How much will Optometrists be making in 5-6 years?

[Framecontrol]

I believe the current going rate for optometrists is roughly around $98,000-$115,000 / year... (correct me if I am wrong)

Yet do you have any guesses as to what we can be making in 4,5, or 6 years from now??

My guess is that we will be making a bit more then the current averages.

I really do not know much about this characteristic of Optometry, so feel free to enlighten me.


This should be interesting!!

-Matt

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[hello07]

what fonziefonz says is absolutely true. OD salaries are all over the place b/c of many factors involved. If you are employed by others, the salary range you mentioned is about right- give or take. Remember, that figure is GROSS- before taxes given to you by your employee. If you own a practice whether it be private or retail, you can make much more. sky is the ceiling BUT you can end up six feet under REAL FAST. Business, in any aspect CAN BE VERY UNFORGIVING. Doesn't matter if you sell burgers, shoes, or glasses/ CL's.
If you are motivated and lucky as an OD you can make over 200g's a year and more due to location, services, etc.......
I sure hope we make more in 5-6 years, because our current economy is scary.
I don't want to start any fire but making 100- 120,000 a year gross is nothing special. Ask MD's who make 200 a year gross, they will take you - you consider that alot of money? trust me, I asked a friend of mine who is Emerg.Med doc how much he makes- and when he told me 225, i was like wow- good money. He looked me at me weird and said oh really? you think so? And this is in NYC. go figure.......................

 

[Framecontrol]

what fonziefonz says is absolutely true. OD salaries are all over the place b/c of many factors involved. If you are employed by others, the salary range you mentioned is about right- give or take. Remember, that figure is GROSS- before taxes given to you by your employee. If you own a practice whether it be private or retail, you can make much more. sky is the ceiling BUT you can end up six feet under REAL FAST. Business, in any aspect CAN BE VERY UNFORGIVING. Doesn't matter if you sell burgers, shoes, or glasses/ CL's.
If you are motivated and lucky as an OD you can make over 200g's a year and more due to location, services, etc.......
I sure hope we make more in 5-6 years, because our current economy is scary.
I don't want to start any fire but making 100- 120,000 a year gross is nothing special. Ask MD's who make 200 a year gross, they will take you - you consider that alot of money? trust me, I asked a friend of mine who is Emerg.Med doc how much he makes- and when he told me 225, i was like wow- good money. He looked me at me weird and said oh really? you think so? And this is in NYC. go figure.......................

quite an interesting response, and I do agree exactly with what your saying. One of the reasons that cemented my decision to go into optometry was the factor that I would pretty much be guaranteed to be making 100,000/year. Now I do realize that this isn't much money, but there is a lot of opportunity to make money if you are smart, resourceful, and willing to take financial risk. I am naive and optimistic, but I think that one day I will be making over 200,000 from purely optometry related work, or even more than 200,000 from taking my money made from being an optometrist and doing something else with it IE)other business's / investments.... Yes optimistic but I know that I have what it takes and I will work my butt off to get to that level... I've got money on my mind!😀 and I have already begun on the path to achieve this desire.

👍👍

 

[KHE]

quite an interesting response, and I do agree exactly with what your saying. One of the reasons that cemented my decision to go into optometry was the factor that I would pretty much be guaranteed to be making 100,000/year. Now I do realize that this isn't much money, but there is a lot of opportunity to make money if you are smart, resourceful, and willing to take financial risk. I am naive and optimistic, but I think that one day I will be making over 200,000 from purely optometry related work, or even more than 200,000 from taking my money made from being an optometrist and doing something else with it IE)other business's / investments.... Yes optimistic but I know that I have what it takes and I will work my butt off to get to that level... I've got money on my mind!😀 and I have already begun on the path to achieve this desire.

👍👍

Wow....calm down, squire. A couple of things....

First of all....I don't know where people on these forums grew up, or what kind of a background they have but I am shocked at the number of people who don't think that $100000 is a lot of money. Maybe it's not compared to what Bill Gates makes, or what Shaquille O'Neill makes or what your average orthopedic surgeon makes, but making $100000 per year would put you in the top 2% of wage earners in this country.

Also, I knew of virtually no one who was making that kind of money right out of school who didn't take on some corporate lease and/or worked 7 days a week. The notion that it's guaranteed is a phalacy.

From a philosophical standpoint....I think it also bears reminding ourselves once in a while that old saying about the love of money.

 

[Oculomotor]

I have looked at many different sources for this subject and they range from a low of $85,000/yr to $140,000/yr on average (usually after 5 yrs in the field.) I look at it like this, if you are making $115,000 per year (source: US Department of Labor Statistics--based on tax return data) in Indianapolis, Indiana or Cincinnati, Ohio where the cost of living is very low relative to large metropolitan areas such as Chicago, Miami, or even the Big Apple, you will definitely have more earning power than an OD in Los Angeles making $180,000. The Los Angeles OD will have a cost of living DOUBLE that of the OD living in Cincinnati or Indy. Compound that fact with higher operating costs, more expensive employee salaries, etc, that OD making $115,000 (for himself after paying everything else) in the smaller city will be WAY AHEAD of his counterpart in New York, Miami, etc.........

