Across the 29 states we track, New York gives Dental Hygienists the strongest cost-of-living-adjusted pay: about $101,500 real pay on a median of $114,300. Washington follows at about $100,000 real pay, then District of Columbia at about $96,100. The table ranks every state by real pay, so a high nominal salary in an expensive state cannot masquerade as a raise.
Dental Hygienist Salary by State (2026): Real Pay Ranked
New York ranks first for Dental Hygienist real pay: about $101,500 after cost of living. Median and real pay for all 29 states, ranked.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS) & BEA Regional Price Parities · Updated October 2026
States ranked
29
Metros counted
50
National average
$81,000
Dental Hygienist pay by state, ranked by real pay
| State | Median pay | Real pay (COL-adjusted) | Metro(s) counted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. New York | $114,300 | $101,500 | New York |
| 2. Washington | $111,100 | $100,000 | Seattle |
| 3. District of Columbia | $104,700 | $96,100 | Washington |
| 4. Minnesota | $100,700 | $96,100 | Minneapolis |
| 5. North Carolina | $92,300 | $94,400 | Charlotte, Raleigh |
| 6. Louisiana | $87,100 | $94,100 | New Orleans |
| 7. Missouri | $86,300 | $93,300 | Kansas City |
| 8. Georgia | $93,300 | $93,200 | Atlanta |
| 9. Massachusetts | $99,200 | $91,600 | Boston |
| 10. Nebraska | $83,900 | $91,300 | Omaha |
| 11. Ohio | $84,900 | $90,000 | Columbus, Cleveland |
| 12. Oregon | $93,500 | $88,700 | Portland |
| 13. California | $98,100 | $88,200 | Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Fresno, Sacramento, Long Beach, Oakland |
| 14. Kansas | $78,200 | $88,000 | Wichita |
| 15. Colorado | $90,700 | $87,900 | Denver, Colorado Springs |
| 16. Texas | $86,800 | $87,900 | Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, Fort Worth, El Paso, Arlington |
| 17. Tennessee | $82,300 | $87,300 | Nashville, Memphis |
| 18. Michigan | $85,500 | $85,200 | Detroit |
| 19. Illinois | $88,100 | $85,000 | Chicago |
| 20. Indiana | $81,100 | $84,700 | Indianapolis |
| 21. Pennsylvania | $86,500 | $84,300 | Philadelphia |
| 22. Florida | $88,300 | $82,700 | Jacksonville, Miami |
| 23. Oklahoma | $74,300 | $82,700 | Oklahoma City, Tulsa |
| 24. Maryland | $84,700 | $81,100 | Baltimore |
| 25. Kentucky | $74,800 | $80,300 | Louisville |
| 26. Nevada | $79,300 | $79,100 | Las Vegas |
| 27. Arizona | $78,800 | $77,900 | Phoenix, Tucson, Mesa |
| 28. Wisconsin | $74,600 | $77,000 | Milwaukee |
| 29. New Mexico | $70,300 | $73,600 | Albuquerque |
Method: each state aggregates the BLS OEWS metro medians we track for Dental Hygienist in that state - an employment-weighted mean where every counted metro publishes employment (0 of 29 states), otherwise a simple mean (29 states). Real pay = state median divided by (state RPP / 100), where the state RPP is the mean BEA Regional Price Parity of its counted metros; figures are rounded to the nearest $100. Twin cities sharing one metro estimate (for example Phoenix-Mesa) are counted once. States without a tracked metro are omitted rather than estimated.
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Frequently Asked Questions
On cost-of-living-adjusted pay, New York leads at about $101,500 real pay (median $114,300), ahead of Washington at about $100,000.
We aggregate the BLS median wages of the metros we track in each state (an employment-weighted mean where employment data exists, otherwise a simple average), then divide by the mean Regional Price Parity of those metros to get real pay.
The full city-level table with 10th-90th percentiles and every metro's cost-of-living index is on the Dental Hygienist salary hub at /salary/dental-hygienist/.