Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician Degrees (2026 stats)
TL;DR
Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician maps to BLS occupations averaging about $53,814, with roughly 542,280 workers nationwide in those roles. Median in-state published tuition is about $4,820; common paths include Dental Laboratory Technicians and Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians.
Key Statistics
Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician: what the data shows
Common questions about dental laboratory technology/technician degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.
What is a dental laboratory technology/technician degree?
A Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician program is classified under NCES CIP 51.0603 in the Dental Support Services and Allied Professions field family (51.06).
A program that prepares individuals, under the supervision of dentists, to design and construct dental prostheses such as caps, crowns, bridges, dentures, splints, and orthodontic appliances. Includes instruction in dental anatomy, dental materials, ceramics technology, impressions, complete dentures, partial dentures, orthodontics, crowns and bridges, sculpture, bonding and assembly techniques, and equipment operation
IPEDS counted 12 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.
Types of dental laboratory technology/technician degrees and related programs
Other NCES program codes in the 51.06 family with pages on EDsmart Data:
- Dental Assisting/Assistant (CIP 51.0601)
- Dental Hygiene/Hygienist (CIP 51.0602)
How long does it take to get a dental laboratory technology/technician degree?
Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 51.0603 in our file:
- 100 Associate (89.3% of IPEDS total)—about two years of full-time study
- 12 Bachelor's (10.7% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
Time to completion depends on enrollment intensity and transfer credits; figures above describe credential type, not calendar time for every student.
What degree do you need?
For Dental Laboratory Technicians (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 laboratory technology/technician degree?
Our degree→occupation mapping links Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician 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 Laboratory Technicians | 33,920 | $48,310 |
| Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians | 18,740 | $38,420 |
| Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologists | — | — |
| Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians | — | — |
| Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers | 114,190 | $37,320 |
| Dental Assistants | 375,430 | $47,300 |
See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.
Is a dental laboratory technology/technician degree worth it?
College Scorecard national medians for the Dental Support Services and Allied Professions bachelor's program family: median debt $28,290, median earnings $68,061 four years after enrollment. Debt-to-earnings proxy: 0.47.
About 0.0% of graduates in this field family were not working and not enrolled one year after completion in Scorecard's national program medians.
Among schools reporting in our Scorecard extract, median published in-state tuition is $4,820 and median net price is $11,656.
We do not score "worth" on opinion—compare debt, earnings, wages for mapped occupations, and completion data above against your cost and career target.
Institutions
Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician and the types of students that study this field.
Tuition Costs for Common Institutions
$4,820 Median In-State Public
$16,522 Median Out of State Private
Tuition costs for Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician majors are, on average, $4,820 for in-state public colleges, and $16,522 for out of state private colleges.
Tuition costs comparison for Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician programs.
Degrees Awarded Over Time
100,000 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician from 2015 to 2023.
Historical trend of degrees awarded in Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician.
Top 5 Schools by Enrollment
| # | School | State | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas A&M University-College Station | TX | 59,615 |
| 2 | Texas A&M University-College Station | TX | 59,615 |
| 3 | Ivy Tech Community College | IN | 58,267 |
| 4 | Ivy Tech Community College | IN | 58,267 |
| 5 | Miami Dade College | FL | 46,182 |
Schools with the largest enrollment offering Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician programs.
Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition
| # | School | State | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taft College | CA | $1,108 |
| 2 | San Diego Mesa College | CA | $1,146 |
| 3 | San Diego Mesa College | CA | $1,146 |
| 4 | Imperial Valley College | CA | $1,148 |
| 5 | Imperial Valley College | CA | $1,148 |
Schools with the lowest tuition costs for Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician programs.
Top 5 Lowest Net Price
| # | School | State | Net Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | College of San Mateo | CA | $536 |
| 2 | College of San Mateo | CA | $536 |
| 3 | Wiregrass Georgia Technical College | GA | $614 |
| 4 | Wiregrass Georgia Technical College | GA | $614 |
| 5 | Imperial Valley College | CA | $1,115 |
Schools with the lowest average net price for Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician programs.
Graduation Rates
Graduation rate data is not available for this degree program.
Graduation/completion rates for Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician programs across institutions.
