Medical Appliance Technicians Salary: $54,849 Median Pay (2026 stats)
TL;DR
About 11,490 medical appliance technicians nationally earn a mean of $54,849. Employment in the series shown fell about 45% from the first to the last year; projections imply about 0.8% annual decline.
Key Statistics
Medical Appliance Technicians: what the data shows
Common questions about medical appliance technicians careers, answered from BLS OEWS and O*NET in this repository.
What is a medical appliance technicians?
Medical Appliance Technicians is tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics under SOC 51-9082.
U.S. employment in our OEWS extract is about 11,490 workers.
What does a medical appliance technicians do?
O*NET work activities rated highest for this occupation include Getting Information, Making Decisions and Solving Problems, Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials, Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates, Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work, Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events, and related tasks. See Work Activities for the full list.
How much does a medical appliance technicians make?
BLS national median annual wage: $47,060 (May 2024 in our extract).
Mean annual wage in our occupational extract: $54,849 — higher than the median, which often reflects top earners in the distribution.
Wage percentiles below are from the California OEWS extract (not national unless noted).
| Wage percentile | Annual wage |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $38,084 |
| 25th percentile | $41,603 |
| Median (50th) | $48,611 |
| 75th percentile | $61,753 |
| 90th percentile | $82,181 |
What education do you need?
For Medical Appliance Technicians, O*NET incumbent surveys in our extract most often report: Some college (29%), High School or Equivalent (27%), Bachelors Degree (22%).
These are education levels of current workers, not minimum legal requirements.
What skills do you need?
O*NET ratings for this occupation emphasize skills such as Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Quality Control Analysis, Troubleshooting, Speaking, Reading Comprehension, and knowledge areas including Production and Processing, Customer and Personal Service, English Language, Mechanical. See Education & Skills for detail.
Is medical appliance technicians in demand?
Historical employment trend in our series implies about 0.8% annual decline (compound rate in the extract).
Five-year projected employment change: -4.1%.
Ten-year projected employment change: -8.0%.
Current U.S. headcount: 11,490.
We report federal series only—compare wages, growth, and openings against your target market.
Where do medical appliance technicianss work?
Top industries by employment share in our OEWS industry extract:
| Industry | Employment | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Cross-industry | 11,490 | 20.2% |
| Cross-industry, Private Ownership only | 11,360 | 20.0% |
| Manufacturing | 7,140 | 12.6% |
| Miscellaneous Manufacturing | 6,650 | 11.7% |
| Medical Equipment and Supplies Manufacturing | 6,650 | 11.7% |
| Health Care and Social Assistance | 1,760 | 3.1% |
See Industry for charts.
What degrees lead to this career?
Common majors for Medical Appliance Technicians in O*NET:
See Related degrees.
Employment
Employment and salary information for the Medical Appliance Technicians workforce.
Employment Over Time
11,490 Workforce in 2023
The Medical Appliance Technicians workforce has been growing over time.
Historical employment trends for Medical Appliance Technicians.
Yearly Wage Ranking
$54,849 Average Wage
In 2023, Medical Appliance Technicians earned an average of $54,849.
Wage ranking compared to other occupations.
Wage Distribution
This chart shows the distribution of average salaries by income buckets for Medical Appliance Technicians.
Salary distribution for Medical Appliance Technicians.
Employment Growth Projections
-0.8% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR)
4,679 Projected Employment (5 years)
Projected growth: -4.1%
4,487 Projected Employment (10 years)
Projected growth: -8.0%
This occupation is experiencing a decline. Consider related fields with better growth prospects.
Historical employment trends and future projections for Medical Appliance Technicians.
Industry
Information on the industries that employ Medical Appliance Technicians and on wages for those in the field.
Occupations by Industries
This graphic shows the share of Medical Appliance Technicians employed by various industries.
Industry distribution for Medical Appliance Technicians.
Wage Trends by Industry
8.5% Average Annual Wage Growth Rate
Total, All Industry: 7.4% growth (Current: $65,704)
Historical wage growth trends by industry for Medical Appliance Technicians.
