Which state pays dental hygiene and assisting bachelor's graduates the most?

Texas, where the median program pays its graduates $62,274 in their first year, the highest of 2 state rankings. Indiana is next, at $57,654.

Which dental hygiene and assisting bachelor's program pays the most?

Foothill College in California reports the highest first-year pay of the 71 programs ranked here, $81,255. Its median federal debt is $17,285.

How much debt do dental hygiene and assisting bachelor's graduates have?

The median program leaves its graduates with $25,000 in federal debt. Across programs, the median debt is 42% of first-year pay.

Highest-Paying Dental Hygiene and Assisting (Bachelor's) Programs in the US

71 programs report first-year pay
2 state rankings
Bachelor's in Dental Support Services and Allied Professions

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median dental hygiene and assisting bachelor's program in the US pays its graduates $60,153 in their first year and $62,848 five years after. Texas has the highest state median ($62,274), and Indiana the lowest ($57,654). The median program leaves its graduates with $25,000 in federal debt.

Median first-year pay$60,153Across 71 programs

Median pay after 5 years$62,848Across 56 programs

Median federal debt$25,000Across 69 programs

Debt-to-earnings42%Across 69 programs

All 71 programs, ranked by graduate pay

Each program is ranked by the median pay of its graduates one year after they finished, from College Scorecard. This measures what graduates earn, not how good the teaching is. Pay also depends on where graduates live and work. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	After cost of living	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	Foothill CollegeLos Altos Hills, CA · public	$81,255	$73,388	Not reported	$17,285	21%
2	Lake Washington Institute of TechnologyKirkland, WA · public	$77,431	$72,357	Not reported	$23,750	31%
3	Pacific UniversityForest Grove, OR · private nonprofit	$76,060	$73,587	$86,554	$28,375	37%
4	University of Oklahoma-Norman CampusNorman, OK · public	$75,367	$85,797	$70,449	$20,990	28%
5	College of Southern NevadaLas Vegas, NV · public	$75,252	Not adjusted	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
6	West Coast University-TexasRichardson, TX · private for-profit	$73,751	$75,987	$76,042	$36,134	49%
7	Farmingdale State CollegeFarmingdale, NY · public	$72,908	$67,557	Not reported	$15,528	21%
8	VCURichmond, VA · public	$72,808	$72,013	$75,427	$25,924	36%
9	University of Maryland BaltimoreBaltimore, MD · public	$72,139	$68,731	$63,334	$21,500	30%
10	UH ManoaHonolulu, HI · public	$71,260	$64,811	$71,785	$30,345	43%
11	Columbia Basin CollegePasco, WA · public	$70,534	$65,912	Not reported	$25,000	35%
12	USCLos Angeles, CA · private nonprofit	$69,479	$62,752	$81,034	$31,250	45%
13	Eastern Washington UniversityCheney, WA · public	$67,984	$63,529	$70,043	$25,000	37%
14	Loma Linda UniversityLoma Linda, CA · private nonprofit	$67,159	$60,657	$71,640	$25,000	37%
15	Oregon Institute of TechnologyKlamath Falls, OR · public	$66,691	$64,522	$74,031	$25,880	39%
16	University of BridgeportBridgeport, CT · private nonprofit	$65,025	$62,759	$61,404	$26,000	40%
17	University of MinnesotaMinneapolis, MN · public	$64,936	$65,844	$70,265	$23,829	37%
18	UT Health San AntonioSan Antonio, TX · public	$64,535	$66,492	$71,205	$23,296	36%
19	Clark CollegeVancouver, WA · public	$64,500	$60,273	$82,041	$23,429	36%
20	IU IndianapolisIndianapolis, IN · public	$64,402	$69,005	Not reported	$26,168	41%
21	Texas A&MCollege Station, TX · public	$64,394	$66,347	$64,298	$21,000	33%
22	Northern Arizona UniversityFlagstaff, AZ · public	$64,082	$63,651	$60,161	$26,169	41%
23	Old Dominion UniversityNorfolk, VA · public	$63,145	$62,455	$66,267	$21,378	34%
24	Ferris StateBig Rapids, MI · public	$62,805	Not adjusted	$59,226	$17,500	28%
25	Yakima Valley CollegeYakima, WA · public	$62,574	$58,473	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
