Without radiology technicians, Illinois physicians might not notice many diseases in their patients.
Radiology technicians in Illinois perform mammography examinations and take X-rays of patients' organs. They also work with physicians to interpret X-ray and other imaging findings. Starting salaries depend on the postsecondary training they have received and the industry of their employers.
Starting Salaries
Starting hourly wages for radiology technicians in Illinois ranged from $18.04 to $26.47 as of May 2011, according to PayScale. Furthermore, St. Petersburg College reports that radiology technicians in Illinois can earn between $37,500 and $40,000 a year after they complete their academic training, which lasts about two years.
Average Salaries in Illinois
Illinois had 7,470 radiology technicians working within its borders as of May 2008. Employers in the state paid the technicians a mean annual salary of $56,070 as of May 2009, according to the United States Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. Mean hourly wages paid to radiology technicians were $26.96. However, the city a technician works in affects the amount salary she earns. For example, according to Allied Health World, radiology technicians in Bloomington earned $50,000 a year as of 2009, while Carbondale paid its technicians $57,000 a year, the same annual salary that technicians earned in Chicago. Springfield and Urbana paid their technicians annual salaries of $60,000 and $52,000, respectively.
National Salary Ranges
Radiology technicians, regardless of medical facility or industry, earned a median annual salary of $52,210 as of May 2008, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle 50 percent took home annual salaries between $42,710 and $63,010. Salaries of the top 10 percent of radiology technicians exceeded $74,970 a year, while the bottom 10 percent of technicians earned less than $35,100. Furthermore, medical and diagnostic laboratories were the highest-paying employers for technicians, paying $55,210 a year.
Job Outlook
As with many other healthcare careers, job opportunities for radiology technicians are expected to exceed opportunities for other careers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects radiology technician jobs to grow by 17 percent from 2008 through 2018. Most of the jobs will be in hospitals, digital imaging centers and private physician offices. Radiologists who know take mammography scans and create computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MR) scans will increase their chances of gaining employment during the decade.
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