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Median pay
$179,210
Median annual pay for Dentist.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · 2024
High-income professional work with ownership potential, but education cost, practice economics, and staffing shortages are central to the decision.
High-income professional work with ownership potential, but education cost, practice economics, and staffing shortages are central to the decision.
The measurable baseline is $179,210 median pay, 4% projected employment change from 2024 to 2034, and about 4,500 annual openings. Those figures establish the national baseline; the occupation-specific evidence on this page is what makes the decision more useful than a generic profile.
The national median-pay figure in the current ChooseField dataset is $179,210. The 2024 self-employed share is 11.7%, which matters because self-employment can make outcomes less uniform across workers. A national median is a benchmark, not a personal forecast: experience, geography, employer type, specialty, credentials, and hours can move actual compensation materially.
BLS data in the ChooseField corpus put 2024 employment at 149,300 and projected 2034 employment at 155,200. That corresponds to 4% projected growth over the decade. BLS projects about 4,500 openings per year, including growth and replacement demand. This distinction matters when people ask whether a field is oversaturated: growth measures whether the occupation itself is getting larger, while annual openings also reflect people retiring, changing occupations, or leaving roles that must be refilled.
BLS lists the typical entry education as Doctoral/professional degree. Treat this entry path like an investment: compare the time and cost required to enter with the pay, annual openings, and alternatives available at a similar training level.
Practice economics are unusually well documented. ADA HPI publishes dentist earnings, billings, expenses, workforce supply, practice affiliation, and migration data. Source: ADA Health Policy Institute (Current).
Rural supply is much lower. The headline figure is 32.7 vs 64.7 / 100k. Dentists per 100,000 people in rural versus urban areas in recent ADA HPI data. Source: American Dental Association (2025).
Dentistry combines high professional income with ownership potential, but the economics include expensive education and practice-level staffing issues. ADA's practice and workforce data are therefore more useful than treating one national median as the whole story.
This field is a stronger fit if the required education and licensure are acceptable and you value a labor market anchored in direct care or clinical services.
Before choosing Dentist, compare it with Dental Hygienist, Physician, Financial Advisor / Planner. The purpose is not to find a universal winner; it is to see how pay, training time, annual openings, work setting, and field-specific risks change when you move to an adjacent option.
High-income professional work with ownership potential, but education cost, practice economics, and staffing shortages are central to the decision. The measurable baseline is $179,210 median pay, 4% projected 2024–34 employment change, about 4,500 annual openings, and a typical entry path of Doctoral/professional degree.
The national median in the current ChooseField dataset is $179,210. Treat that as a benchmark rather than an expected starting salary; actual compensation varies by experience, location, employer, specialty, credentials, and hours.
Dentistry combines high professional income with ownership potential, but the economics include expensive education and practice-level staffing issues. ADA's practice and workforce data are therefore more useful than treating one national median as the whole story.
Compare Dentist with Dental Hygienist, Physician on pay, training time, openings, working conditions, and occupation-specific evidence rather than relying on one score.
National pay and employment projections come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Other sources are linked on their cards.