26	University of WyomingLaramie, WY · public	$62,557	Not adjusted	Not reported	$16,542	26%
27	Minnesota State MankatoMankato, MN · public	$62,496	Not adjusted	$62,361	$27,000	43%
28	University of Southern IndianaEvansville, IN · public	$61,972	$66,402	$61,011	$20,500	33%
29	Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health SciencesBoston, MA · private nonprofit	$61,374	$58,033	$65,692	$31,000	51%
30	University of South DakotaVermillion, SD · public	$61,265	$69,159	$61,969	$27,000	44%
31	Ohio StateColumbus, OH · public	$61,173	$65,938	$63,442	$25,500	42%
32	Metropolitan State UniversitySaint Paul, MN · public	$60,849	$61,700	Not reported	$27,000	44%
33	UMKCKansas City, MO · public	$60,307	$66,405	$66,246	$27,000	45%
34	Regis CollegeWeston, MA · private nonprofit	$60,211	$56,933	Not reported	$27,000	45%
35	UL MonroeMonroe, LA · public	$60,188	$68,235	$63,517	$19,000	32%
36	Midwestern StateWichita Falls, TX · public	$60,153	$61,977	$64,004	$19,500	32%
37	University of New EnglandBiddeford, ME · private nonprofit	$59,851	$61,670	$61,962	$27,000	45%
38	LSU Health New OrleansNew Orleans, LA · public	$59,772	$67,763	$70,583	$25,000	42%
39	University of Nebraska Medical CenterOmaha, NE · public	$59,621	$66,170	$57,843	$25,000	42%
40	UTHealth HoustonHouston, TX · public	$59,360	$61,160	$58,769	$23,475	40%
41	St Petersburg CollegeSt. Petersburg, FL · public	$59,295	$57,337	Not reported	$22,911	39%
42	University of New HavenWest Haven, CT · private nonprofit	$59,086	$57,027	$80,599	$24,718	42%
43	Herzing University-MadisonMadison, WI · private nonprofit	$58,912	$62,609	Not reported	$35,117	60%
44	University of Arkansas for Medical SciencesLittle Rock, AR · public	$58,607	$67,413	$54,470	$23,000	39%
45	University of Arkansas-Fort SmithFort Smith, AR · public	$58,380	$67,152	Not reported	$24,625	42%
46	IU NorthwestGary, IN · public	$57,654	$61,775	$53,880	$25,000	43%
47	University of LouisvilleLouisville, KY · public	$57,464	$63,736	$50,844	$26,380	46%
48	WVUMorgantown, WV · public	$57,102	Not adjusted	$69,997	$26,121	46%
49	Pennsylvania College of TechnologyWilliamsport, PA · public	$57,043	$58,462	Not reported	$28,383	50%
50	Wichita StateWichita, KS · public	$56,798	$63,061	$53,564	$26,817	47%
51	Texas Woman's UniversityDenton, TX · public	$55,694	$57,383	$67,640	$24,601	44%
52	IU South BendSouth Bend, IN · public	$55,314	$59,268	$51,812	$26,500	48%
53	University of Tennessee Health Science CenterMemphis, TN · public	$55,109	$59,986	$55,345	$25,000	45%
54	University of New MexicoAlbuquerque, NM · public	$55,003	Not adjusted	$63,869	$20,378	37%
55	Clayton StateMorrow, GA · public	$54,559	$56,659	$60,588	$25,000	46%
56	UNC Chapel HillChapel Hill, NC · public	$54,207	$57,468	$67,230	$15,431	28%
57	Idaho StatePocatello, ID · public	$53,877	$56,419	$60,198	$23,675	44%
58	Southern Illinois University-CarbondaleCarbondale, IL · public	$53,559	$53,582	$57,061	$27,000	50%
59	West Liberty UniversityWest Liberty, WV · public	$53,420	Not adjusted	Not reported	$27,000	51%
60	Careers UnlimitedOrem, UT · private for-profit	$52,423	$53,025	$40,978	$32,795	63%
61	Ole MissUniversity, MS · public	$51,838	Not adjusted	$60,013	$22,875	44%
62	Utah Tech UniversitySaint George, UT · public	$51,816	$52,411	Not reported	$12,450	24%
63	East Tennessee StateJohnson City, TN · public	$51,316	$55,857	$60,729	$15,687	31%
64	Purdue Fort WayneFort Wayne, IN · public	$51,095	$54,747	$61,653	$25,082	49%
65	University of Detroit MercyDetroit, MI · private nonprofit	$50,234	$52,209	$46,980	$23,593	47%
66	Augusta UniversityAugusta, GA · public	$48,992	$50,878	$59,429	$16,750	34%
67	Youngstown StateYoungstown, OH · public	$48,826	$52,629	$52,675	$25,000	51%
68	Western Kentucky UniversityBowling Green, KY · public	$47,974	$53,210	$43,019	$23,199	48%
69	Utah Valley UniversityOrem, UT · public	$45,301	$45,822	Not reported	$12,840	28%
70	Weber StateOgden, UT · public	$45,118	$45,636	$33,062	$21,912	49%
71	University of MichiganAnn Arbor, MI · public	$43,742	$45,462	$51,393	$26,521	61%