Geographic Distribution
Employment and wage information by geographic location for Medical Appliance Technicians.
State employment and wages are from the U.S. BLS OEWS May 2024 state extract. Metropolitan areas use the national MSA file when available.
Top States by Employment
Top States by Employment:
- CA: 1,400 employees, $53,460 avg wage
- FL: 1,370 employees, $47,860 avg wage
- NY: 1,130 employees, $48,870 avg wage
- IL: 720 employees, $46,400 avg wage
- WA: 420 employees, $50,400 avg wage
- AZ: 410 employees, $68,060 avg wage
- NC: 410 employees, $47,520 avg wage
- NJ: 410 employees, $50,260 avg wage
- PA: 380 employees, $57,760 avg wage
- TX: 360 employees, $50,850 avg wage
Top 10 states by employment for Medical Appliance Technicians.
Top Metropolitan Areas
Top Metropolitan Areas:
- New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ: 760 employees, $50,630 avg wage
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN: 550 employees, $45,870 avg wage
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA: 440 employees, $53,300 avg wage
- Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL: 430 employees, $45,570 avg wage
- Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD: 360 employees, $54,610 avg wage
- San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA: 320 employees, $50,270 avg wage
- Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ: 270 employees, $68,570 avg wage
- Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH: 240 employees, $56,250 avg wage
- Providence-Warwick, RI-MA: 210 employees, $48,720 avg wage
- San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA: 160 employees, $62,550 avg wage
Top 10 metropolitan statistical areas by employment for Medical Appliance Technicians.
Diversity
Demographic information on Medical Appliance Technicians in the US.
Gender and Age
The workforce of Medical Appliance Technicians in 2023 was 11,490 people, with 62.0% women and 38.0% men.
Gender and age distribution for Medical Appliance Technicians.
Races
Racial and ethnic shares when present in the career dataset. If the chart area shows a notice instead, occupational race/ethnicity fields are not yet populated for this extract.
Race and ethnicity distribution for Medical Appliance Technicians.
Education & Skills
Data on higher education choices and required skills for Medical Appliance Technicians.
Majors
The most common majors achieved by Medical Appliance Technicians in 2023 were Business Administration, Engineering, Health Sciences.
Common majors for Medical Appliance Technicians.
Education Levels
The main educational levels achieved by Medical Appliance Technicians workers.
Education level distribution for Medical Appliance Technicians.
Skills
Medical Appliance Technicians need many skills, but most especially Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Quality Control Analysis, Troubleshooting, Speaking.
Required skills for Medical Appliance Technicians.
Knowledge & Abilities
Knowledge areas and abilities required for Medical Appliance Technicians.
Knowledge Areas
The most important knowledge areas for Medical Appliance Technicians include Production and Processing, Customer and Personal Service, English Language, Mechanical, Design.
Knowledge areas required for Medical Appliance Technicians.
Abilities
Key abilities needed for Medical Appliance Technicians include Near Vision, Oral Comprehension, Problem Sensitivity, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Deductive Reasoning.
Required abilities for Medical Appliance Technicians.
Work Activities
Common work activities performed by Medical Appliance Technicians.
Daily Activities
Medical Appliance Technicians spend their time on activities such as Getting Information, Making Decisions and Solving Problems, Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials, Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates, Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work.
Most important work activities for Medical Appliance Technicians.
About
Medical Appliance Technicians
The average yearly wage for Medical Appliance Technicians was $54,849 in 2023.
SOC Code
51-9082 - Medical Appliance Technicians
Insights and Analysis
Compensation snapshot: Medical Appliance Technicians reports an average salary of $54,849.
Labor market presence: The current workforce is approximately 11,490 workers, indicating sustained demand.
Forward outlook: Projected annual decline is -0.8%, which should inform long-term career planning.
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 Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS), and O*NET Online.
All wage figures represent annual averages and may vary by location, industry, and experience level.