Orthopedic Technician Overview
Orthopedic Technician Careers
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an orthopedic technician. For example, did you know that they make an average of $18.71 an hour? That's $38,910 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 11% and produce 9,100 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does an Orthopedic Technician Do
There are certain skills that many orthopedic 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 technical skills, interpersonal skills and dexterity.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be an orthopedic technician, we found that a lot of resumes listed 13.4% of orthopedic technicians included orthopedics, while 11.7% of resumes included patient care, and 6.0% of resumes included customer service. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the orthopedic technician job title. But what industry to start with? Most orthopedic technicians actually find jobs in the health care and education industries.
How To Become an Orthopedic Technician
If you're interested in becoming an orthopedic technician, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 32.9% of orthopedic technicians have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 8.7% of orthopedic technicians have master's degrees. Even though some orthopedic technicians have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become an orthopedic technician. When we researched the most common majors for an orthopedic technician, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or associate degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on orthopedic technician resumes include high school diploma degrees or master's degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become an orthopedic technician. In fact, many orthopedic technician jobs require experience in a role such as medical assistant. Meanwhile, many orthopedic technicians also have previous career experience in roles such as surgical technician or certified nursing assistant.
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Orthopedic Technician 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 orthopedic technician can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as surgical technician, progress to a title such as registered nurse and then eventually end up with the title operations manager.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for an Orthopedic Technician
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
University of California Orthopedic Technician-Laguna Hills Multispecialty-Days Orthopedic Technician-Laguna Hills Multispecialty-Days | University of California University of California | 03/26/2021 03/26/2021 | $49,85803/26/2021 $49,858 |
Washington University of St. Louis Orthopedic Technician I-Orthopaedic Surgery Orthopedic Technician I-Orthopaedic Surgery | Washington University of St. Louis Washington University of St. Louis | 03/15/2021 03/15/2021 | $30,13603/15/2021 $30,136 |
University of California Berkeley Orthopedic Technician-Laguna Hills Multispecialty-Days Orthopedic Technician-Laguna Hills Multispecialty-Days | University of California Berkeley University of California Berkeley | 01/30/2021 01/30/2021 | $48,00101/30/2021 $48,001 |
University of California Irvine Orthopedic Technician-Laguna Hills Multispecialty-Days Orthopedic Technician-Laguna Hills Multispecialty-Days | University of California Irvine University of California Irvine | 01/30/2021 01/30/2021 | $48,00101/30/2021 $48,001 |
Washington University of St. Louis Orthopedic Technician II-Orthopaedic Surgery Orthopedic Technician II-Orthopaedic Surgery | Washington University of St. Louis Washington University of St. Louis | 01/12/2021 01/12/2021 | $33,07901/12/2021 $33,079 |
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Top Colleges for Orthopedic Technicians
1. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC • Public
2. University of Florida
Gainesville, FL • Public
3. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Public
4. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
5. San Diego State University
San Diego, CA • Public
6. Northeastern University
Boston, MA • Private
7. Duke University
Durham, NC • Private
8. Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL • Public
9. University of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, WI • Public
10. University of Connecticut
Storrs, CT • Public
Top Skills For an Orthopedic 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, 13.4% of orthopedic technicians listed orthopedics on their resume, but soft skills such as technical skills and interpersonal skills are important as well.
- Orthopedics, 13.4%
- Patient Care, 11.7%
- Customer Service, 6.0%
- Vital Signs, 5.8%
- CPR, 5.8%
- Other Skills, 57.3% See All Orthopedic Technician Skills
Best States For an Orthopedic Technician
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as an orthopedic technician. The best states for people in this position are New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Oregon. Orthopedic technicians make the most in New York with an average salary of $54,635. Whereas in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, they would average $54,348 and $52,177, respectively. While orthopedic technicians would only make an average of $50,390 in Oregon, 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. New Jersey
$54,348
Avg. Salary
2. New York
$54,635
Avg. Salary
3. Iowa
$46,493
Avg. Salary