Lorde has dreams of clean teeth and they’re probably from the best states for dental hygienists.
I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have a strong opinion about the dentist. A large majority of people hate it and would rather do anything else, and some others actually enjoy it. I used to enjoy it when I was a kid until I had to get a cavity filled and they shoved a needle in my mouth. After that, I have a weird relationship with it. Before the needle incident, they used to give you “laughing gas” to put you under so they could perform any dental work, but I guess they stopped doing it. My main qualm, though, isn’t with the needle, it’s with the chatting that happens during any kind of dental work. I can’t form a sentence with a sharp, metal stick in my mouth and I don’t really want to try. I used to just take a parent with me so they could talk to the dentist and I could avoid the uncomfortable interaction.
lenetstan/Shutterstock.com
There’s a difference between some types of dentists, but today we’re focusing primarily on dental hygienists. They’re the ones performing your routine dental cleaning and not fitting you for braces or any of that jazz. They clean the teeth, make sure you don’t have gingivitis, and clean off all the plaque so you can start new and fresh with clean teeth. They’re also the ones who tell you all about the importance of flossing so you can do it for one day and then stop when you realize it’s making your gums bleed and you’re too lazy to do it every morning. Dental assistants will give you the same speech, and you can check out where it’s best for them to live on our list of the best states for dental assistants.
In order to create this list of best states for dental hygienists, we took a look at two pieces of data: the average yearly salary from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the cost of living from the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center. The reason we used both of those pieces of information is because it’s important to take the cost of living into consideration to see how far your salary will actually stretch in different places. This is why we took the average of those two criteria to rank the states. The ones at the top are those that have the lowest cost of living and the highest salary, as that’s the ideal scenario.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at the best states for dental hygienists.
25. Minnesota
Cost of Living Index: 101.1
Annual Mean Salary: $71,330
Hourly Wage: $34.29
Number of Employees: 4,800
Nikodash/Shutterstock.com
24. Delaware
Cost of Living Index: 102.6
Annual Mean Salary: $72,480
Hourly Wage: $34.86
Number of Employees: 640
Syda Productions/Shutterstock.com
23. Georgia
Cost of Living Index: 91.4
Annual Mean Salary: $65,300
Hourly Wage: $31.39
Number of Employees: 5,980
George Rudy/Shutterstock.com
22. North Carolina
Cost of Living Index: 94.2
Annual Mean Salary: $67,700
Hourly Wage: $32.54
Number of Employees: 6,200
stockyimages/Shutterstock.com
21. Kansas
Cost of Living Index: 90.4
Annual Mean Salary: $65,730
Hourly Wage: $31.60
Number of Employees: 2,380
Maksym Poriechkin/Shutterstock.com
20. Ohio
Cost of Living Index: 93.0
Annual Mean Salary: $67,670
Hourly Wage: $32.53
Number of Employees: 7,870
maxbelchenko/Shutterstock.com
19. Tennessee
Cost of Living Index: 89.8
Annual Mean Salary: $65,390
Hourly Wage: $31.43
Number of Employees: 4,000
jordache/Shutterstock.com
18. Nebraska
Cost of Living Index: 91.3
Annual Mean Salary: $66,490
Hourly Wage: $31.96
Number of Employees: 1,240
MilanMarkovic78/Shutterstock.com
17. Utah
Cost of Living Index: 92.8
Annual Mean Salary: $68,570
Hourly Wage: $32.96
Number of Employees: 2,650
VGstockstudio/Shutterstock.com
16. Arkansas
Cost of Living Index: 88.5
Annual Mean Salary: $65,450
Hourly Wage: $31.46
Number of Employees: 1,430
Anna Jurkovska/Shutterstock.com
15. Wyoming
Cost of Living Index: 91.7
Annual Mean Salary: $68,810
Hourly Wage: $33.08
Number of Employees: 490
George Rudy/Shutterstock.com
14. Iowa
Cost of Living Index: 91.7
Annual Mean Salary: $68,970
Hourly Wage: $33.15
Number of Employees: 2,470
Africa Studio/Shutterstock.com
13. Missouri
Cost of Living Index: 90.8
Annual Mean Salary: $68,990
Hourly Wage: $33.16
Number of Employees: 3,110
We’re halfway through our list of best states for dental hygienists, and if you are interested in the other half, click next.
Dusan Petkovic/Shutterstock.com
12. Indiana
Cost of Living Index: 87.9
Annual Mean Salary: $67,230
Hourly Wage: $32.32
Number of Employees: 5,010
schegi/Shutterstock.com
11. Illinois
Cost of Living Index: 95.5
Annual Mean Salary: $73,290
Hourly Wage: $35.23
Number of Employees: 8,250
HconQ/Shutterstock.com
10. Alaska
Cost of Living Index: 131.6
Annual Mean Salary: $102,890
Hourly Wage: $49.46
Number of Employees: 480
artefacti/Shutterstock.com
9. Colorado
Cost of Living Index: 102.1
Annual Mean Salary: $80,150
Hourly Wage: $38.53
Number of Employees: 4,580
8. Oklahoma
Cost of Living Index: 88.6
Annual Mean Salary: $70,390
Hourly Wage: $33.84
Number of Employees: 2,020
7. Texas
Cost of Living Index: 90.7
Annual Mean Salary: $72,980
Hourly Wage: $35.08
Number of Employees: 12,500
6. Idaho
Cost of Living Index: 89.6
Annual Mean Salary: $73,630
Hourly Wage: $35.39
Number of Employees: 1,510
5. Virginia
Cost of Living Index: 100.2
Annual Mean Salary: $82,690
Hourly Wage: $39.75
Number of Employees: 4,970
4. Nevada
Cost of Living Index: 104.5
Annual Mean Salary: $86,550
Hourly Wage: $41.61
Number of Employees: 1,920
3. Washington
Cost of Living Index: 107.1
Annual Mean Salary: $90,150
Hourly Wage: $43.34
Number of Employees: 5,800
Nejron Photo/Shutterstock.com
2. Arizona
Cost of Living Index: 98.1
Annual Mean Salary: $84,130
Hourly Wage: $40.44
Number of Employees: 2,410
1. New Mexico
Cost of Living Index: 95.7
Annual Mean Salary: $91,080
Hourly Wage: $43.78
Number of Employees: 1,190
wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock.com
That concludes our list of the best states for dental hygienists. If you’re dedicated to keeping teeth so fresh and so clean, maybe one of these states on the list will become your new home to live and work.
