Opticians, Dispensing

Pay and outlook

Median annual wage, May 2025

$47,260

Half earn more, half earn less

Middle half earn

$38,820 – $61,700

25th to 75th percentile

People employed, May 2025

73,530

Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)

Projected change, 2025–35

+4.2%

At or above the all-jobs rate (3.5% to under 7%)

Openings a year (projected)

5,600

New jobs plus replacing people who leave

Typical education to enter

High school diploma or equivalent

BLS

• 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

Design, measure, fit, and adapt lenses and frames for client according to written optical prescription or specification. Assist client with inserting, removing, and caring for contact lenses. Assist client with selecting frames. Measure customer for size of eyeglasses and coordinate frames with facial and eye measurements and optical prescription. Prepare work order for optical laboratory containing instructions for grinding and mounting lenses in frames. Verify exactness of finished lens spectacles. Adjust frame and lens position to fit client. May shape or reshape frames. Includes contact lens opticians.

Main tasks

• Measure clients' bridge and eye size, temple length, vertex distance, pupillary distance, and optical centers of eyes, using measuring devices.
• Verify that finished lenses are ground to specifications.
• Evaluate prescriptions in conjunction with clients' vocational and avocational visual requirements.
• Recommend specific lenses, lens coatings, and frames to suit client needs.
• Assist clients in selecting frames according to style and color, and ensure that frames are coordinated with facial and eye measurements and optical prescriptions.
• Maintain records of customer prescriptions, work orders, and payments.
• Heat, shape, or bend plastic or metal frames to adjust eyeglasses to fit clients, using pliers and hands.
• Show customers how to insert, remove, and care for their contact lenses.

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

Getting in

Typical education to enter (BLS)

High school diploma or equivalent

Training once hired: long-term on-the-job training

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.

Fields of study that lead here

From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 1 programme 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.

Related careers

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

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• Ophthalmic Medical Technicians

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• Medical Equipment Preparers

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• Pharmacy Technicians

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• Medical Assistants

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