Dental Hygienists · SOC 29-1292

Highest-Paying Metro Areas for Dental Hygienists

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025U.S. metropolitan areas

Metro areas ranked by published median annual wage for dental hygienists. Areas where BLS suppressed the median are not ranked. Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Top 25 of 378 metro areas

Dental Hygienists: metro areas with the highest published median annual wages, May 2025
#	Metro area	Median annual	Employment	Per 1,000 jobs
1	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$146,760	3,780	1.6
2	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$139,990	1,620	1.4
3	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$136,210	310	1.5
4	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$135,990	260	1.3
5	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$133,740	3,500	1.7
6	Anchorage, AK	$132,740	490	2.8
7	Fairbanks-College, AK	$131,860	70	2.0
8	Napa, CA	$131,370	100	1.3
9	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$131,040	190	2.0
10	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$130,600	220	2.3
11	Boulder, CO	$130,000	300	1.6
12	Vallejo, CA	$128,570	270	1.9
13	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$127,470	130	2.4
14	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$126,530	500	1.5
15	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$125,670	220	1.8
16	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$125,130	480	1.7
17	Bellingham, WA	$124,850	150	1.6
18	Yuba City, CA	$124,780	60	1.2
19	Modesto, CA	$123,910	390	2.0
20	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$123,790	1,940	1.3
21	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$123,100	2,380	2.0
22	Longview-Kelso, WA	$123,020	100	2.4
23	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$122,980	7,940	1.3
24	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$122,950	220	1.7
25	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$122,540	2,200	2.0

Full state and metro tables, the national distribution, and the pay map are on the Dental Hygienists overview.

About this data. Estimates are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, retrieved from bls.gov/oes/tables.htm on July 24, 2026. OEWS estimates describe metropolitan/nonmetropolitan areas and states — not city limits — and are not designed for year-over-year comparisons. See BLS methodology, our plain-English methodology, and sources. CitySalaryData is independent and not affiliated with BLS.