Optometrists salaries?

[HM-boss]

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I know this topic has been beaten to death but i have a question. Most people on SDN make it seem you would be lucky to find a 100k job while others are saying we should realistically expect 70-90k. But i was just reading a 2019 income surveys and the numbers are SIGNIFICANTLY higher. The average income in 2019 was 170k and average starting was 144k!! im so confused! What am i missing here? And whose right? Here is a link to the article 2019 Income Survey: An Up and Down Year

Thanks!


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[allantois]

Whats up with women making 30% less than men?

 

[HM-boss]

Whats up with women making 30% less than men?

Could that be because more women work part time jobs?


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[2020Focus]

Whats up with women making 30% less than men?

I noticed too that there is a huge gender disparity in optometry salaries. Looking into it more

 

[DentGent13]

BLS states that median salary is around 115k. Maybe it’s the survey takers?

 

[docforeye]

Graduated last year. I had multiple job offers when I graduated, 85K-120K inside the city, 120-140K to go further out.
Benefits, workloads, and practice setting are also things to consider besides salary.

Some female friends of mine referred to have a part-time job instead of a full-time due to family; a few got married after school or are having young children.

 

[anonnnnnnnnn123]

Graduated last year. I had multiple job offers when I graduated, 85K-120K inside the city, 120-140K to go further out.
Benefits, workloads, and practice setting are also things to consider besides salary.

Some female friends of mine referred to have a part-time job instead of a full-time due to family; a few got married after school or are having young children.

What state/province? Thanks 🙂 that sounds pretty good

 

[iridologist]

Graduated last year. I had multiple job offers when I graduated, 85K-120K inside the city, 120-140K to go further out.
Benefits, workloads, and practice setting are also things to consider besides salary.

Some female friends of mine referred to have a part-time job instead of a full-time due to family; a few got married after school or are having young children.

what school did you go to?

 

[AcademicEyes]

$144K starting sounds very high. A lot of it will be dependent on where you live, and whether or not you manage to find a full-time position. For reference, I live in California.

I would agree in populated areas starting is closer to $85K, and may not include any benefits. In more rural areas you can definitely make $120+.

 

[AcademicEyes]

Whats up with women making 30% less than men?

I would imagine some of this is due to women taking time off for childbearing, as others have said. If you're taking 3+ months off during a year, that will definitely result in loss of income.

 

[hellok111]

A doctor I shadow said she was offered 165k by America's Best right out of her board exam in NC (plus loan benefits), but this may be because their boards are notoriously harder to pass. It all depends on the mode, state, amount of years in the field, how much you want to vacation, etc. she explained to me this is why it is kind of hard to find an average salary for the whole country.

 

[LUC78]

An optometrist I was speaking with recommended using salary.com
You can put in your location as well as years worked, etc to get a better baseline estimate for your area

 

[docforeye]

What state/province? Thanks 🙂 that sounds pretty good

San Antonio, TX

 

[DoctorOD]

Another doc here. Just wanted to piggy back off of what others have said. Many students I graduated with years ago have similar varying salaries, and that’s the benefit (and curse) of optometry.

A guy I went to school with works in North Carolina in a suburban area. He owns the practice and makes well over $200k. He won’t go into details, but his whole mantra is that he will not sacrifice the quality of his education for a cheaper exam cost. He also only sells designer frames, and he bills a lot of medical visits (as we all should).

I also know several docs who work in federally-qualified healthcare centers. They are both women. One works part time (~3 days a week) and makes $60k. She has two kids, and she likes the flexibility. The other works full-time and makes ~$100k. Again, these are just docs I was close with at graduation.

Lastly, compensation rarely includes additional benefits. Is CE included? Licensing? Malpractice? Vacation? Hidden costs of private practice ownership? Productivity-based? Hourly-based?

To be honest, I don’t know of any full-time OD making less than $100k unless they’re working academic, and even then, all non-profit workers can get loan forgiveness. Otherwise, I’d argue you’re being underpaid.

Hope that helps!