A diagnostic sonographer -- also known as a diagnostic medical sonographer -- is a medical professional who relies on sound waves to produce images for diagnosing medical conditions. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, several factors determine the average salary of a diagnostic sonographer in the United States.
National Average Salary
According to the BLS, more than 51,000 diagnostic sonographers were employed in the U.S. in 2009,and the annual mean salary was $63,640. The median salary was $63,010, with the bottom 10 percent making $43,990 and the top 10 percent making $85,950.
Average Salary by Type of Workplace
According to the BLS, more than half of the diagnostic sonographers in the U.S. worked in hospitals in 2009, where they made an annual mean wage of $63,770. Educational institutions, however, provided the highest annual mean salary for diagnostic sonographers at $66,250. Other major employers -- offices of physicians, medical and diagnostic laboratories, and outpatient care centers -- also had salaries in the mid-$60,000 range.
Average Salary by State
For 2009, the BLS says Massachusetts, with $78,460, provided the highest annual mean diagnostic sonographer salary of all states. Oregon, Colorado, Washington and Alaska round out the top five, with salaries in the $70,000 range. By contrast, Florida, the state with the highest concentration of diagnostic sonographers, had an annual mean salary of $56,030 -- well below the national average.
Average Salary by Metropolitan Area
For 2009, the BLS reports that California had three of the top five mean salary-paying metropolitan areas in the U.Sin this field. They are Santa Cruz-Watsonville in first place with $97,530, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara in second place with $92,680 and Santa Rosa-Petaluma in fifth place with $83,130. Completing the top five list is the Worchester area of Massachusetts and Connecticut in third place with $90,440 and Boulder, Color., in fourth place with $83,790.
Average Salary Outlook
The BLS estimates that the average salary of a diagnostic sonographer rose by 0.4 percent between 2008 and 2009. The agency expects the number of diagnostic sonographers to increase by 18 percent between 2008 and 2018 -- a faster-than-average growth rate for a U.S. occupation -- and that might contribute to a similar rise of the profession's salary.
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