Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages Wide pay band SOC 29-1291

Acupuncturists

The published band from $38,830 to $161,470 is the distinctive signal for this role, not a twin of Surgeons, All Other.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Acupuncturists: Surgeons, All Other ($414K) , Physicians, All Other ($266K) , Obstetricians and Gynecologists ($293K) , Anesthesiologists ($391K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Acupuncturists publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 29-1291 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Maintain and follow standard quality, safety, environmental, and infection control policies and procedures
  2. 2. Treat patients using tools, such as needles, cups, ear balls, seeds, pellets, or nutritional supplements
  3. 3. Adhere to local, state, and federal laws, regulations, and statutes
  4. 4. Identify correct anatomical and proportional point locations based on patients' anatomy and positions, contraindications, and precautions…
  5. 5. Develop individual treatment plans and strategies
  6. 6. Insert needles to provide acupuncture treatment
  7. 7. Evaluate treatment outcomes and recommend new or altered treatments as necessary to further promote, restore, or maintain health
  8. 8. Collect medical histories and general health and lifestyle information from patients
  9. 9. Maintain detailed and complete records of health care plans and prognoses
  10. 10. Educate patients on topics, such as meditation, ergonomics, stretching, exercise, nutrition, the healing process, breathing, or relaxatio…
  11. 11. Assess patients' general physical appearance to make diagnoses
  12. 12. Analyze physical findings and medical histories to make diagnoses according to Oriental medicine traditions

Acupuncturists: O*NET ranks Active Listening first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 29-1291 - lead skill Active Listening at 3.9 ; lead knowledge Customer and Personal Service. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Active Listening 3.9
  2. 2. Critical Thinking 3.8
  3. 3. Social Perceptiveness 3.8
  4. 4. Service Orientation 3.8
  5. 5. Speaking 3.6
  6. 6. Judgment and Decision Making 3.5
  7. 7. Reading Comprehension 3.3
  8. 8. Monitoring 3.3

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Customer and Personal Service 4.5
  2. 2. Medicine and Dentistry 4.1
  3. 3. Psychology 3.8
  4. 4. Biology 3.7
  5. 5. English Language 3.6
  6. 6. Administrative 3.5
Published pay band (10th to 90th)
$38,830 to $161,470
median $76,040 · ~4.2× spread
$76K
National median
↑ +7%
Growth 2024-2034
900
Annual openings
7,830
Estimated US jobs
Surgeons, All Other
Highest-pay peer · $414K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education Master's degree

Top Paying States for Acupuncturists

1. Kentucky $85,130
2. Tennessee $141,430
3. Missouri $89,000
4. Maryland $101,650
5. Indiana $120,490
6. Massachusetts $93,360
7. New Jersey $125,260
8. New York $86,120
9. Wisconsin $84,820
10. Arizona $85,300

Other Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations titles

  1. 1. Obstetricians and Gynecologists $292,910
  2. 2. Physicians, All Other $265,930
  3. 3. Surgeons, All Other $414,010
  4. 4. Anesthesiologists $391,490
  5. 5. Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons $352,220
  6. 6. Prosthodontists $311,180

The OEWS band for Acupuncturists runs from $38,830 (10th) to $161,470 (90th), about 4.2× wide, with median $76,040. That spread, not the midpoint alone, is the distinctive published fact.

Employment Projections expect +7% change between 2024 and 2034 (faster than average vs baseline 3.1%). About 900 annual openings are projected. BLS assigns Master's degree as typical education needed for entry. These are occupation-level assignments, not universal requirements. BLS does not publish a separate occupation-specific safety rate for this role; its broad SOC-group rate is excluded from this career card's grade.

Highest published state median in this ranking: Kentucky at $85,130. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Surgeons, All Other at $414,010. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Acupuncturists pay-rank #50 in Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations

On the Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations median table (71 detailed occupations with OEWS medians), Acupuncturists lands at #50, in the lower third. That rank is a table position, not a statement about individual workers.

Other lower-third titles · closest medians

Full Salary Details Compare this role

Data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Projections from BLS Employment Projections program, 2024-2034.

The 10th-to-90th percentile spread for Acupuncturists is unusually wide, so the state map and peer comparison carry more signal than the median alone.

Acupuncturists salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 29-1291

Kentucky · top state for Acupuncturists

$85K published median

Tennessee · #2 state pay

$141K · behind Kentucky

Surgeons, All Other

Highest-pay peer vs Acupuncturists · $414K

Physicians, All Other

Lower-pay peer beside Acupuncturists · $266K

Compare Acupuncturists

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Acupuncturists with another occupation →

Pay-band next reads

Entry-Level vs Experienced Pay

What percentile bands reveal

Using Salary Data for Negotiation

Leverage BLS percentiles

Frequently Asked Questions

Where does Acupuncturists land on the Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations median table? ▼
Acupuncturists is pay-rank #50 of 71 in this major group, lower third of the median table. Closest lower-third titles: Dietitians and Nutritionists ($76K), Cardiovascular Technologists and Technicians ($74K), Health Information Technologists and Medical Registrars ($68K), Surgical Assistants ($67K). That position is a table rank, not a worker percentile.
What do acupuncturists do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Acupuncturists. Leading ones include: Maintain and follow standard quality, safety, environmental, and infection control policies and procedures; Treat patients using tools, such as needles, cups, ear balls, seeds, pellets, or nutritional supplements; Adhere to local, state, and federal laws, regulations, and statutes; Identify correct anatomical and proportional point locations based on patients' anatomy and positions, contraindications, and precautions…. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for acupuncturists? ▼
For SOC 29-1291, O*NET importance scores lead with Active Listening (3.9), Critical Thinking (3.8), Social Perceptiveness (3.8), Service Orientation (3.8). Knowledge areas emphasize Customer and Personal Service, Medicine and Dentistry, Psychology. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
How wide is the published pay band for Acupuncturists? ▼
OEWS places the 10th percentile at $38,830 and the 90th at $161,470 for Acupuncturists (4.2× spread). The national median is $76,040. OEWS does not isolate experience, employer, or geography as the cause of that spread.
What employment change does BLS publish for Acupuncturists? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Acupuncturists is +7%. Projected annual openings: about 900. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: faster than average.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Acupuncturists? ▼
BLS assigns Master's degree as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Acupuncturists. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Acupuncturists? ▼
Kentucky ($85,130), Tennessee ($141,430), Missouri ($89,000) lead this ranking. The table does not identify why those state estimates differ.

Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Wage and state figures use BLS OEWS May 2025; growth and education use BLS Employment Projections for 2024-2034; safety fields cite BLS CFOI/SOII; task statements cite O*NET where shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

Disclaimer: Wage and outlook figures on this page are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute career, financial, or salary-negotiation advice. Actual pay varies by employer, experience, and local conditions; consult a career counselor or the hiring employer for guidance specific to your situation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OES Occupational wage estimates by area and industry · 2025

Federal sources on this Acupuncturists card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 29-1291. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Acupuncturists. onetcenter.org
  • BLS Employment Projections - 2024-2034 change and openings for this occupation. bls.gov/emp
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - demographic and labor-force context for state and metro geography. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) - payroll-tax aggregate context for wage comparisons. irs.gov/statistics