Starting Salary

• According to the American Society for Clinical and Laboratory Sciences, the average starting salary for clinical lab technicians was approximately $26,000 to $30,000 in 2004.
  
  

Job Growth

• According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national employment of lab technicians as of 2006 was 151,000 employees. From 2006 through 2016, there is a faster-than-average projected growth of 14 percent to 20 percent.
  
  

National Estimates

• According to a May 2008 report from the BLS, the mean hourly wage of a lab technician was $17.86, and the mean annual wage was $37,150. Annual wages ranged from $23,480 to $53,520 annually.
  
  

State Estimates

• According to a May 2008 report from the BLS, Massachusetts has the highest concentration of lab technicians, with 6,930 earning about $39,490 annually. Other states with a high concentration are Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Alaska and North Dakota. The top paying state for lab technicians is Rhode Island, where companies employ 420 lab technicians who have an annual mean wage of $54,130. Other top-paying locales are Connecticut, District of Columbia, Maryland and New York.
  
  

Industry Estimates

• According to a May 2008 report from the BLS, most lab technicians worked within general medical and surgical hospitals, with an estimated 66,700 earning a mean wage of $38,330. Other industries that employ many lab technicians are medical and diagnostic laboratories; offices of physicians; college and professional schools; and other ambulatory health-care services. Lab technicians receive the highest pay from junior colleges, with a national mean wage of $45,120. Lab technicians also receive high pay in pharmaceutical and commercial manufacturing; professional and commercial equipment and supplies merchant wholesalers; scientific research and development services; and individual and family services.