Hospitals employ most ultrasound technicians, but employment is growing in outpatient settings.
Demand for ultrasound technicians continues to increase, notes the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, or BLS. An aging population is more prone to health disorders that call for diagnostic imaging, and health care providers increasingly use ultrasound instead of X-ray procedures, as ultrasound is safer and less expensive. The bureau uses the job title of "diagnostic medical sonographer" for these workers; employers may also call them "ultrasound technologists" or "echo technicians." About 75 percent of ultrasound technicians in Michigan earn $48,000 per year and higher.
Averages
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that about 1,730 ultrasound technicians were employed in Michigan in 2009, out of the approximately 51,630 techs working in the United States that year. Their average salary in Michigan was $27.01 per hour, or $56,180 per year. That was about 12 percent lower than the national average for this occupation of $63,640 per year.
Salary Range
The middle 50 percent salary range of Michigan ultrasound techs was $48,650 to $64,080 per year in 2009, finds the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The bottom 10 percent had annual salaries of $42,470 and below; the top 10 percent, $71,070 and higher.
Geography
Michigan ultrasound technicians were earning the highest pay on average in Flint, where the average salary was $59,230 per year in 2009. The average pay was similar in the Grand Rapids-Wyoming area, at $59,010 per year, and in the greater Detroit area, at $58,790 per year. The lowest-paying region in this state for ultrasound techs was the northeast lower peninsula nonmetropolitan area, with an average salary of $50,720 per year. Ultrasound technicians were earning average salaries in a range of about $54,400 to $57,800 in the metro areas of Holland-Grand Haven, Ann Arbor, Kalamazoo-Portage, Saginaw, Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, and in the northwest lower peninsula nonmetropolitan area and the upper peninsula.
Requirements
Michigan employers commonly require ultrasound technician candidates to have completed an accredited training program in the field, as indicated by job listings at Indeed.com in 2011. Another common requirement is professional registration with the American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography, or registration within a certain time frame after hiring. Employers often add that ultrasound technicians must be able to work effectively in stressful situations and be able to communicate with patients of different ages, backgrounds and health conditions.
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