What is an EKG Technician?

Most people dread going to hospitals. Some people may feel symptoms of diseases but are too afraid to go. They fear the needles and the machines and the tests involved in diagnosing problems and diseases. However, most machines and tests are non-invasive. One such machine is the electrocardiograph, where electrodes are placed on the patient's chest area to monitor heart activity. The person operating this machine is called the EKG Technician. EKG Technicians handle the electrocardiograph.

They operate the equipment and help monitor the activity of the heart. Once the results of the EKG are in, these technicians endorse the results to the physicians assigned to the patient. EKG Technicians are not doctors, nor are they expected to be medically trained. Most of the time, they are trained to only operate and maintain the equipment. Even so, their role is vital in a hospital or clinic.

If you are good with machines and are accountable enough to be given the responsibility of looking after a machine, you might like this. Of course, even if you are not a doctor, you need to practice proper bedside manners. As such, an approachable demeanor would be a plus!

What Does an EKG Technician Do

There are certain skills that many ekg technicians have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed detail oriented, hand-eye coordination and technical skills.

Learn more about what an EKG Technician does

How To Become an EKG Technician

If you're interested in becoming an ekg technician, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 27.5% of ekg technicians have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 3.2% of ekg technicians have master's degrees. Even though some ekg technicians have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become an EKG Technician

EKG Technician Job Description

An EKG technician is responsible for testing a patient's cardiovascular systems in order to better understand and diagnose their medical issues. Their duties include using and maintaining medical equipment, answering patients' questions, and helping diagnose heart problems.

Learn more about EKG Technician Job Description
Top EKG Technician Jobs Near You

EKG Technician Career Paths

In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of medical assistant you might progress to a role such as licensed practical nurse eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title registered nurse supervisor.

EKG Technician

Average Salary for an EKG Technician

EKG Technicians in America make an average salary of $35,160 per year or $17 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $43,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $28,000 per year.
Average EKG Technician Salary
$35,160 Yearly
$16.90 hourly
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Roles and Types of EKG Technician

The role of an ekg technician includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general ekg technician responsibilities:

  • Knowledge of basic procedures and ability to operate
  • Responsibilities performs quality ekgs according to policy
  • Including, but not limited to) produces quality resting electrocardiograms (ekg) following department policies

There are several types of ekg technician, including:

Technician

Role:

To be a technician, you have to know your stuff. Some may refer to you as an expert in your field or maybe people will know you as skilled in an art or craft. Then again, you may just be needed to look after technical equipment.

Your workload as a technician will vary, depending on what you're trained in. You may be needed to set up a new computer system or maybe you'll need to fix an electricity problem. Either way, you'll probably only need to work 40 hours a week.

The degree of education required for this job depends on what you're specific skillset is. Some technicians only need a high school diploma, others may want to complete an associate's program or earn a certificate to help their employment opportunities. There's definitely something for everyone in the field of technicians.

  • Average Salary: $38,045
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Emergency Medical Technician

Role:

Otherwise known as an EMT, an emergency medical technician is usually one of the first ones to arrive at the scene of an accident or emergency. They're the ones in the ambulance, generally. Although, some might get flown in by helicopter. It depends on the emergency.

EMTs respond to 911 calls to provide medical assistance, when it's needed. This could be anything from performing CPR to taping up a wound. When they first arrive on scene, the first thing EMTs do is establish a course of treatment that would best suit the patient's condition.

It definitely can be a hard job. Some of the scenes you'll drive to are things you'll have nightmares about. Becoming an EMT isn't for the faint of heart. You need to be prepared to handle yourself well, so you can save as many lives as you can.

  • Average Salary: $39,743
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Patient Care Technician

Role:

So, you've decided to become a patient care technician. In addition to registered nurses, patients really look forward to having you by their side. You're an important piece of the puzzle. Speaking of RN's, as long as you get enough experience as a patient care technician, you may have the option to become an RN, eventually. It's definitely a nice little stepping stone.

Aside from knowing the opportunity you'll have in this career, becoming a patient care technician has a lot of great positives. Since you'll be working directly with patients, you'll be around a lot of people daily. Which makes this a very social job. If you're a social butterfly, you'll fit right in.

You have a lot of options of where you want to work when it comes to the patient care technician job. From hospitals and doctor's offices to nursing homes and long-term care facilities, you're needed in a lot of different places. It just depends on where you want to end up.

