State rankings
Optometrist Salary by State
Alaska has the highest Annual Mean Wage ($180,470), followed by North Carolina ($156,110) and Kentucky ($152,100). Oklahoma has the lowest ($94,620).
47 of 51 states
Cost-of-living adjustmentConverts wages and incomes to what they would buy at average US prices, so $100k in a cheap state and $100k in an expensive one are not treated as equal.More in the glossary →
Annual Mean Wage
Darker green is better (higher is better). Click a place to highlight it.
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All 47 ranked
Best first.
Distribution Median and middle halfThe median is the middle value: half of places are above it, half below. The middle half is the range holding the central 50% of places.More in the glossary →
Each dot is one state; the lines mark the median and the middle half.
Median
$129,950
Middle half $118,470 – $140,240
Average
$129,523
47 states
Highest
$180,470
Alaska
Lowest
$94,620
Oklahoma
Data
Click a column to sort, a row to highlight that place on the charts.
47 states · # = rank by Annual Mean Wage
| # | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Alaska | $180,470 | $168,780 | $86.77 | $81.14 | $0.36 |
| 2 |  North Carolina | $156,110 | $135,250 | $75.05 | $65.03 | $0.22 |
| 3 |  Kentucky | $152,100 | $121,380 | $73.12 | $58.36 | $0.22 |
| 4 |  Massachusetts | $150,500 | $133,830 | $72.36 | $64.34 | $0.21 |
| 5 |  Texas | $145,610 | $121,770 | $70.01 | $58.54 | $0.21 |
| 6 |  Connecticut | $144,550 | $140,000 | $69.50 | $67.31 | $0.33 |
| 7 |  Maryland | $143,690 | $134,070 | $69.08 | $64.46 | $0.30 |
| 8 |  New Jersey | $143,460 | $141,370 | $68.97 | $67.97 | $0.20 |
| 9 |  Minnesota | $142,050 | $150,110 | $68.29 | $72.17 | $0.31 |
| 10 |  Louisiana | $141,990 | $122,420 | $68.27 | $58.86 | $0.16 |
| 11 |  Arizona | $140,870 | $119,080 | $67.73 | $57.25 | $0.32 |
| 12 |  New York | $140,720 | $142,400 | $67.65 | $68.46 | $0.24 |
| 13 |  Missouri | $139,760 | $120,910 | $67.19 | $58.13 | $0.26 |
| 14 |  Hawaii | $139,320 | $135,250 | $66.98 | $65.03 | $0.48 |
| 15 |  Georgia | $138,670 | $127,630 | $66.67 | $61.36 | $0.22 |
| 16 |  Colorado | $137,290 | $128,950 | $66.00 | $61.99 | $0.25 |
| 17 |  Wyoming | $136,950 | $135,440 | $65.84 | $65.12 | $0.25 |
| 18 |  Pennsylvania | $136,220 | $130,000 | $65.49 | $62.50 | $0.27 |
| 18 |  New Hampshire | $136,220 | $135,420 | $65.49 | $65.10 | $0.26 |
| 20 |  North Dakota | $135,000 | $120,000 | $64.90 | $57.69 | $0.47 |
| 21 |  Wisconsin | $134,830 | $131,320 | $64.82 | $63.13 | $0.33 |
| 22 |  Illinois | $132,460 | $115,590 | $63.69 | $55.57 | $0.22 |
| 23 |  Vermont | $131,070 | $129,220 | $63.01 | $62.13 | $0.29 |
| 24 |  Arkansas | $129,950 | $109,050 | $62.48 | $52.43 | $0.24 |
| 25 |  Maine | $129,480 | $126,340 | $62.25 | $60.74 | $0.27 |
| 26 |  Michigan | $129,230 | $128,430 | $62.13 | $61.74 | $0.29 |
| 27 |  California | $128,160 | $125,590 | $61.62 | $60.38 | $0.44 |
| 28 |  Nebraska | $126,500 | $120,020 | $60.82 | $57.70 | $0.30 |
| 29 |  Washington | $125,760 | $132,370 | $60.46 | $63.64 | $0.24 |
| 30 |  Iowa | $125,340 | $126,650 | $60.26 | $60.89 | $0.39 |
| 31 |  Mississippi | $125,210 | $110,170 | $60.20 | $52.96 | $0.24 |
| 32 |  Alabama | $121,300 | $110,830 | $58.32 | $53.28 | $0.25 |
| 33 |  Ohio | $121,040 | $127,400 | $58.19 | $61.25 | $0.32 |
| 34 |  Oregon | $120,690 | $125,020 | $58.03 | $60.11 | $0.33 |
| 35 |  Nevada | $120,420 | $111,710 | $57.90 | $53.71 | $0.28 |
| 36 |  Delaware | $116,520 | $118,860 | $56.02 | $57.15 | $0.21 |
| 37 |  Kansas | $114,870 | $107,820 | $55.23 | $51.84 | $0.27 |
| 38 |  Indiana | $113,400 | $104,010 | $54.52 | $50.00 | $0.29 |
| 39 |  West Virginia | $111,560 | $105,940 | $53.64 | $50.93 | $0.23 |
| 40 |  Tennessee | $110,830 | $98,330 | $53.29 | $47.27 | $0.20 |
| 41 |  District of Columbia | $110,700 | $106,350 | $53.22 | $51.13 | $0.10 |
| 42 |  Florida | $108,820 | $103,910 | $52.32 | $49.96 | $0.22 |
| 43 |  South Dakota | $108,280 | $102,890 | $52.06 | $49.47 | $0.33 |
| 44 |  Utah | $107,830 | $95,170 | $51.84 | $45.76 | $0.21 |
| 45 |  Idaho | $105,660 | $85,110 | $50.80 | $40.92 | $0.18 |
| 46 |  South Carolina | $101,480 | $98,460 | $48.79 | $47.34 | $0.21 |
| 47 |  Oklahoma | $94,620 | $74,000 | $45.49 | $35.58 | $0.31 |
What correlates with Annual Mean Wage?
Pearson r against 2,088 other state metrics sharing at least 29 states. Ranks are read by standing: a better rank counts as higher, whether rank 1 is the best place on a list or the worst. Correlation is not causation.
Higher together
Places that have a higher Annual Mean Wage tend to score higher on these (or rank better)
Opposite directions
Places that have a higher Annual Mean Wage tend to score lower on these (or rank worse)
Quick answers
- Which state has the highest Annual Mean Wage?
- Alaska has the highest Annual Mean Wage, at $180,470, followed by North Carolina ($156,110) and Kentucky ($152,100).
- Which state has the lowest Annual Mean Wage?
- Oklahoma has the lowest Annual Mean Wage, at $94,620.
- What is the median Annual Mean Wage across US states?
- The median is $129,950 across the 47 US states with data.
- Where does this optometrist salary by state data come from?
- Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics - US Bureau of Labor Statistics.