Dentist Salary

The average Dentist Salary is calculated by the US Government Bureau of Labor Statistics from a variety of sources. Dentists work in a number of settings including hospitals, clinics and schools.  Dentist salaries vary depending on the location and the setting.  The assumption was made that the Dentists reflected here were working an average of 40 hours per week with a total of 2080 hours per year. 

Dentist Salary: Median Hourly & Annual Data

Hourly

Dentist median wage is $66.17 per hour. The lowest 10% earn $34.38 per hour and those in the upper 10% earn more than $70.00 per hour.

Annually

On an annual basis  the median Dentist wage is $137,630. The lowest 10% earn $71,520 per year while the upper 10% earn more than $170,000 per year.  These salaries are calculated as a mean or average. 

Lowest and Highest Dentist Salary

The lowest paid Dentists earn less approximately $106,380 annually while the highest paid Dentists earn over $200,000 per year. 

Top 5 States

The top paying states to earn a dentist salary are Delaware($184,690), North Carolina ($178,180), Washington($173,490), Connecticut ($169,230), and Alaska ($168,820). These salaries are calculated as an annual mean or average. 

Top 5 Metropolitan Areas

The best city or metropolitan areas to earn a dentist salary are Waterbury, CT, Punta Gorda, FL, Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL, Fort Collins-Loveland, CO and Bremerton-Silverdale, WA all report earnings of over $170,000 per year. 

Private Practice Vs Employment

 According to the ADA there are over 160,000 dentists in private practice earning an average net salary just over $174,000 per year as of 2002. Over half of all the dentists are self-employed or in a private practice setting. It is worth mentioning that average state government dentist salaries are higher ($110,000) than federal government dental salaries ($83,770). 

Employment Data

According to the US Department of Labor nationally there are 86,360 Dentists  who are employed.  The American Dental Association lists the total number of dentists as approximately 173,540. 

Where They Work

Of all the dentists employed in the United States 80,000 of them work in the offices of other healthcare practitioners such as other dentists, doctors and etc.  This is also where the best dental salaries can be found. The annual mean salary is $135,000 for dentists who worked for other dentists and just over $123,000 for those who worked in the offices of other healthcare practitioners.  

Benefits

Fringe benefits are going to be similar to those offered by small business's or single proprietor business's.   A typical employment benefits package is worth over $20,000 per year.