When your doctor or radiologist needs an X-ray done, he turns to the technologist or technician employed in his staff to run the necessary equipment and process the resulting film. The average hourly wage earned by such a radiologic technician varies depending on where the technician gets employed and where he lives. The information on the hourly wages of radiologist technicians is as of May 2009 and was published in the 2010 occupational handbook of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
National Average
On a national scale, the typical radiologic technician earns $26.05 on average every hour while processing X-rays. This adds up to $54,180 a year. Technicians in the top 90th percentile, which means that 90 percent of the entire job demographic earns less than this amount, make $36.27 an hour. Those in the 75th percentile bring in $30.80 an hour, and those in the 10th percentile net just $17.16 an hour.
Employers by Employee Numbers
The majority of radiologic technicians, approximately 59 percent, work in hospitals. There, the average hourly wage for this job rings in at $26.33. After hospitals, the next top four employers with the greatest number of radiologic technicians are physicians' offices, which pay $24.45 an hour; medical labs, which pay $27.53; outpatient care, where the average technician earns $25.46 hourly; and the federal government, where technicians nab $26.99 hourly.
Employers by Pay
Scientific research companies pay radiologic technicians the best average hourly wage on the market, at $31.16. That's a significant $5 more than the national average, which adds up to an extra $10,000 a year. Scientific and technical consulting services rank second at $28.79 per hour, followed by employment services at $28.66; office administrative service companies at $28/06; and specialty hospitals at $28.04.
States
The three states with the greatest concentration of technicians are West Virginia, South Dakota and Kentucky. West Virginian technicians make an average of $19.91 an hour. South Dakota's technicians earn $21.62, and Kentucky's technicians can expect $22.04 hourly. If you're looking to move for better pay, Massachusetts has the highest average hourly wage for this job at $32.95, followed by Nevada at $31.93; Maryland at $31.64; Hawaii at $30.51; and the District of Columbia at $30.42.
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