Sonographer salaries tend to vary by experience.
There were 53,010 diagnostic medical sonographers employed in the U.S. in 2010, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Sonographers use ultrasound technology to take images used by doctors in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Their salary can vary by location, employer and experience. The starting salary for diagnostic medical sonographers is significantly lower than those with one or more years of experience.
Starting Salaries
The average hourly rate of pay for those with less than one year of experience in diagnostic medical sonography was $10.76 to $27.60, as of May 2011, according to PayScale, Inc. This computes to about $22,831 to $57,408 per year. Given the fact that the bureau reports salaries ranging from $44,900, at the low end of the pay scale, to $64,380, as the median salary, the latter figure of $26.70 is more likely to be accurate.
Comparison by Experience
The pay for diagnostic medical sonographers tends to climb after the first year of experience. PayScale, Inc. indicates that those with one to four years of experience averaged $17.37 to $31.49 per hour, or approximately $36,130 to $65,499 per year in 2011. After the fourth year of experience, wages rise again to $22.01 to $35.93, or a salary range of $45,781 to $74,734 per year. The bureau indicates that the upper 25 percent of medical sonographers made more than $75,290 per year in 2010.
Employer and Location
The Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography indicates that sonographers' pay is based on various factors such as location and areas of specialization. The bureau breaks down pay by location and type of employer. In 2010, the most common type of employer for sonographers was general medical and surgical hospitals. These sonographers made an average salary of $65,010 in 2010, according to the bureau. In the five states with the highest number of employed diagnostic medical sonographers, average salaries ranged from $58,470 to $77,260 per year.
Job Outlook
According to the bureau, the number of new jobs in diagnostic medical sonography should grow by about 18 percent from 2008 to 2018. The bureau reports 50,300 employed sonographers in the U.S. in 2008. This means that the bureau expects 9,200 new jobs in this field by 2018. The increase in demand for medical imaging is expected to be the result of the increasing aging population and its medical needs. The bureau also expects more advanced imaging techniques to emerge and create even greater demand for the services of diagnostic medical sonographers.
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