Dental Connections surveys local dental hygienists on an annual basis to produce accurate, comprehensive, and current statistics about their wages and benefits in dental offices. The answers to this survey are completely anonymous and provide the most up to date and accurate statistics available anywhere.
This survey combines ALL types of hygienists: traditional, accelerated, restorative, part-time, full-time, experienced, new grads, etc. Accelerated and restorative hygienists typically make more than traditional hygienists. Full-time workers receive better benefits than part-time workers. Take this into account while analyzing the statistics.
WA State and all the major counties had approximately 9% average wage increases across the board. Medical and retirement benefits also saw healthy increases.
The greater Seattle area is in its 7th year of an extreme shortage of hygienists. The Covid-19 pandemic made a bad situation even worse. There are cohorts of workers that have retired or not returned to the workforce altogether. The average age of workers has decreased dramatically. Years of experience dropped from 15.85 in 2020 to 9.58 in 2022. The workforce is much younger and the logical conclusion is baby boomer age retired in large numbers as a result of the pandemic.
This is the first year we have surveyed hourly wages for temporary jobs. Temp jobs typically pay more because of the high demand and no benefits. Offices that offer a high hourly rate for 1 day temp coverage do not necessarily pay that rate to a permanent employee with valuable full-time benefits.
Before determining whether an hourly rate is fair, consider all important factors: location, hygiene role performed, experience level, type of practice, and benefits (which can add approximately $5-$20/hour to the compensation package). Lastly, being satisfied in your job or with a loyal employee on a daily basis is always worth way more than a couple dollars an hour.
