Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages Wide pay band SOC 29-1023

Orthodontists

The published band from $99,850 to $416,000 is the distinctive signal for this role, not a twin of Pediatric Surgeons.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Orthodontists: Pediatric Surgeons ($559K) , General Internal Medicine Physicians ($257K) , Emergency Medicine Physicians ($336K) , Psychiatrists ($282K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Orthodontists publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 29-1023 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Diagnose teeth and jaw or other dental-facial abnormalities
  2. 2. Examine patients to assess abnormalities of jaw development, tooth position, and other dental-facial structures
  3. 3. Study diagnostic records, such as medical or dental histories, plaster models of the teeth, photos of a patient's face and teeth, and X-r…
  4. 4. Fit dental appliances in patients' mouths to alter the position and relationship of teeth and jaws or to realign teeth
  5. 5. Adjust dental appliances to produce and maintain normal function
  6. 6. Provide patients with proposed treatment plans and cost estimates
  7. 7. Advise patients to comply with treatment plans
  8. 8. Prepare diagnostic and treatment records
  9. 9. Instruct dental officers and technical assistants in orthodontic procedures and techniques
  10. 10. Coordinate orthodontic services with other dental and medical services
  11. 11. Design and fabricate appliances, such as space maintainers, retainers, and labial and lingual arch wires

Orthodontists: O*NET ranks Active Listening first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 29-1023 - lead skill Active Listening at 4.0 ; lead knowledge Medicine and Dentistry. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Active Listening 4.0
  2. 2. Speaking 4.0
  3. 3. Critical Thinking 4.0
  4. 4. Monitoring 4.0
  5. 5. Complex Problem Solving 4.0
  6. 6. Reading Comprehension 3.9
  7. 7. Social Perceptiveness 3.9
  8. 8. Coordination 3.9

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Medicine and Dentistry 5.0
  2. 2. Customer and Personal Service 4.3
  3. 3. English Language 3.7
  4. 4. Biology 3.7
  5. 5. Computers and Electronics 3.3
  6. 6. Mathematics 3.2
Published pay band (10th to 90th)
$99,850 to $416,000
median $289,140 · ~4.2× spread
$289K
National median
↑ +4%
Growth 2024-2034
200
Annual openings
6,210
Estimated US jobs
Pediatric Surgeons
Highest-pay peer · $559K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education Doctoral or professional degree

Top Paying States for Orthodontists

1. Maryland $361,030
2. Pennsylvania $311,180
3. Illinois $343,100
4. Montana $312,840
5. Missouri $332,630
6. Michigan $357,090
7. South Carolina $311,450
8. Connecticut $478,680
9. Tennessee $339,610
10. Colorado $416,000

Other Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations titles

  1. 1. Pediatric Surgeons $559,030
  2. 2. Emergency Medicine Physicians $335,550
  3. 3. General Internal Medicine Physicians $256,560
  4. 4. Psychiatrists $281,870
  5. 5. Surgeons, All Other $414,010
  6. 6. Anesthesiologists $391,490

The OEWS band for Orthodontists runs from $99,850 (10th) to $416,000 (90th), about 4.2× wide, with median $289,140. That spread, not the midpoint alone, is the distinctive published fact.

Employment Projections expect +4% change between 2024 and 2034 (about as fast as average vs baseline 3.1%). About 200 annual openings are projected. BLS assigns Doctoral or professional 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: Maryland at $361,030. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Pediatric Surgeons at $559,030. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Orthodontists pay-rank #14 in Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations

Among 71 detailed Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations with a published OEWS median, Orthodontists is pay-rank #14, the upper third of that major group. The order is ROW_NUMBER on national median (title as tiebreak), not a worker-level percentile.

Other upper-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 Orthodontists is unusually wide, so the state map and peer comparison carry more signal than the median alone.

Orthodontists salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 29-1023

Maryland · top state for Orthodontists

$361K published median

Pennsylvania · #2 state pay

$311K · behind Maryland

Pediatric Surgeons

Highest-pay peer vs Orthodontists · $559K

General Internal Medicine Physicians

Lower-pay peer beside Orthodontists · $257K

Compare Orthodontists

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Orthodontists 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

Which Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations titles sit near Orthodontists at the top of the pay table? ▼
Orthodontists is pay-rank #14 of 71 detailed Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations with an OEWS median, upper third. Nearest upper-third titles: Obstetricians and Gynecologists ($293K), Psychiatrists ($282K), Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric ($300K), Prosthodontists ($311K). Rank is ROW_NUMBER on national median.
What do orthodontists do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Orthodontists. Leading ones include: Diagnose teeth and jaw or other dental-facial abnormalities; Examine patients to assess abnormalities of jaw development, tooth position, and other dental-facial structures; Study diagnostic records, such as medical or dental histories, plaster models of the teeth, photos of a patient's face and teeth, and X-r…; Fit dental appliances in patients' mouths to alter the position and relationship of teeth and jaws or to realign teeth. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for orthodontists? ▼
For SOC 29-1023, O*NET importance scores lead with Active Listening (4.0), Speaking (4.0), Critical Thinking (4.0), Monitoring (4.0). Knowledge areas emphasize Medicine and Dentistry, Customer and Personal Service, English Language. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
How wide is the published pay band for Orthodontists? ▼
OEWS places the 10th percentile at $99,850 and the 90th at $416,000 for Orthodontists (4.2× spread). The national median is $289,140. OEWS does not isolate experience, employer, or geography as the cause of that spread.
What employment change does BLS publish for Orthodontists? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Orthodontists is +4%. Projected annual openings: about 200. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: about as fast as average.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Orthodontists? ▼
BLS assigns Doctoral or professional degree as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Orthodontists. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Orthodontists? ▼
Maryland ($361,030), Pennsylvania ($311,180), Illinois ($343,100) 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 Orthodontists card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 29-1023. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Orthodontists. 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