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Role hub · Surgical Technologists

Surgical Tech: 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 Oct 24, 2026 · Data: BLS OEWS May 2025 · O*NET 31.0
Pay ladder · select a percentile
Median percentile pay

Half of surgical teches earn more than this and half earn less.

Annual
$64,650
Hourly
$31.08
Source
BLS May 2025
Quick answer

Surgical Teches assist in operations, under the supervision of surgeons, registered nurses, or other surgical personnel. The median pay is $64,650 a year ($31.08 an hour) (BLS, May 2025).

Median pay
$64,650
BLS May 2025
Employed in the U.S.
117,460
BLS May 2025
Preparation
Job Zone 3 of 5
medium preparation

Data Government data groups this job as Surgical Technologists (O*NET-SOC 29-2055.00). Figures on this page are for that occupation.

Explore the role

Every page for Surgical Teches

SalarySurgical Tech salary

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

Open →ResumeSurgical Tech resume

Keywords, bullet formulas and the skills to prove.

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The work

What surgical teches do day to day

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

  1. Maintain a proper sterile field during surgical procedures.
  2. Count sponges, needles, and instruments before and after operation.
  3. Hand instruments and supplies to surgeons and surgeons' assistants, hold retractors and cut sutures, and perform other tasks as directed by surgeon during operation.
  4. Scrub arms and hands and assist the surgical team to scrub and put on gloves, masks, and surgical clothing.
  5. Wash and sterilize equipment, using germicides and sterilizers.
  6. Prepare patients for surgery, including positioning patients on the operating table and covering them with sterile surgical drapes to prevent exposure.
  7. Prepare, care for, and dispose of tissue specimens taken for laboratory analysis.
  8. Monitor and continually assess operating room conditions, including patient and surgical team needs.
Skills that matter

Ranked by importance to the job

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

MonitoringcoreOperations MonitoringcoreActive ListeningcoreService OrientationTime ManagementReading ComprehensionSpeakingSocial PerceptivenessCoordination

Knowledge areas: Medicine and Dentistry, English Language, Customer and Personal Service, Education and Training.

Tools and technology

Software surgical teches use

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

  • MEDITECH softwareMedical softwareHot technology
  • Electronic medical record EMR softwareMedical software
  • Google DriveCloud-based data access and sharing software
  • Graphics softwareGraphics or photo imaging software
  • Nursing documentation softwareMedical software
  • Patient scheduling softwareMedical software
  • Patient tracking softwareMedical software
  • Supply documentation softwareMedical software
  • Surgery workflow communication softwareMedical software
  • Microsoft ExcelSpreadsheet softwareHot technology
  • Microsoft Office softwareOffice suite softwareHot technology
  • Microsoft WindowsOperating system softwareHot technology

Also called: Surgical Technologist, Surgical Technician, Central Supply Technician (Central Supply Tech), Certified Scrub Technician (Certified Scrub Tech), CST (Certified Surgical Technologist), OR Surgical Tech (Operating Room Surgical Technician), OR Tech (Operating Room Technician), OR Technologist (Operating Room Technologist).

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 correlation between the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level, subtract the average across all occupations, and correlate the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 or below means unrelated. 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).