CCollegeMatcher

Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians

US occupation · SOC 29-2012

Job titles people report: Clinical Lab Tech (Clinical Laboratory Technician), Lab Assistant (Laboratory Assistant), Lab Associate (Laboratory Associate), Lab Tech (Laboratory Technician), Medical Lab Assistant (Medical Laboratory Assistant), Medical Technician (Medical Tech), Microbiology MLT (Microbiology Medical Laboratory Technician), MLT (Medical Laboratory Technician), Specimen Processor, Travel Medical Lab Tech (Travel Medical Laboratory Technician)

Pay and outlook

Median annual wage, May 2025
$62,930
Half earn more, half earn less
Middle half earn
$47,650 – $81,450
25th to 75th percentile
People employed, May 2025
332,940
Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)
Projected change, 2025–35
+2.7%
Growing slower than all jobs (0% to under 3.5%)
Openings a year (projected)
20,800
New jobs plus replacing people who leave
Typical education to enter
Bachelor's degree
BLS

BLS publishes one wage and employment figure for clinical laboratory technologists and technicians combined (code 29-2010). The pay and employment figures above are for that whole group, not for medical and clinical laboratory technicians alone. So is the projection.

  • All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
  • Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
  • Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.

What the work involves

Perform routine medical laboratory tests for the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease. May work under the supervision of a medical technologist.

Main tasks

  • Perform quality control analyses to ensure accuracy of test results.
  • Conduct blood tests for transfusion purposes and perform blood counts.
  • Conduct chemical analyses of body fluids, such as blood or urine, using microscope or automatic analyzer to detect abnormalities or diseases and enter findings into computer.
  • Analyze the results of tests or experiments to ensure conformity to specifications, using special mechanical or electrical devices.
  • Set up, maintain, calibrate, clean, and test sterility of medical laboratory equipment.
  • Examine cells stained with dye to locate abnormalities.
  • Prepare standard volumetric solutions or reagents to be combined with samples, following standardized formulas or experimental procedures.
  • Supervise or instruct other technicians or laboratory assistants.

More specific O*NET® occupations under this one: Histology Technicians.

Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.

Getting in

Typical education to enter (BLS)
Bachelor's degree
O*NET Job Zone 3
Medium preparation
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Interests it suits

The strongest of the six O*NET interest types for this occupation, highest first. The short glosses are ours.

  • Realistic: hands-on work with tools, machines, plants or animals
  • Investigative: research, analysis and solving problems with ideas
  • Conventional: organising information, records and procedures

Fields of study that lead here

From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 7 programmes to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.

Health & Nursing

  • Clinical/Medical Laboratory Assistant
  • Blood Bank Technology Specialist
  • Hematology Technology/Technician
  • Clinical/Medical Laboratory Technician
  • Histologic Technician
  • Cytogenetics/Genetics/Clinical Genetics Technology/Technologist
  • Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science and Allied Professions, Other

Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Health & Nursing at the Major step.

Where many students take health & nursing

Ordered by the field's share of degrees awarded times undergraduate enrolment (College Scorecard), among colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online universities are included. It's a rough measure of how big the programme is. It says nothing about quality. The share counts every programme in the field, not only the ones linked to this career.

Related careers

Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.

← All careers

Sources

This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. CollegeMatcher has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET 31.0 Database · CC BY 4.0

Changes: we show the core tasks in the O*NET database with the highest importance ratings (up to eight, in that order), the top three O*NET interest types by score, and shortened Job Zone names. Titles, descriptions and task text are unchanged.

Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Projections, typical entry education and training: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–35. Fields of study: NCES and BLS CIP 2020–SOC 2018 Crosswalk. All public domain. OEWS · Employment Projections · CIP–SOC crosswalk