Opticians, Dispensing · SOC 29-2081

Highest-Paying Metro Areas for Opticians, Dispensings

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

Metro areas ranked by published median annual wage for opticians, dispensing. 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 318 metro areas

Opticians, Dispensing: metro areas with the highest published median annual wages, May 2025
#	Metro area	Median annual	Employment	Per 1,000 jobs
1	Vallejo, CA	$78,830	90	0.6
2	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$78,600	130	0.3
3	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$77,460	120	0.6
4	Waterbury-Shelton, CT	$76,820	70	0.4
5	Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT	$76,170	60	0.5
6	Urban Honolulu, HI	$75,300	90	0.2
7	New Haven, CT	$72,410	100	0.3
8	Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ	$72,290	70	0.4
9	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$71,440	220	0.4
10	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$71,050	3,460	0.4
11	Springfield, MA	$71,000	70	0.3
12	Barnstable Town, MA	$69,530	60	0.6
13	Syracuse, NY	$68,880	180	0.6
14	Worcester, MA	$67,630	160	0.5
15	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$67,110	100	0.4
16	Watertown-Fort Drum, NY	$65,870	30	0.8
17	Amherst Town-Northampton, MA	$65,000	60	0.8
18	Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY	$64,280	150	0.5
19	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$64,170	950	0.4
20	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$63,710	180	0.4
21	Kingston, NY	$63,390	40	0.7
22	Harrisonburg, VA	$62,980	30	0.5
23	Naples-Marco Island, FL	$62,940	80	0.5
24	Utica-Rome, NY	$62,930	50	0.4
25	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$62,240	580	0.5

Full state and metro tables, the national distribution, and the pay map are on the Opticians, Dispensing 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.