Optometrist salary

How much does an optometrist make?

An optometrist makes $136,570 at the national median and $141,550 on average; the bottom 10% earn under $74,870 and the top 10% over $202,180.^{[onet_opt][oews_api]} BLS counted 42,790 employed optometrists in May 2025. Optometrists who own a practice are outside the survey, so these figures describe salaried ODs in group practices, retail and medical settings.^[oews_tec]

*Single filer, 2026 federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare (with the 0.9% surtax over $200,000); before state tax.

Optometrist salary per hour

Optometrists earn $65.66 an hour at the median, from $36.00 at the 10th percentile to $97.20 at the 90th, using BLS's 2,080-hour conversion.^[oews_faq] Enter an hourly rate in the calculator to see where it lands on the annual scale.

*Single filer, 2026 federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare; before state tax.

Optometrist salary by state

Alaska pays optometrists the most on average at $165,120, followed by New Jersey ($161,110) and North Carolina ($161,030). Montana has the lowest mean at $106,200, $58,920 below the top state.^[oews_api]

Jobs: BLS OEWS employment estimate, May 2025. “—”: not released.

Download all optometrist wages as CSV (nation, 51 states and every published metro area: mean, 10th–90th percentiles, jobs)

Across 238 metro and nonmetro areas with published data, the highest optometrist median is in La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN ($175,810).^[onet_opt]

Optometrist vs ophthalmologist pay

An ophthalmologist, a physician and eye surgeon, earns a median of $300,080, which is $163,510 more than an optometrist.^[onet_ophth] The training gap is large: an optometrist completes a 4-year Doctor of Optometry degree after college, while an ophthalmologist needs medical school and a 4-year residency.^{[ooh_opt][acgme_ophth]} BLS projects optometrist employment to grow 10% from 2025 to 2035.^[ooh_opt] Physician assistants, another post-college clinical route, earn a median of $135,880 (physician assistant salary).

Does optometry school pay off?

Whether optometry school pays off depends on three numbers: total cost, the share you borrow and the salary you land. Optometry is a “professional” degree under the federal loan rules that took effect July 1, 2026, so students can borrow up to $50,000 a year and $200,000 in total in Direct Unsubsidized loans; Grad PLUS loans are closed to new borrowers.^{[fr_rule][fsa_limits]} The cost and loan in the calculator are example inputs, not a published price: replace them with your program's cost of attendance.

The 8.07% default is the federal graduate and professional Direct Unsubsidized rate for 2026–27.^[fsa] For a physician route, compare how much medical school costs, and for every specialty's pay see doctor salary.

Why optometrist salary figures differ between sources

Salary figures for optometrists differ between websites mainly because they use different years, different averages and different groups of workers. Check these six things before comparing any number with the BLS figures on this page.^{[oews_tec][oews_faq]}