Pay after cost of living divides first-year pay by the Bureau of Economic Analysis price level of the school's state, where the US average is 100. It is shown for 63 programs where at least half of the graduates who work are working in the school's state. The other 8, whose graduates mostly work in other states or whose state has no price level, are listed last when you sort by it.

2 programs report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay.

College Scorecard withholds pay for programs with too few graduates, to protect their privacy, so those programs can't be ranked.

Dental Hygiene and Assisting (Bachelor's) programs by state

Each row is the median across the state's dental hygiene and assisting bachelor's programs. State names link to the full ranking of that state's programs.

State	Programs	Year 1 pay	Debt
Texas	6	$62,274	$23,386
Indiana	5	$57,654	$25,082

Programs in 36 more states and territories report pay, but too few to rank. A state ranking needs at least five programs that report both pay and debt.

Quick picks nationwide

Lowest median debt

Midwestern State, TX$19,500
University of Southern Indiana, IN$20,500
Texas A&M, TX$21,000
UT Health San Antonio, TX$23,296
UTHealth Houston, TX$23,475
Texas Woman's University, TX$24,601
IU Northwest, IN$25,000
Purdue Fort Wayne, IN$25,082
IU Indianapolis, IN$26,168
IU South Bend, IN$26,500

Lowest debt for the pay

Only the 11 programs with their own page here are included. "Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay.

Careers this field leads to

These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to dental hygiene and assisting, largest first. Pay is the median across the US and all experience levels.

Dental Assistants

$48,070

Median pay in the US. 387,790 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 53,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: postsecondary nondegree award.

Bottom 10%: $37,130Top 10%: $62,250

Dental Hygienists

$98,100

Median pay in the US. 222,740 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 8% from 2025 to 2035, with about 15,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: associate's degree.

Bottom 10%: $74,880Top 10%: $126,050

Dental Laboratory Technicians

$49,610

Median pay in the US. 34,410 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 3,600 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.

Bottom 10%: $36,660Top 10%: $76,940

Common questions

The median dental hygiene and assisting bachelor's program in the US pays its graduates $60,153 in their first year and $62,848 five years after.

Dental Hygiene and Assisting (Associate's) programs in the US, ranked180 programs by pay and debt Dental Hygiene and Assisting (Certificate) programs in the US, ranked198 programs by pay and debt

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Medians are across programs, not students: each program counts once, however many graduates it has.
National medians include every program in the 50 states, DC, and US territories, including schools that have since closed. Schools with several campuses that report one combined figure are counted once.
Programs are ranked by College Scorecard median pay one year after graduation. Pay after cost of living uses the price level of the school's state.
Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025. Price levels are the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities for 2024.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk
Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024