Dental Hygienists
SOC 29-1292 · 2024-2034
Administer oral hygiene care to patients. Assess patient oral hygiene problems or needs and maintain health records. Advise patients on oral health maintenance and disease prevention. May provide advanced care such as providing fluoride treatment or administering topical anesthesia.
How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.
The job this trains for
- Typical pay in California
- $128,427per year
- Projected openings
- 17,950
- Projected change
- +10.7%
- Usually needs
- Associate's degree
Bright Outlook — a U.S. Department of Labor designation
Rapid Growth
The Department's own designation, made from its national projections. It is not this project's assessment and it is not California's: every other figure on this page comes from California's projection, which can point the other way and for some occupations does.
Skills this work uses most
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, rates how important each of these is to this work, and they are listed in that order, most important first. The ratings themselves are not shown, because the data carries the number without the scale it was measured on. The names are as published, in English.
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Service Orientation
- Social Perceptiveness
- Writing
Pay by region
| Region | Typical pay in California | Projected openings |
|---|---|---|
| San Rafael MD (Marin County) | $140,971 | 150 |
| Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties) | $140,917 | 1,470 |
| San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) | $140,917 | 760 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA (San Benito and Santa Clara Counties) | $138,679 | 1,260 |
| Vallejo MSA (Solano County) | $138,104 | 160 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara MSA (Santa Barbara County) | $135,598 | 210 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA (Sonoma County) | $135,187 | 220 |
| Napa MSA (Napa County) | $131,314 | 60 |
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA (Santa Cruz County) | $130,575 | 120 |
| Stockton-Lodi MSA (San Joaquin County) | $127,935 | 260 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura MSA (Ventura County) | $125,850 | 440 |
| Salinas MSA (Monterey County) | $125,367 | 120 |
| Yuba City MSA (Sutter and Yuba Counties) | $124,977 | 50 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties) | $124,607 | 1,810 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles MSA (San Luis Obispo County) | $124,391 | 170 |
| Modesto MSA (Stanislaus County) | $124,299 | 160 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County) | $123,569 | 1,580 |
| Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region (Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Inyo, Mariposa, Mono, and Tuolumne Counties) | $122,285 | 60 |
| Chico MSA (Butte County) | $122,224 | 80 |
| North Coast Region (Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino Counties) | $121,916 | 60 |
| North Valley-Northern Mountains Region (Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity Counties) | $119,666 | 150 |
| El Centro MSA (Imperial County) | $112,086 | 40 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) | $112,003 | 1,080 |
| Redding MSA (Shasta County) | $109,867 | 70 |
| Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine MD (Orange County) | $109,378 | 1,930 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County) | $109,378 | 4,030 |
| Fresno MSA (Fresno and Madera Counties) | $106,118 | 310 |
| Hanford-Corcoran MSA (Kings County) | $105,111 | 50 |
| Visalia MSA (Tulare County) | $100,766 | 120 |
| Bakersfield-Delano MSA (Kern County) | $98,106 | 280 |
Similar work
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, names these as occupations involving work similar to this one — its own reading of the job, not a grouping by code. They keep O*NET's order, and only those California publishes a projection for are shown.
| The job this trains for | Typical pay in California | Projected openings | Projected change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dental Assistants | $51,379 | 81,180 | +10% |
| Medical Assistants | $50,918 | 175,850 | +22.7% |
| Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses | $81,982 | 81,600 | +15% |
| Ophthalmic Medical Technicians | $56,015 | 4,340 | +33.3% |
| Veterinary Technologists and Technicians | $62,327 | 13,220 | +14.8% |
| Surgical Technologists | $83,586 | 8,420 | +11.6% |
Leads to — 7
Dental Hygiene
Shasta College · Redding · $17,532
Dental Hygiene - Dental Hygiene AS Degree
Cabrillo College · Aptos · $23,197
Dental Hygienist
Moreno Valley College CTE · Moreno Valley · $11,987
Dental Hygiene (Online)
San Joaquin Valley College - Central Administration Office · Visalia · $23,292
Dental Assisting Certificate fo Achievement
Diablo Valley College · Pleasant Hill · $4,011
DENHY: Dental Hygiene Associate in Science Degree
Diablo Valley College · Pleasant Hill · $8,562
Dental Hygiene (AS)
Santa Rosa Junior College · Santa Rosa · $24,085