What is an Optometry Assistant?
The average optometry assistant salary is $32,354. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an business major. It usually takes 1-2 years of experience to become an optometry assistant. Optometry assistants with a Medical Assistant certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 23% and produce 154,900 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does an Optometry Assistant Do
There are certain skills that many optometry assistants 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 analytical skills, detail oriented and technical skills.
How To Become an Optometry Assistant
If you're interested in becoming an optometry assistant, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 29.9% of optometry assistants have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 3.8% of optometry assistants have master's degrees. Even though some optometry assistants have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Optometry Assistant Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, an optometry assistant can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as optician, progress to a title such as technician and then eventually end up with the title operations manager.
Average Salary for an Optometry Assistant
What Am I Worth?
Roles and Types of Optometry Assistant
There are several types of optometry assistant, including:
Medical Receptionist
Role:
Paging Dr. Fauci. As a medical receptionist, it's your job to make sure patients and visitors get to where they need to be. You also need to be able to provide information to people who call or walk in with questions.
While being knowledgeable is important in this position, memorizing might be even more important. If a patient comes in with an emergency, you need to be able to stay calm while figuring out exactly where they need to go. And some hospitals are pretty big, so that can be a difficult task.
The job requires you to have a high school diploma before you can get started. And it's useful to be a good communicator as well. You wouldn't want to accidentally send a patient with a broken arm to the pregnancy center. Unless, of course, that patient was also pregnant - but that's another story.
- Average Salary: $31,960
- Degree: Associate Degree
States With The Most Optometry Assistant Jobs
Number Of Optometry Assistant Jobs By State
| Rank | State | Number of Jobs | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 1,795 | $41,569 |
| 2 | Texas | 1,794 | $32,098 |
| 3 | Florida | 1,762 | $31,111 |
| 4 | Pennsylvania | 1,364 | $32,189 |
| 5 | Ohio | 1,350 | $29,602 |
| 6 | New York | 1,208 | $47,904 |
| 7 | Washington | 1,186 | $42,353 |
| 8 | Massachusetts | 1,159 | $55,068 |
| 9 | Michigan | 1,055 | $31,053 |
| 10 | Illinois | 864 | $36,301 |
| 11 | Indiana | 855 | $29,458 |
| 12 | New Jersey | 842 | $39,638 |
| 13 | North Carolina | 765 | $28,739 |
| 14 | Arizona | 653 | $34,566 |
| 15 | Georgia | 649 | $29,890 |
| 16 | Wisconsin | 615 | $35,968 |
| 17 | Maryland | 596 | $41,947 |
| 18 | Colorado | 561 | $32,272 |
| 19 | Minnesota | 551 | $37,812 |
| 20 | Tennessee | 459 | $28,037 |
| 21 | Connecticut | 441 | $43,430 |
| 22 | Virginia | 433 | $36,066 |
| 23 | Oregon | 429 | $42,444 |
| 24 | South Carolina | 428 | $27,558 |
| 25 | Missouri | 396 | $27,244 |
| 26 | Utah | 359 | $31,832 |
| 27 | Kentucky | 301 | $30,308 |
| 28 | Louisiana | 285 | $28,573 |
| 29 | New Hampshire | 244 | $41,565 |
| 30 | Maine | 241 | $44,604 |
| 31 | Oklahoma | 227 | $25,393 |
| 32 | Alabama | 204 | $25,839 |
| 33 | Kansas | 197 | $34,142 |
| 34 | Iowa | 197 | $34,318 |
| 35 | Nebraska | 171 | $27,788 |
| 36 | New Mexico | 162 | $33,658 |
| 37 | Nevada | 135 | $31,673 |
| 38 | West Virginia | 119 | $28,095 |
| 39 | Idaho | 117 | $33,263 |
| 40 | Montana | 98 | $32,201 |
| 41 | Arkansas | 98 | $27,175 |
| 42 | Mississippi | 91 | $30,067 |
| 43 | Rhode Island | 88 | $43,414 |
| 44 | Alaska | 64 | $59,140 |
| 45 | South Dakota | 58 | $31,531 |
| 46 | Hawaii | 57 | $49,710 |
| 47 | North Dakota | 47 | $35,442 |
| 48 | Delaware | 43 | $32,843 |
| 49 | Vermont | 32 | $42,370 |
| 50 | Wyoming | 22 | $27,776 |
Top Skills For an Optometry Assistant
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, 29.5% of optometry assistants listed patients on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and detail oriented are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Optometry Assistant Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Optometry Assistant templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Optometry Assistant resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Optometry Assistant diversity
Optometry Assistant Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among optometry assistants, 86.4% of them are women, while 13.6% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among optometry assistants is White, which makes up 50.5% of all optometry assistants.
- The most common foreign language among optometry assistants is Spanish at 80.0%.
Online Courses For Optometry Assistant That You May Like
1. PrEParing: PrEP for Providers and Patients
Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) using the antiretroviral medication emtricitibine/tenofovir approved in countries around the world is a highly effective means of reducing transmission of HIV through sexual encounters and needle sharing. This Johns Hopkins University course PrEPares you with essential information, concepts and practical advice regarding PrEP from leaders in the field. A first of its kind learning opportunity, both providers and patients learn from the same experts through...
2. Point of Care Testing for Sexually Transmitted Infections
What are sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and why do we care? What is point of care testing (POCT)? What do clinicians and patients want and need from the POCT for STIs? Point of care testing, or medical diagnostic testing done at the time of patient care, is an important tool for the treatment of sexually transmitted infections. This course looks at point of care testing for sexually transmitted infections from the perspective of the clinician, the patient, and the regulatory...
3. Speak Medical Spanish to Your Patients and Clients
Spanish essentials for healthcare; program teaches correct pronunciation, pain management and medication, among others...
How Do Optometry Assistants Rate Their Jobs?
Top Optometry Assistant Employers
Most Common Employers For Optometry Assistant
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Discover Vision | $57,301 | $27.55 | 3 |
| 2 | McCormick & Company | $44,939 | $21.61 | 1 |
| 3 | Avera Health | $36,878 | $17.73 | 2 |
| 4 | Nova Southeastern University | $35,059 | $16.86 | 1 |
| 5 | New York & Company | $34,655 | $16.66 | 1 |
| 6 | Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians | $33,277 | $16.00 | 2 |
| 7 | Advanced Vision | $33,044 | $15.89 | 1 |
| 8 | Kaiser Permanente | $33,021 | $15.88 | 2 |
| 9 | City of Orem | $32,996 | $15.86 | 1 |
| 10 | Insight Eyecare | $32,468 | $15.61 | 1 |