Where students complete this major (IPEDS)
Bachelor's-level completions (IPEDS Completions, award level 5) summed by institution state. State is taken from IPEDS Directory (HD2023) for each reporting institution.
Geographic concentration
The largest number of reported bachelor's completions for Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician is in IN (12 completions). That state represents about 100.0% of U.S. bachelor's completions reported for this CIP in the IPEDS file we use.
Among states, the highest concentration relative to all bachelor's degrees awarded in-state is IN (0.01% of that state's bachelor's completions).
Top states by count of bachelor's completions for this CIP (IPEDS).
| State | Bachelor's completions (this CIP) | % of U.S. total (this CIP) | % of state's all bachelor's |
|---|---|---|---|
| IN | 12 | 100.0% | 0.01% |
Related specializations
Other NCES program codes in the 51.06 CIP family with dedicated pages on EDsmart Data.
- Dental Assisting/Assistant CIP 51.0601
- Dental Hygiene/Hygienist CIP 51.0602
Degree Levels (IPEDS)
Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 51.0603 in the survey year used in our extract (112 total across levels below).
- 100 Associate (89.3% of IPEDS total)
- 12 Bachelor's (10.7% of IPEDS total)
Source: IPEDS Completions (c2024_a), summed by award level for this CIP.
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 $53,814. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician graduates alone.
Related occupations (BLS OEWS)
| Occupation | Mean annual wage | U.S. employment |
|---|---|---|
| Dental Laboratory Technicians | $58,727 | 33,920 |
| Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians | $55,813 | 18,740 |
| Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologists | — | — |
| Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians | — | — |
| Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers | $47,822 | 114,190 |
| Dental Assistants | $55,093 | 375,430 |
Open each occupation for full career profile charts and industry breakdowns on EDsmart Data.
Program outcomes (College Scorecard)
National medians across bachelor's programs in the Dental Support Services and Allied Professions CIP family (7 programs reporting debt). Not specific to every Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician graduate.
- $28,290 median federal loan debt among completers
- $68,061 median earnings four years after enrollment (national program median)
- 0.47 debt-to-earnings ratio (Scorecard proxy)
- 0.0% of graduates not working and not enrolled one year out (program cohort)
Source: College Scorecard program-level outcomes aggregated by 4-digit CIP family.
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
$53,814 Average Wage in Workforce
The average salary for Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician majors is $53,814.
Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician majors.
Occupations by Share
542,280 2023 Workforce
The number of Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician graduates in the workforce has been growing.
Various jobs filled by those with a major in Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician by share of the total number of graduates.
Diversity
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician 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 Laboratory Technology/Technician.
Age distribution for Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician degree holders in the workforce.
Gender Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
12 Total Degrees Awarded
4 Male (33.33%)
8 Female (66.67%)
Gender distribution of Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician degree recipients.
Race and Ethnicity Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
5 White (41.67%)
3 Hispanic or Latino (25.00%)
2 Asian (16.67%)
1 Black or African American (8.33%)
1 Two or More Races (8.33%)
Racial and ethnic distribution of Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician degree recipients.
Degrees Awarded
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.
Distribution of degree types awarded in Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician.
Skills
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Required Skills
Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.
Rating of how necessary various skills are for Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician 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 Laboratory Technology/Technician majors.
About
A program that prepares individuals, under the supervision of dentists, to design and construct dental prostheses such as caps, crowns, bridges, dentures, splints, and orthodontic appliances. Includes instruction in dental anatomy, dental materials, ceramics technology, impressions, complete dentures, partial dentures, orthodontics, crowns and bridges, sculpture, bonding and assembly techniques, and equipment operation
In 2023, 100,000 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician.
CIP Code
51.0603 - Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician
What the data shows
At the program-family level, College Scorecard reports median debt of $28,290 for bachelor's completers and median earnings near $68,061, a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.47. Those figures describe national program cohorts in this CIP family—not every individual Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician graduate.
Women earned 73.6% of 295 Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician completions in the IPEDS file used here.
Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $53,814. The largest mapped role by headcount is Dental Laboratory Technicians (33,920 U.S. jobs in OEWS).
Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $4,820 in-state at public colleges and $16,522 at private institutions for programs in this field.
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.