 

[KHE]

I have looked at many different sources for this subject and they range from a low of $85,000/yr to $140,000/yr on average (usually after 5 yrs in the field.) I look at it like this, if you are making $115,000 per year (source: US Department of Labor Statistics--based on tax return data) .

We need a source, or a link for that because any information that I find on the BLS website does not even come close to that number.

 

[Framecontrol]

We need a source, or a link for that because any information that I find on the BLS website does not even come close to that number.

What is the BLS website? Also, I do enjoy your posts, you are very reasonable and a bit enlightening!

 

[Oculomotor]

Actually I stand corrected the figure was $105,000. But the range I indicated was correct.......

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos073.htm#earnings

"Median annual earnings of salaried optometrists were $91,040 in May 2006. The middle 50 percent earned between $66,530 and $118,490. Median annual earnings of salaried optometrists in offices of optometrists were $86,760. Salaried optometrists tend to earn more initially than do optometrists who set up their own practices. In the long run, however, those in private practice usually earn more. According to the American Optometric Association, median net annual income for all optometrists, including the self-employed, was $105,000 in 2006. The middle 50 percent earned between $84,000 and $150,000."

---USBLS is siting the AOA as a source so it is just like any other data

The OD's I know make in a year, 125,000; 180,000; and 115,000 respectively. They are all in private practice and I know these figures are legitimate because I am friends with them 😉 The one who makes 180K is a very good businessman and has a great referral network with OD's and OMD's and works about 55 hours per week. You CAN make good money if you have good business sense and work hard. Or you can make decent money and not work as hard.

 

[eyestrain]

The OD's I know make in a year, 125,000; 180,000; and 115,000 respectively. They are all in private practice and I know these figures are legitimate because I am friends with them

With all due respect, being friends with them doesn't mean much. They could easily be blowing smoke up your a$$. How would you know? Have you seen their tax returns?

 

[Jay12]

I guess we can all agree that getting a professional degree does not mean that one has won the lottery.......It takes alot of hard work and dedication to get your professional degree.......and for those whom want that six figure salary....it will continue to take a lot of hard work and dedication to do so.......but from what I have been reading...many optometrists would argue that it shouldn't be as hard (i.e. compared to many other health professions)

 

[Framecontrol]

I guess we can all agree that getting a professional degree does not mean that one has won the lottery.......It takes alot of hard work and dedication to get your professional degree.......and for those whom want that six figure salary....it will continue to take a lot of hard work and dedication to do so.......but from what I have been reading...many optometrists would argue that it shouldn't be as hard (i.e. compared to many other health professions)

Hard work is a good thing. I love having a challenge and I am always trying to raise the bar and improve myself.

 

[KHE]

Actually I stand corrected the figure was $105,000. But the range I indicated was correct.......

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos073.htm#earnings

"Median annual earnings of salaried optometrists were $91,040 in May 2006. The middle 50 percent earned between $66,530 and $118,490. Median annual earnings of salaried optometrists in offices of optometrists were $86,760. Salaried optometrists tend to earn more initially than do optometrists who set up their own practices. In the long run, however, those in private practice usually earn more. According to the American Optometric Association, median net annual income for all optometrists, including the self-employed, was $105,000 in 2006. The middle 50 percent earned between $84,000 and $150,000."

---USBLS is siting the AOA as a source so it is just like any other data

The OD's I know make in a year, 125,000; 180,000; and 115,000 respectively. They are all in private practice and I know these figures are legitimate because I am friends with them 😉 The one who makes 180K is a very good businessman and has a great referral network with OD's and OMD's and works about 55 hours per week. You CAN make good money if you have good business sense and work hard. Or you can make decent money and not work as hard.

This brings up some important points....

BLS statistics show that the middle 50% is making between $66530 and $118490. While this means that 25% of ODs are making more than $118490, it also means that 25% of ODs are making LESS than $66530.

Also, using tax return data for optometrists means that you are getting a report of TOTAL income for people who list their profession as "optometrists." They can have many other sources of income, not just from optometry. People may have interest income, investment income, income from various other sources. You may not be getting the amount of money that people are making JUST from practicing optometry.

Note the large difference between median incomes reported by the AOA (much higher, and generated from self reported surveys) than those reported by the government using actual tax returns. You can draw your own conclusions from this.

Regarding the friends who self reported their income...I would be incredibly cautious about this. The ONLY two people who know how much many I REALLY make are my accountant and my wife. (And even my WIFE is in the dark a little bit.....😎)