A nuclear medicine technologist must adhere to strict safety guidelines.
Nuclear medicine is the process of creating images of the inside of the human body using radioactive drugs and a gamma scintillation camera that monitors the progress of the drugs through the body. A nuclear medicine technologist is the medical practitioner who performs this procedure. The technologist explains the procedure to the patient, administers ---orally or intravenously --- the radio-pharmaceuticals and uses the camera to track the drugs through the body. Abnormal areas show higher or lower concentrations of radioactivity than normal. The resultant images are then used by physicians to aid diagnosis of afflictions.
Average Salary
A survey of employment and wage levels across the United States by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) found that the average yearly salary for a nuclear medicine technologist was $68,450 as of 2009. This equates to a monthly income of $5,704 and an hourly rate of $32.91. The BLS also reported that the highest bracket of earners --- the top 10 percent ---achieved an average pay of $90,650 a year, while their counterparts in the bottom 10 percent earned $48,710 annually.
Salary by Industry Sector
Nuclear medicine technologists are employed in many sectors of the healthcare industry and wage levels can vary between them. The BLS survey showed the highest average annual salaries were found in the offices of physicians, $71,070, followed by the offices of other health practitioners, $70,250. Wage levels were comparable in federal government agencies and medical and diagnostic laboratories, $68,780 and $68,150 respectively, while general medical and surgical hospitals were listed at an average of $67,750.
Salary by State
A second significant factor affecting nuclear medicine technologist salaries is location. At the state level, across all industry sectors, the BLS found that California, New Jersey and Maryland offer the highest annual salaries, $86,590, $80,520 and $79,500 respectively. Washington and Nevada offered comparable levels of pay, $79,340 and $78,590 respectively. South Dakota was listed at $55,850 while West Virginia offered an average annual salary of just $50,830.
Salary by Area
Even on a smaller geographical scale, that of metropolitan areas, the BLS survey revealed considerable variations in pay. California had several districts among the highest-paying locations. The San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara area paid $94,830 as of 2009, the Oakland-Fremont-Hayward district was listed at $94,220 and he San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City area offered $93,380. In contrast, Ocala, Florida was listed at $60,000 while Sioux Falls in South Dakota offered just $54,850.
Prospects
Salary levels for nuclear medicine technologists working in the U.S. should remain reasonably competitive in the immediate future as demand for their services grows. The BLS expects to see the employment market for the occupation increase by 16 percent through 2018. A combination of continued technological advancement in the field and an aging population requiring more diagnostic imaging services will motivate this employment growth. A technologist may wish to train in other imaging technologies, such as sonography, to enhance his employment prospects.
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