These Are The 10 Best Cities For Dental Hygienists

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Whether you’re just starting out your career, or looking to make a move, it can be important to know what part of the country offers the best chance for your long term career prospects. And for a very common profession like Dental Hygienists, the regional differences can have a big impact on your salary and career options.

To help you make the best decision possible, we at Zippia wanted to look at the cities that offer dental hygienists the most for their career. These are the cities across the US where dental hygienists get paid well, relative to the cost of living, and jobs are plentiful.

So we did what we do best and dove into the numbers from the BLS to figure out which cities have the best opportunities for dental hygienists.The result is this list of the best cities dental hygienists:

So there you have it — Santa Cruz is the best city when it comes to being a dental hygienist.

And where should you consider avoiding if you’re a dental hygienist? That would be Lake Charles.

Read on to see how we completed our research on the best cities for dental hygienists and for more on the top ten cities.

How we determined the best cities to be a dental hygienists?

Here at Zippia, we talk to a lot of people of all different backgrounds looking for jobs. Our research has concluded that there are two common things people want in a job:

Availability of jobs
Pay

So in order to find out the best cities for dental hygienists in America we needed to figure out where the jobs are and how well dental hygienists get paid. This led to the following criteria taken from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s Occupational Employment Statistics for 2015:

Location quotient. A measure of how common a job is a given city.
Average annual salary.
Average annual salary for entry level work.

To make all the salary numbers more apples to apples across cities, we compared the salary data relative to the state’s cost of living.

This left us with enough data for 377 metro areas across the country. We then took the primary area of the metro and labeled that the ‘city’ for this analysis. So, for example, “Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA NECTA Division” became simply Boston.

In order to develop an overall ranking, we ranked each city for each criteria from 1 to 377 where 1 was the best.

We then averaged all the rankings for a city into a Job Score with the city having the lowest overall Job Score earning the distinction of being the best city for dental hygienists in America.

So without further ado, let’s get into just what made each city so great for dental hygienists.

1. Santa Cruz, CA

Total Jobs: 340
Average Annual Salary: $98,300
Average Entry Level Salary: $81,040
Location Quotient: 2.57

2. Mount Vernon, WA

Total Jobs: 120
Average Annual Salary: $91,420
Average Entry Level Salary: $82,670
Location Quotient: 1.74

3. Coeur D’Alene, ID

Source:

Total Jobs: 130
Average Annual Salary: $87,100
Average Entry Level Salary: $73,370
Location Quotient: 1.63

4. Longview, WA

Total Jobs: 80
Average Annual Salary: $98,630
Average Entry Level Salary: $81,670
Location Quotient: 1.62

5. Corvallis, OR

Total Jobs: 110
Average Annual Salary: $91,260
Average Entry Level Salary: $69,060
Location Quotient: 2.13

6. Chico, CA

Total Jobs: 200
Average Annual Salary: $94,990
Average Entry Level Salary: $81,260
Location Quotient: 1.89

7. Medford, OR

Total Jobs: 280
Average Annual Salary: $85,050
Average Entry Level Salary: $70,440
Location Quotient: 2.38

8. Olympia, WA

Total Jobs: 230
Average Annual Salary: $91,010
Average Entry Level Salary: $81,030
Location Quotient: 1.56

9. Grants Pass, OR

Total Jobs: 80
Average Annual Salary: $85,460
Average Entry Level Salary: $66,710
Location Quotient: 2.46

10. Prescott, AZ

Total Jobs: 130
Average Annual Salary: $87,850
Average Entry Level Salary: $75,810
Location Quotient: 1.54

And that’s our list of the best cities for dental hygienists

If you’re looking to start out your career as a dental hygienist these are the cities that should be at the top of your list. You’ll find high pay, available jobs, and chances for career advancement.

If you’re curious, here are the worst cities to be a dental hygienist in America:

