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Surgical Technologists

SOC 29-2055 · 2024-2034

Assist in operations, under the supervision of surgeons, registered nurses, or other surgical personnel. May help set up operating room, prepare and transport patients for surgery, adjust lights and equipment, pass instruments and other supplies to surgeons and surgeons' assistants, hold retractors, cut sutures, and help count sponges, needles, supplies, and instruments.

How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.

The job this trains for

Typical pay in California
$83,586per year
Projected openings
8,420
Projected change
+11.6%
Usually needs
Postsecondary non-degree award

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.

  1. Monitoring
  2. Active Listening
  3. Operations Monitoring
  4. Time Management
  5. Critical Thinking
  6. Speaking

Pay by region

RegionTypical pay in CaliforniaProjected openings
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA (San Benito and Santa Clara Counties)$105,994480
Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA (Sonoma County)$104,58760
Vallejo MSA (Solano County)$104,22890
San Rafael MD (Marin County)$103,45640
San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties)$101,502270
Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties)$101,116490
Napa MSA (Napa County)$100,50920
Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties)$97,798440
Redding MSA (Shasta County)$96,76030
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County)$84,670620
Modesto MSA (Stanislaus County)$84,300120
Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine MD (Orange County)$83,158660
Salinas MSA (Monterey County)$83,08890
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County)$82,9891,710
North Valley-Northern Mountains Region (Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity Counties)$82,89340
Chico MSA (Butte County)$82,46270
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura MSA (Ventura County)$82,23670
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara MSA (Santa Barbara County)$80,39790
Stockton-Lodi MSA (San Joaquin County)$79,925100
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles MSA (San Luis Obispo County)$79,68850
North Coast Region (Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino Counties)$79,65840
Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region (Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Inyo, Mariposa, Mono, and Tuolumne Counties)$79,43230
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties)$79,082740
Fresno MSA (Fresno and Madera Counties)$76,812230
Bakersfield-Delano MSA (Kern County)$76,001150
Visalia MSA (Tulare County)$62,78170

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 forTypical pay in CaliforniaProjected openingsProjected change
Cardiovascular Technologists and Technicians$80,3584,280+15.5%
Healthcare Support Workers, All Other$50,37432,750+7.1%
Medical Equipment Preparers$62,92414,020+16.3%
Diagnostic Medical Sonographers$132,1288,010+23.1%
Radiologic Technologists and Technicians$124,65415,070+16.7%
Ophthalmic Medical Technicians$56,0154,340+33.3%

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