National Averages

• In its 2009 wages study, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports the average national salary for optometrists is $106,960. The BLS also notes several industries where median salaries for optometrists are higher than the country's average. The BLS survey's top-paying industry for optometrists is physicians' offices, paying an annual mean wage of $129,810. Outpatient care centers typically also pay higher-than-average wages at $115,450 per year.
  
  

Location

• No single pattern emerges from the BLS' study on top-paying states for optometrist salaries. As of 2009, Louisiana led the country with an annual mean wage of $142,550, followed by Tennessee at $137,220 and Kansas at $129,420. Both Washington state and Ohio also paid significantly above the country's average with salaries of $128,880 and $127,040, respectively.
  
  

Considerations

• Prospective optometrists follow an extensive path of education. Students start out with a bachelor's degree in pre-optometry, then attend one of the colleges accredited by the Accreditation Council on Optometric Education of the American Optometric Association. The association accredits schools across the country such as Illinois College of Optometry, Southern California College of Optometry, University of the Incarnate Word School of Optometry, New England College of Optometry and Midwestern University Arizona College of Optometry, leading to the Doctor of Optometry designation. Prospective optometrists must take the National Board of Examiners in Optometry exam to receive their licenses.
  
  

Outlook

• Due in part to an aging population's requirement for increased eye care, the BLS expects a 24 percent growth in employment of optometrists through 2018, adding 8,500 jobs to the field. The BLS also expects a big wave of retirement among current optometrists, leaving vacancies in the field for newly trained professionals.