Healthcare Support Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages O*NET task lead SOC 31-9097

Phlebotomists

O*NET task statements lead this Phlebotomists card before OEWS pay; neighboring titles include Massage Therapists, Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Orderlies, Psychiatric Aides.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Phlebotomists: Massage Therapists ($58K) , Home Health and Personal Care Aides ($36K) , Orderlies ($38K) , Psychiatric Aides ($45K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Phlebotomists publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 31-9097 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Dispose of contaminated sharps, in accordance with applicable laws, standards, and policies
  2. 2. Organize or clean blood-drawing trays, ensuring that all instruments are sterile and all needles, syringes, or related items are of first…
  3. 3. Draw blood from veins by vacuum tube, syringe, or butterfly venipuncture methods
  4. 4. Match laboratory requisition forms to specimen tubes
  5. 5. Dispose of blood or other biohazard fluids or tissue, in accordance with applicable laws, standards, or policies
  6. 6. Conduct standards tests, such as blood alcohol, blood culture, oral glucose tolerance, glucose screening, blood smears, or peak and troug…
  7. 7. Collect specimens at specific time intervals for tests, such as those assessing therapeutic drug levels
  8. 8. Process blood or other fluid samples for further analysis by other medical professionals
  9. 9. Provide sample analysis results to physicians to assist diagnosis
  10. 10. Administer subcutaneous or intramuscular injects, in accordance with licensing restrictions
  11. 11. Enter patient, specimen, insurance, or billing information into computer
  12. 12. Document route of specimens from collection to laboratory analysis and diagnosis

Phlebotomists: O*NET ranks Service Orientation first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 31-9097 - lead skill Service Orientation at 3.6 ; lead knowledge Customer and Personal Service. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Service Orientation 3.6
  2. 2. Social Perceptiveness 3.5
  3. 3. Active Listening 3.4
  4. 4. Speaking 3.4
  5. 5. Critical Thinking 3.3
  6. 6. Reading Comprehension 3.1
  7. 7. Writing 3.1
  8. 8. Monitoring 3.1

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Customer and Personal Service 4.6
  2. 2. English Language 3.8
  3. 3. Administrative 3.4
  4. 4. Education and Training 3.4
  5. 5. Psychology 3.2
  6. 6. Computers and Electronics 3.1
National median after O*NET task lead
$45,230
/year · 12 published task lines above
Lead task: Dispose of contaminated sharps, in accordance with applicable laws, standards, and policies
$45K
National median
↑ +6%
Growth 2024-2034
18,400
Annual openings
143,540
Estimated US jobs
Massage Therapists
Highest-pay peer · $58K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education Postsecondary nondegree award

Top Paying States for Phlebotomists

1. New Jersey $48,650
2. Washington $48,880
3. New Hampshire $48,660
4. Hawaii $47,750
5. Delaware $48,110
6. California $56,040
7. Oregon $49,160
8. District of Columbia $51,980
9. New York $50,530
10. Massachusetts $50,170

Other Healthcare Support Occupations titles

  1. 1. Orderlies $38,290
  2. 2. Home Health and Personal Care Aides $35,800
  3. 3. Massage Therapists $58,450
  4. 4. Psychiatric Aides $44,910
  5. 5. Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers $38,150
  6. 6. Occupational Therapy Aides $39,160

O*NET publishes 12 leading task statements for Phlebotomists (SOC 31-9097). The national OEWS median is $45,230 inside Healthcare Support Occupations. Same-group neighbors: Massage Therapists, Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Orderlies, Psychiatric Aides. Lead published task: Dispose of contaminated sharps, in accordance with applicable laws, standards, and policies.

Employment Projections expect +6% change between 2024 and 2034 (faster than average vs baseline 3.1%). About 18,400 annual openings are projected. BLS assigns Postsecondary nondegree award 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: New Jersey at $48,650. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Massage Therapists at $58,450. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Phlebotomists pay-rank #8 in Healthcare Support Occupations

Phlebotomists sits at pay-rank #8 of 17 detailed Healthcare Support Occupations, the middle third of the major-group median table. ROW_NUMBER on median; title breaks ties.

Other mid-table 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.

SOC 31-9097 · national median $45,230 · middle third of Healthcare Support Occupations (#8/17). Open the full OEWS map or a named state before treating the card median as a local ask.

Phlebotomists salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 31-9097

New Jersey · top state for Phlebotomists

$49K published median

Washington · #2 state pay

$49K · behind New Jersey

Massage Therapists

Highest-pay peer vs Phlebotomists · $58K

Home Health and Personal Care Aides

Lower-pay peer beside Phlebotomists · $36K

Compare Phlebotomists

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
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Role and task next reads

Phlebotomists full salary map

State and metro OEWS after the task lead

Compare tasks and pay

Side-by-side with another occupation

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Phlebotomists mid-table among Healthcare Support Occupations? ▼
Yes: pay-rank #8 of 17 detailed Healthcare Support Occupations, the middle third. Mid-table neighbors: Psychiatric Aides ($45K), Medical Assistants ($46K), Nursing Assistants ($42K), Medical Transcriptionists ($40K). ROW_NUMBER on median; title breaks ties.
What do phlebotomists do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Phlebotomists. Leading ones include: Dispose of contaminated sharps, in accordance with applicable laws, standards, and policies; Organize or clean blood-drawing trays, ensuring that all instruments are sterile and all needles, syringes, or related items are of first…; Draw blood from veins by vacuum tube, syringe, or butterfly venipuncture methods; Match laboratory requisition forms to specimen tubes. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for phlebotomists? ▼
For SOC 31-9097, O*NET importance scores lead with Service Orientation (3.6), Social Perceptiveness (3.5), Active Listening (3.4), Speaking (3.4). Knowledge areas emphasize Customer and Personal Service, English Language, Administrative. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
What is the OEWS national median for Phlebotomists? ▼
May 2025 OEWS reports $45,230 as the national median for Phlebotomists. The published 10th-90th range is $35,780 to $58,780. Beside Massage Therapists ($58,450), this is the occupation-level national figure, not a local offer.
What employment change does BLS publish for Phlebotomists? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Phlebotomists is +6%. Projected annual openings: about 18,400. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: faster than average.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Phlebotomists? ▼
BLS assigns Postsecondary nondegree award as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Phlebotomists. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Phlebotomists? ▼
New Jersey ($48,650), Washington ($48,880), New Hampshire ($48,660) 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 Phlebotomists card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 31-9097. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Phlebotomists. 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