Dental Hygiene Degrees (2026 stats)
TL;DR
Dental Hygiene maps to BLS occupations averaging about $49,862, with roughly 258,530 workers nationwide in those roles. Common paths include Dental Hygienists and Dental Laboratory Technicians.
Key Statistics
Dental Hygiene: what the data shows
Common questions about dental hygiene degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.
What is a dental hygiene degree?
A Dental Hygiene program is classified under NCES CIP in the Health Professions and Related Programs field family (00.00).
What do you learn in dental hygiene?
O*NET skill ratings for occupations mapped to this major emphasize Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Speaking, Writing, Critical Thinking, Service Orientation, and related competencies. See the Skills section for the full list in our extract.
What degree do you need?
For Dental Hygienists (top mapped occupation), O*NET incumbent surveys in our career profile report these education credentials most often: Some college (29%), High School or Equivalent (27%), Bachelors Degree (22%).
O*NET education distributions describe incumbent workers, not minimum legal or employer requirements.
What jobs can you get with a dental hygiene degree?
Our degree→occupation mapping links Dental Hygiene to the BLS roles below. Employment is U.S. OEWS; median wage is national May 2024 where published in our extract.
| Occupation | U.S. employment | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Dental Hygienists | 200,000 | — |
| Dental Laboratory Technicians | 33,920 | $48,310 |
| Dental Assistants | 375,430 | $47,300 |
See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.
Institutions
Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Dental Hygiene and the types of students that study this field.
Degrees Awarded Over Time
N/A Total Degrees Awarded in 2023
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Dental Hygiene from 2015 to 2023.
Historical trend of degrees awarded in Dental Hygiene.
Graduation Rates
Graduation rate data is not available for this degree program.
Graduation/completion rates for Dental Hygiene programs across institutions.
Careers & Jobs
Occupations linked to this major in our degree→career mapping, with wages and employment from processed BLS career profiles in this repo.
Across these BLS occupations, employment-weighted mean pay is about $49,862. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Dental Hygiene graduates alone.
Related occupations (BLS OEWS)
| Occupation | Mean annual wage | U.S. employment |
|---|---|---|
| Dental Hygienists | $38,539 | 200,000 |
| Dental Laboratory Technicians | $58,727 | 33,920 |
| Dental Assistants | $55,093 | 375,430 |
Open each occupation for full career profile charts and industry breakdowns on EDsmart Data.
Employment
Wages and industry mix below use BLS OEWS data for occupations linked to this major in our mapping—not a graduate earnings survey.
Yearly Income for Common Jobs
$42,342 Average Wage in Workforce
The average salary for Dental Hygiene majors is $42,342.
Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Dental Hygiene majors.
Occupations by Share
258,530 2023 Workforce
The number of Dental Hygiene graduates in the workforce has been growing.
Various jobs filled by those with a major in Dental Hygiene by share of the total number of graduates.
Diversity
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Dental Hygiene in the United States.
Workforce Age
N/A Average Age in 2023
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Dental Hygiene.
Age distribution for Dental Hygiene degree holders in the workforce.
Gender Distribution
Gender distribution data is not available for this degree program.
Gender distribution of Dental Hygiene degree recipients.
Race and Ethnicity Distribution
Race and ethnicity distribution data is not available for this degree program.
Racial and ethnic distribution of Dental Hygiene degree recipients.
Degrees Awarded
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Dental Hygiene are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.
Distribution of degree types awarded in Dental Hygiene.
Skills
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Dental Hygiene field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Required Skills
Dental Hygiene majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.
Rating of how necessary various skills are for Dental Hygiene majors.
Skills Bar Chart
This bar chart shows the same information as the radar chart, displaying the importance of each skill.
Skill importance ratings for Dental Hygiene majors.
About
Dental Hygiene
In 2023, N/A degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Dental Hygiene.
CIP Code
- Dental Hygiene
What the data shows
Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $49,862. The largest mapped role by headcount is Dental Hygienists (200,000 U.S. jobs in OEWS).
Data Sources
This page uses data from the following sources:
- College Scorecard - U.S. Department of Education
- Institutional characteristics, costs, completion rates, and earnings data
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: collegescorecard.ed.gov
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)
- Employment and wage data by occupation
- Latest data: May 2024
- Source: bls.gov/oes
- O*NET Online - U.S. Department of Labor
- Occupational skills, knowledge, abilities, and work activities
- Database version: 28.0 (August 2023)
- Source: onetcenter.org
- IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) - National Center for Education Statistics
- Institutional data, completions, enrollment, and financial aid
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: nces.ed.gov/ipeds
- Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS)
- Demographic and workforce data
- Latest data: 2023 ACS 5-Year Estimates
- Source: census.gov/acs
Data Processing: All data has been processed, cleaned, and aggregated for presentation. Where specific data points are unavailable, estimates are based on available data and clearly marked.
Last Updated: Data reflects the most recent available information as of January 2025.
Methodology
Data for this profile is sourced from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard dataset, IPEDS completion data, and Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data.
All financial figures are adjusted for inflation and represent the most recent available data. Employment and wage data are from the most recent Census Bureau ACS PUMS estimates.