Skip to content
TryHired.
Salary · Nuclear Technician · United States

Nuclear Technician salary: $110,240 median, and how to negotiate yours.

The full pay range by percentile, the 14 states with a published BLS median, the top-paying metro areas and similar roles, from the latest BLS survey. Place your own offer on the range.

Updated Nov 4, 2026 · Data: BLS OEWS May 2025
Annual wage range · U.S. · BLS May 2025
$110,240median ($53.00/hr)

Hourly pay, BLS May 2025: 10th percentile $35.17 · 25th $47.65 · median $53.00 · 75th $59.61 · 90th $64.23.

Quick answer

The median annual wage for nuclear technicians in the United States was $110,240 in May 2025 (BLS). The lowest-paid 10% earned less than $73,150 and the top 10% earned more than $133,600. That median is 2.2 times the $50,980 median for all occupations. BLS publishes a state median for 14 states; among them the highest was in Florida ($135,550).

10th percentile
$73,150
lowest-paid 10% earn less
25th percentile
$99,110
a quarter earn less
75th percentile
$123,990
a quarter earn more
90th percentile
$133,600
top 10% earn more
Key facts

More on nuclear technician pay

  • The median hourly wage for nuclear technicians in the United States was $53.00 in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

  • The middle half of nuclear technicians in the United States earned between $99,110 and $123,990 a year in May 2025 (25th to 75th percentile, BLS).

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

  • The lowest-paid 10% of nuclear technicians in the United States earned less than $73,150 a year in May 2025, and the top 10% more than $133,600 (BLS).

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

  • The mean annual wage for nuclear technicians in the United States was $108,940 in May 2025, according to BLS; the mean is a different measure from the median.

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

  • BLS estimated that 6,470 people were employed as nuclear technicians in the United States in May 2025, not counting the self-employed.

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

Pay by state

Nuclear Technician salary in the 14 states with a published median

Data BLS state estimates, May 2025. 14 states publish a median for this occupation; together they employ at least 63% of the 6,470 nuclear technicians BLS counts nationally. Every other state is listed below the table with its BLS status. Sort by pay or by number employed.

Highest median pay (published states)
  1. Florida$135,550
  2. New York$129,780
  3. Pennsylvania$124,070
  4. Texas$124,060
  5. Massachusetts$113,390
Most people employed (published states)
  1. Illinois780
  2. South Carolina750
  3. Virginia680
  4. North Carolina420
  5. Pennsylvania310
Median annual wage by state
State10th–90th percentile
Florida$135,550$88,310–$135,55060
New York$129,780$99,820–$171,470260
Pennsylvania$124,070$104,320–$153,120310
Texas$124,060$101,190–$126,960110
Massachusetts$113,390$83,710–$113,41050
North Carolina$110,430$108,780–$128,310420
Illinois$110,390$65,750–$125,360780
Alabama$110,240$97,500–$153,280280
South Carolina$108,490$88,210–$124,190750
Washington$108,200$75,510–$127,91090
Missouri$104,580$50,920–$124,580150
California$99,270$58,830–$115,630n/a
Virginia$98,930$60,830–$161,720680
Tennessee$91,980$78,850–$121,330110
  • no estimate in BLS's May 2025 state file: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.
Top-paying metro areas

Where the median is highest

Data Metropolitan areas with at least 100 people employed in the occupation, BLS May 2025.

  1. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ$171,470
  2. Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC$108,210
  3. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN$99,990
Similar roles

How the pay compares

Data National medians for related occupations (O*NET related roles, BLS pay).

  1. Nuclear Engineer$133,970
  2. Chemical Engineer$125,040
  3. Nuclear Technician$110,240
  4. Power Plant Operator$102,040
Negotiation script builder

Ask for more, calmly and in writing

Advice Uses only what you type. Replace anything in brackets with something true.

Our view If you cite market data, cite this page's source: the BLS median for your state and the percentile your offer sits at. A specific, sourced number is easier to agree to than a feeling.

Method

How this page is built

Wages are BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics estimates for May 2025 (national, state and metropolitan area), for the occupation shown. OEWS wages are straight-time gross pay: they include base pay, commissions, production bonuses and tips, and exclude overtime, shift differentials, non-production bonuses and benefits. Percentiles describe all workers in the occupation, not entry or senior levels.

What this page can't tell you
  • Pay at a specific employer, or for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
  • Experience level: percentiles are not seniority bands.
  • Equity, bonuses outside OEWS's definition, and benefits.
Sources
  1. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).
  2. O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.

How TryHired builds this data: sources, methods and downloads. Spotted an error? Report a correction.

Keep exploring

More for Nuclear Technicians

More careers

Similar careers to explore