Histology associates may prepare slides from the tissue of animals, plants or humans.
Histology associates are clinical laboratory technicians and technologists who specialize in preparing sections of body tissue for examination. Histology technicians, sometimes referred to as histotechnicians, must typically complete a diploma or certificate course from a technical institute or earn an associate degree from an accredited community college. Histology technologists, sometimes referred to as histotechnologists, typically hold at least an associate degree but may hold a bachelor's degree or have training at the post-bachelor's level. Wages for histology associates vary based on their occupational level, their employment type and their geographic location.
National Technician Wages
Histology associates who work as histotechnicians belong to the "Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians" occupational category, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. The median annual wages for all medical and clinical lab techs from across the United States was $36,280 as of May 2010, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The top 25 percent of medical and clinical laboratory technicians earned more than $45,690. Histotechnicians were among the most highly compensated of all medical and clinical lab techs. The Indeed.com website placed the national average annual salary for histotechnicians at $49,000 as of June 2011.
Regional Technician Wages
Wages for histology associates who work as histotechnicians can vary significantly based on the geographic region of the country where they work. Medical and clinical laboratory technicians who worked in Rhode Island earned the highest median annual wages in the country at $56,950 as of May 2010, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Wyoming-based medical and clinical lab techs earned the lowest median annual wages in the country at $23,400.
National Technologist Wages
Histology associates who work as histotechnologists belong to the "Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologists" occupational category, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. The median annual wages for all medical and clinical lab technologists from across the United States was $56,130 as of May 2010, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The top 25 percent of medical and clinical laboratory technicians earned more than $66,370 per year, while the bottom 25 percent earned annual wages of less than $47,130. Histotechnologists earned similar wages to all medical and clinical laboratory technologists. The Indeed.com website placed the national average annual salary for histotechnologists at $54,000 as of June 2011.
Employment Type
Histology associates may work in a variety of health care-related industries. The pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing industry paid the highest mean wages for medical and clinical laboratory technicians and technologists. Technologists who worked in this industry earned mean annual wages of $80,390 as of May 2010, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Approximately 58.4 percent of all job opportunities for histology technologists were in general medical hospitals and surgical hospitals. Technologists who worked in hospitals earned mean annual wages of $57,300.
Tags: annual wages, Bureau Labor, Bureau Labor Statistics, Labor Statistics, clinical laboratory, medical clinical