Detailed List Of The Best Cities For Dental Hygienists

Rank	State	Average Salary	Entry Level Salary	# Of People
1	Santa Cruz, CA	$98,300	$81,040	340
2	Mount Vernon, WA	$91,420	$82,670	120
3	Coeur d’Alene, ID	$87,100	$73,370	130
4	Longview, WA	$98,630	$81,670	80
5	Corvallis, OR	$91,260	$69,060	110
6	Chico, CA	$94,990	$81,260	200
7	Medford, OR	$85,050	$70,440	280
8	Olympia, WA	$91,010	$81,030	230
9	Grants Pass, OR	$85,460	$66,710	80
10	Prescott, AZ	$87,850	$75,810	130
11	Yakima, WA	$85,290	$67,520	210
12	Bremerton, WA	$96,990	$82,340	160
13	Sacramento, CA	$94,910	$80,740	1,970
14	Boise City, ID	$70,780	$63,260	730
15	Bend, OR	$79,240	$66,740	230
16	Spokane, WA	$82,240	$66,130	550
17	San Luis Obispo, CA	$93,370	$81,060	240
18	Kennewick, WA	$86,100	$69,310	220
19	Idaho Falls, ID	$73,220	$56,650	160
20	Eugene, OR	$80,790	$65,510	390
21	Columbia, MO	$78,520	$66,320	180
22	Elgin, IL	$86,380	$66,310	570
23	Provo, UT	$75,440	$63,660	480
24	Bellingham, WA	$91,610	$79,810	150
25	Lawrence, KS	$76,830	$57,110	130
26	Leominster, MA	$88,470	$80,500	120
27	South Bend, IN	$69,840	$58,650	370
28	Las Cruces, NM	$81,800	$54,190	180
29	Pocatello, ID	$67,450	$56,310	90
30	Albany, OR	$74,980	$65,410	120
31	Lewiston, ID	$78,880	$58,880	50
32	Lake Havasu City, AZ	$76,560	$64,060	110
33	Haverhill, MA	$91,870	$68,650	170
34	Burlington, NC	$73,400	$63,270	130
35	Tacoma, WA	$86,970	$65,040	520
36	Seattle, WA	$91,230	$64,700	2,820
37	Walla Walla, WA	$82,370	$68,020	50
38	Jonesboro, AR	$70,760	$58,370	100
39	Vallejo, CA	$101,640	$80,570	210
40	Gary, IN	$70,110	$63,350	510
41	Kokomo, IN	$66,920	$54,430	140
42	Denver, CO	$81,110	$65,580	2,850
43	Portland, OR	$74,690	$64,000	2,480
44	Oakland, CA	$102,160	$81,020	1,580
45	Farmington, NM	$98,470	$69,070	70
46	Lowell, MA	$86,700	$73,270	310
47	Barnstable Town, MA	$85,330	$70,130	250
48	Salem, OR	$75,340	$63,580	320
49	Santa Fe, NM	$78,720	$47,900	200
50	Reno, NV	$108,710	$82,840	270
51	California, MD	$88,530	$76,650	70
52	Cheyenne, WY	$70,250	$54,860	100
53	Bloomington, IN	$78,100	$64,310	90
54	Cape Girardeau, MO	$69,190	$57,540	70
55	Anchorage, AK	$87,970	$66,740	290
56	Framingham, MA	$83,390	$68,430	440
57	Boulder, CO	$79,530	$62,060	350
58	St. George, UT	$66,580	$54,670	160
59	Yuba City, CA	$89,490	$81,350	60
60	Hartford, CT	$85,130	$67,510	1,360
61	Providence, RI	$74,580	$64,680	1,180
62	Newark, NJ	$85,360	$70,950	1,920
63	San Francisco, CA	$108,790	$77,140	1,310
64	Ogden, UT	$68,590	$55,670	480
65	Bismarck, ND	$67,930	$53,920	150
66	Nashua, NH	$80,760	$59,420	300
67	Abilene, TX	$74,820	$64,940	100
68	Redding, CA	$88,350	$81,060	80
69	Ames, IA	$72,960	$64,380	70
70	Dallas, TX	$75,990	$64,530	3,130
71	San Jose, CA	$95,710	$71,890	1,340
72	Vineland, NJ	$77,380	$65,520	120
73	Sierra Vista, AZ	$88,090	$81,260	40
74	Wenatchee, WA	$89,440	$69,480	50
75	Naples, FL	$79,050	$56,560	250
76	Santa Maria, CA	$93,950	$80,480	210
77	Fort Worth, TX	$78,160	$64,470	1,170
78	Cincinnati, OH	$71,010	$51,460	1,740
79	Camden, NJ	$80,980	$67,530	850
80	Evansville, IN	$68,590	$54,330	260
81	Grand Forks, ND	$63,130	$52,620	120
82	Casper, WY	$71,290	$49,520	90
83	Lancaster, PA	$68,140	$53,950	570
84	Worcester, MA	$79,990	$65,070	710
85	Greeley, CO	$75,900	$65,890	170
86	Akron, OH	$67,600	$54,810	510
87	Manchester, NH	$78,700	$65,470	190
88	Billings, MT	$67,730	$49,970	180
89	Parkersburg, WV	$61,710	$52,420	80
90	Dayton, OH	$70,720	$56,920	510
91	Dover, NH	$75,550	$63,420	100
92	Lansing, MI	$64,210	$52,470	670
93	Columbus, OH	$71,970	$59,690	1,280
94	Dutchess County, NY	$75,780	$64,780	490
95	San Antonio, TX	$70,260	$57,170	1,530
96	Mansfield, OH	$66,670	$53,960	80
97	Oxnard, CA	$93,980	$51,880	610
98	Knoxville, TN	$74,530	$55,140	520
99	Jackson, MI	$68,830	$54,270	120
100	Springfield, MA	$83,660	$66,460	610

Never miss an opportunity that’s right for you.

Author

Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.

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