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Role hub · Opticians, Dispensing

Optician: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.

The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.

Maid DizdarevicCareer coach · 8x LinkedIn Top Voice
Updated Nov 2, 2026 · Data: BLS OEWS May 2025 · O*NET 31.0
Pay ladder · select a percentile
Median percentile pay

Half of opticians earn more than this and half earn less.

Annual
$47,260
Hourly
$22.72
Source
BLS May 2025
Quick answer

Opticians design, measure, fit, and adapt lenses and frames for client according to written optical prescription or specification. The median pay is $47,260 a year ($22.72 an hour) (BLS, May 2025). The most commonly reported education requirement is a high school diploma or equivalent (46% of workers surveyed by O*NET).

Median pay
$47,260
BLS May 2025
Employed in the U.S.
73,530
BLS May 2025
Preparation
Job Zone 3 of 5
medium preparation
Most common education
High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
46% of workers

Data Government data groups this job as Opticians, Dispensing (O*NET-SOC 29-2081.00). Figures on this page are for that occupation.

Key facts

Opticians at a glance

  • Workers in the BLS occupation “Opticians, Dispensing” in the United States earned a median annual wage of $47,260 in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

  • In its 2025–35 employment projections, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education for workers in the BLS occupation “Opticians, Dispensing” in the United States.

    Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35

  • BLS projects employment of workers in the BLS occupation “Opticians, Dispensing” in the United States to grow 4.2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 5,600 openings a year on average, including replacement openings.

    Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35

  • BLS estimates that less than 0.5% of opticians, dispensing in the United States had the ability to telework in 2025, a preliminary estimate of whether the job allows it, not a count of remote jobs.

    Source: BLS Occupational Requirements Survey, 2025 preliminary

Explore the role

Every page for Opticians

SalaryOptician salary

Pay by percentile, state and metro, with a negotiation script.

Open →How to becomeOptician how to become

Education, training and the skills to build first.

Open →Interview questionsOptician interview questions

Questions with what they test, plus practice mode.

Open →Free toolCheck your resume

Parsed text, evidence per bullet, fixes first.

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The work

What opticians do day to day

Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).

  1. Measure clients' bridge and eye size, temple length, vertex distance, pupillary distance, and optical centers of eyes, using measuring devices.
  2. Verify that finished lenses are ground to specifications.
  3. Evaluate prescriptions in conjunction with clients' vocational and avocational visual requirements.
  4. Recommend specific lenses, lens coatings, and frames to suit client needs.
  5. Assist clients in selecting frames according to style and color, and ensure that frames are coordinated with facial and eye measurements and optical prescriptions.
  6. Maintain records of customer prescriptions, work orders, and payments.
  7. Heat, shape, or bend plastic or metal frames to adjust eyeglasses to fit clients, using pliers and hands.
  8. Show customers how to insert, remove, and care for their contact lenses.
Job requirements

What the job requires

Data BLS figures for opticians, dispensing (SOC 29-2081), 2025 preliminary BLS Occupational Requirements Survey.

Telework available
less than 0.5%
of workers had the ability to telework
Workday sitting
35.1%
mean share of the day required to sit
Most common strength level
Light
94.4% of workers
Can pause work
less than 20%
of workers could take short, unscheduled breaks
Self-paced workload
less than 0.5%
of workers set their own workload
Employer-changed schedules
more than 80%
of workers had schedules changed by the employer week to week

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Requirements Survey. Estimates are preliminary; ranges are shown as published.

Where this career works

Industries that employ it

Data Share of all optician jobs in each industry, 2025 (BLS Employment Matrix).

  1. Ambulatory healthcare services53.3% of all jobs in this occupation · +9.8% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $48,120
  2. General merchandise retailers23.3% of all jobs in this occupation · +3.1% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $59,000
  3. Health and personal care retailers20.2% of all jobs in this occupation · -8.9% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $52,620
  4. Merchant wholesalers, durable goods0.4% of all jobs in this occupation · +6.7% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $52,140
  5. Educational services; state, local, and private0.4% of all jobs in this occupation · +2.2% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $55,070
  6. Hospitals; state, local, and private0.4% of all jobs in this occupation · +4.3% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $59,720

Sources: BLS 2025–35 National Employment Matrix (share of the occupation's jobs, projected change) and BLS OEWS May 2025 industry estimates (mean wage). Different industry estimates are not a pay forecast for any person.

Skills that matter

Ranked by importance to the job

Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.

SpeakingcoreActive ListeningcoreReading ComprehensioncoreService OrientationCritical ThinkingSocial PerceptivenessCoordinationPersuasionWriting

Knowledge areas: Customer and Personal Service, Sales and Marketing, Mathematics, Production and Processing, Administrative, English Language.

Tools and technology

Software opticians use

Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.

  • Compulink Eyecare AdvantageMedical software
  • Cygnet Infotech OptifocusMedical software
  • Diversified Ophthalmics Practice MaximusMedical software
  • EMRlogic Systems ENTERPRISE VisionsMedical software
  • First Insight MaximEyesMedical software
  • HealthLine Systems EyecomMedical software
  • Insight Software My Vision ExpressMedical software
  • Inventory management systemsInventory management software
  • OfficeMate Software Solutions OfficeMateMedical software
  • Specialist Data Solutions OctoPlusMedical software
  • Intuit QuickBooksAccounting softwareHot technology
  • Microsoft ExcelSpreadsheet softwareHot technology

Also called: Certified Optician, Contact Lens Technician, Dispensing Optician, Licensed Dispensing Optician (LDO), Licensed Optician, Ophthalmic Dispenser.

Method

How this page is built

Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the cosine similarity of the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level and subtract the average across all occupations, then compare the direction of the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 means unrelated or opposite (negative values are shown as 0). Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.

What this page can't tell you
  • How a specific employer defines the job.
  • Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
  • Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
Sources
  1. 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.
  2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).

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