IF full-time work could be found. It couldn't. So take 2/5 of those and hope you can find another 3/5 somewhere.

GA: $80,000 seeing patients every 15 minutes.


I know, I know be your own boss you'll make more. The difficulty with that in these three states is for another post.

 

[still_confused]

from the website
"These estimates are calculated with data collected from employers in all industry sectors in metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas in every State and the District of Columbia"

since it claims "all" then i assume they took into consideration part timers. these numbers are for reference only, you can easily be the 50% making below or above the median. without further knowledge of how these numbers were compiled and the parameters used, they are at best a good estimate and at worst confusing.

as far as not believing these statistics, is there another more credible source available? i assume that that this study was performed to the best of the government's knowledge and if we cannot believe this, then other occupations that are reported cannot be trusted neither. so who knows what everyone is making!

 

[xmattODx]

from the website

since it claims "all" then i assume they took into consideration part timers. these numbers are for reference only, you can easily be the 50% making below or above the median. without further knowledge of how these numbers were compiled and the parameters used, they are at best a good estimate and at worst confusing.

i assume that that this study was performed to the best of the government's knowledge and if we cannot believe this, then other occupations that are reported cannot be trusted neither. so who knows what everyone is making!

Whether the above median/mean figures are correct or not it should be stated that new grads will make far below the mean/median. In addition, as more new grads enter commercial optometry will that raise or lower the figures? As the oversupply of optometrists increase will that raise or lower the figures? As managed care programs continue to offer $25 for a comprehensive exam will that raise or lower the figures?

My point is don't believe that you will start anywhere near the mean, and expect to take some time to get there if you do at all.

 

[Hines302]

There are so many... "the glass is half empty" people on this board... it amazes me.

 

[jchod]

I think the BLS estimates are good to use as benchmarks. I started working in UT two years ago and started at 75K right out of residency. Thats higher than BLS reports.

 

[still_confused]

There are so many... "the glass is half empty" people on this board... it amazes me.

dont worry, ariel's "i have 50 full glassses" attitude makes up for it. 😛

its good to have dissenting opinions and different perspectives, it keeps this forum as fair as possible and be the highest quality resource it can be

 

[xmattODx]

There are so many... "the glass is half empty" people on this board... it amazes me.

I never said the glass was half empty. I've never said optometry was a bad profession. My interaction with optometry students and pre-opt students has led me to believe that many don't hear the "other side" of the story and expect something after graduation that doesn't mesh with reality. I'm happy with the money I make, it is more than most people and the work isn't really all that hard but there are things about optometry I was never told.

 

[Ben Chudner]

I was kind of surprised to see OK have such a low figure considering they have LASIK privileges and all.

Just a clarification...OK OD's do not have LASIK priviledges. They can perform PRK, which I doubt many choose to do, as well as ALT's, LPI's, and Yag's. This may just prove the point that these procedures are not only not that common in an OD practice, but also not that profitable.

 

[Opii]

Stevec, thanks for your effort in gathering this information and posting it.

 

[blazenmadison]

I know there is always a lot of confusion on here about how much optometrists make, and a lot of what is out there really isn't very accurate because it varies so much by state. Even average annual salaries tend to be a bit high because of the few outliers who make much more money than the rest. Here is the data from the Dept of Labor website for May 2004 broken down by state, average salary, and median salary. I made it easy for you here, but if you want to know how I got all this go here:
http://www.bls.gov/oes/2004/may/oes291041.htm#st
If you want detailed information on every state, you can scroll down on that page and download an excel spreadsheed featuring every state. The optometrist salaries are mixed in with other occupations, so I sorted it out for you here.

I don't know how to do tables on here, so I had to do an image, and I don't know why that one state has missing data.

Steve, is this what you were looking for?

 

[stevec]

Steve, is this what you were looking for?

Yes.