  • Average Salary: $32,806
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree
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States With The Most EKG Technician Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active ekg technician jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where ekg technicians earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of EKG Technician Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1Florida3,810$26,348
2Texas2,950$31,457
3California2,690$41,544
4Illinois2,010$41,615
5New York1,792$26,801
6Georgia1,597$32,218
7North Carolina1,564$28,203
8Massachusetts1,479$35,303
9New Jersey1,433$26,557
10Indiana1,416$33,042
11Pennsylvania1,325$32,805
12Michigan1,203$34,273
13Arizona1,133$35,267
14Ohio1,104$28,411
15Virginia1,075$28,734
16Missouri1,073$30,533
17Washington922$38,959
18Colorado920$36,213
19Maryland913$25,654
20Tennessee841$32,437
21Minnesota784$40,689
22Wisconsin712$34,683
23Iowa680$29,018
24Alabama672$35,084
25Louisiana643$30,693
26South Carolina579$33,510
27Kentucky555$31,688
28Connecticut554$34,776
29Arkansas517$33,158
30Kansas502$25,572
31Oregon450$42,966
32Utah396$32,330
33Oklahoma335$33,904
34New Mexico294$35,976
35Mississippi283$28,312
36Maine267$34,660
37Nebraska262$29,779
38New Hampshire239$36,118
39West Virginia218$31,798
40Nevada204$39,272
41North Dakota176$47,136
42Idaho175$37,142
43South Dakota173$32,300
44Montana161$34,062
45Alaska159$35,662
46Delaware139$28,836
47Rhode Island133$31,069
48Vermont101$35,248
49Hawaii89$38,956
50Wyoming66$36,781

EKG Technician Education

EKG Technician Majors

Medical Assisting Services
16.2 %
Nursing
15.8 %
Medical Technician
12.3 %

EKG Technician Degrees

Bachelors

27.5 %

Associate

24.8 %

Certificate

16.9 %

Top Colleges for EKG Technicians

1. Emory University

Atlanta, GA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,306

Enrollment

6,975

2. Kettering College

Kettering, OH • Private

In-State Tuition

$12,960

Enrollment

610

3. University of Connecticut

Storrs, CT • Private

In-State Tuition

$15,730

Enrollment

18,830

4. Inter American University of Puerto Rico Ponce

Mercedita, PR • Private

In-State Tuition

$5,914

Enrollment

4,155

5. New York University

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,828

Enrollment

26,339

6. Clarkson College

Omaha, NE • Private

In-State Tuition

$13,392

Enrollment

646

7. Inter American University of Puerto Rico Arecibo

Arecibo, PR • Private

In-State Tuition

$5,872

Enrollment

3,553

8. Jefferson College of Health Sciences

Roanoke, VA • Private

In-State Tuition

$26,886

Enrollment

774

9. Howard University

Washington, DC • Private

In-State Tuition

$26,756

Enrollment

6,166

10. Ohio State University

Columbus, OH • Private

In-State Tuition

$10,726

Enrollment

45,769

Top Skills For an EKG Technician

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 24.0% of ekg technicians listed patients on their resume, but soft skills such as detail oriented and hand-eye coordination are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable EKG Technician Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use EKG Technician templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your EKG Technician resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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EKG Technician diversity

EKG Technician Gender Distribution

Female
Female
77%
Male
Male
24%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among ekg technicians, 76.5% of them are women, while 23.5% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among ekg technicians is White, which makes up 58.6% of all ekg technicians.

  • The most common foreign language among ekg technicians is Spanish at 60.0%.

Online Courses For EKG Technician That You May Like

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Best States For an EKG Technician

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as an ekg technician. The best states for people in this position are North Dakota, Oregon, Illinois, and California. Ekg technicians make the most in North Dakota with an average salary of $47,136. Whereas in Oregon and Illinois, they would average $42,966 and $41,615, respectively. While ekg technicians would only make an average of $41,544 in California, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. North Dakota

Total EKG Technician Jobs: 176
Highest 10% Earn:
$58,000
Location Quotient:
1.29

$47,136

Avg. Salary

View 176 EKG Technician Jobs In ND

2. Illinois

Total EKG Technician Jobs: 2,010
Highest 10% Earn:
$52,000
Location Quotient:
1.15

$41,615

Avg. Salary

View 2,010 EKG Technician Jobs In IL

3. Oregon

Total EKG Technician Jobs: 450
Highest 10% Earn:
$54,000
Location Quotient:
0.74

$42,966

Avg. Salary

View 450 EKG Technician Jobs In OR
Full List Of Best States For EKG Technicians

How Do EKG Technicians Rate Their Jobs?

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Top EKG Technician Employers

Most Common Employers For EKG Technician

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Oregon Health & Science University$38,529$18.529
2PeaceHealth$37,409$17.9935
3Beaumont Health$37,223$17.909
4BioTelemetry$36,773$17.6834
5Kaiser Permanente$36,763$17.6723
6Virginia Hospital Center$36,119$17.367
7Lexington Medical Center$35,437$17.0411
8St. Luke's Hospital$35,249$16.958
9TidalHealth$35,001$16.838
10Medi-Lynx Cardiac Monitoring$33,796$16.2515
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Updated April 6, 2023