Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages Wide pay band SOC 29-9093

Surgical Assistants

The published band from $39,690 to $107,610 is the distinctive signal for this role, not a twin of Radiologists.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Surgical Assistants: Radiologists ($421K) , Prosthodontists ($311K) , Surgeons, All Other ($414K) , Emergency Medicine Physicians ($336K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Surgical Assistants publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 29-9093 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Verify the identity of patient or operative site
  2. 2. Monitor and maintain aseptic technique throughout procedures
  3. 3. Cover patients with surgical drapes to create and maintain a sterile operative field
  4. 4. Coordinate or participate in the positioning of patients, using body stabilizing equipment or protective padding to provide appropriate e…
  5. 5. Maintain an unobstructed operative field, using surgical retractors, sponges, or suctioning and irrigating equipment
  6. 6. Prepare and apply sterile wound dressings
  7. 7. Apply sutures, staples, clips, or other materials to close skin, facia, or subcutaneous wound layers
  8. 8. Discuss with surgeon the nature of the surgical procedure, including operative consent, methods of operative exposure, diagnostic or labo…
  9. 9. Determine availability of necessary equipment or supplies for operative procedures
  10. 10. Clamp, ligate, or cauterize blood vessels to control bleeding during surgical entry, using hemostatic clamps, suture ligatures, or electr…
  11. 11. Assess skin integrity or other body conditions upon completion of the procedure to determine if damage has occurred from body positioning
  12. 12. Assist with patient resuscitation during cardiac arrest or other life-threatening events

Surgical Assistants: O*NET ranks Active Listening first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 29-9093 - 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 3.8
  3. 3. Reading Comprehension 3.6
  4. 4. Critical Thinking 3.6
  5. 5. Monitoring 3.6
  6. 6. Coordination 3.4
  7. 7. Service Orientation 3.4
  8. 8. Complex Problem Solving 3.3

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Medicine and Dentistry 4.2
  2. 2. Customer and Personal Service 4.0
  3. 3. English Language 3.6
  4. 4. Biology 3.4
  5. 5. Education and Training 3.4
  6. 6. Computers and Electronics 2.9
Published pay band (10th to 90th)
$39,690 to $107,610
median $66,800 · ~2.7× spread
$67K
National median
↑ +5%
Growth 2024-2034
1,600
Annual openings
22,270
Estimated US jobs
Radiologists
Highest-pay peer · $421K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education Postsecondary nondegree award

Top Paying States for Surgical Assistants

1. Oregon $80,450
2. Arizona $111,170
3. Kentucky $84,600
4. Tennessee $81,640
5. South Carolina $85,580
6. Colorado $107,440
7. District of Columbia $123,390
8. Nevada $100,820
9. Illinois $80,210
10. New Jersey $90,710

Other Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations titles

  1. 1. Surgeons, All Other $414,010
  2. 2. Emergency Medicine Physicians $335,550
  3. 3. Radiologists $420,860
  4. 4. Dermatologists $328,730
  5. 5. Prosthodontists $311,180
  6. 6. Anesthesiologists $391,490

The OEWS band for Surgical Assistants runs from $39,690 (10th) to $107,610 (90th), about 2.7× wide, with median $66,800. That spread, not the midpoint alone, is the distinctive published fact.

Employment Projections expect +5% change between 2024 and 2034 (faster than average vs baseline 3.1%). About 1,600 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: Oregon at $80,450. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Radiologists at $420,860. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Surgical Assistants pay-rank #53 in Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations

On the Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations median table (71 detailed occupations with OEWS medians), Surgical Assistants lands at #53, 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 Surgical Assistants is unusually wide, so the state map and peer comparison carry more signal than the median alone.

Surgical Assistants salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 29-9093

Oregon · top state for Surgical Assistants

$80K published median

Arizona · #2 state pay

$111K · behind Oregon

Radiologists

Highest-pay peer vs Surgical Assistants · $421K

Prosthodontists

Lower-pay peer beside Surgical Assistants · $311K

Compare Surgical Assistants

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Surgical Assistants 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 Surgical Assistants land on the Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations median table? ▼
Surgical Assistants is pay-rank #53 of 71 in this major group, lower third of the median table. Closest lower-third titles: Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Workers, All Other ($66K), Health Information Technologists and Medical Registrars ($68K), Hearing Aid Specialists ($65K), Surgical Technologists ($65K). That position is a table rank, not a worker percentile.
What do surgical assistants do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Surgical Assistants. Leading ones include: Verify the identity of patient or operative site; Monitor and maintain aseptic technique throughout procedures; Cover patients with surgical drapes to create and maintain a sterile operative field; Coordinate or participate in the positioning of patients, using body stabilizing equipment or protective padding to provide appropriate e…. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for surgical assistants? ▼
For SOC 29-9093, O*NET importance scores lead with Active Listening (4.0), Speaking (3.8), Reading Comprehension (3.6), Critical Thinking (3.6). 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 Surgical Assistants? ▼
OEWS places the 10th percentile at $39,690 and the 90th at $107,610 for Surgical Assistants (2.7× spread). The national median is $66,800. OEWS does not isolate experience, employer, or geography as the cause of that spread.
What employment change does BLS publish for Surgical Assistants? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Surgical Assistants is +5%. Projected annual openings: about 1,600. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: faster than average.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Surgical Assistants? ▼
BLS assigns Postsecondary nondegree award as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Surgical Assistants. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Surgical Assistants? ▼
Oregon ($80,450), Arizona ($111,170), Kentucky ($84,600) 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 Surgical Assistants card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 29-9093. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Surgical Assistants. 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