Cytotechnologist Salary (2026), outlook and how to become one

Cytotechnologists earn a median of $62,930 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025), 23% above the $50,980 US median across all occupations. That works out at $30.26/hr. The middle half earn between $47,650 and $81,450. The top 10% earn $100,990 or more.

The median hourly wage for cytotechnologists is $30.26 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). On a full-year basis the $62,930 annual median works out to about $5,240 a month before tax.

BLS does not publish a starting salary. The nearest measure is the low end of the pay range: the lowest-paid 10% of cytotechnologists earn less than $38,910 a year and the bottom quarter less than $47,650 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). New workers often start near that end, but where a particular job starts depends on the employer, the state and the credentials you bring, so read these as the bottom of the range rather than a guaranteed entry wage.

A minority do. $100,000 sits between the 75th percentile ($81,450) and the 90th ($100,990), so roughly 10% to 25% of cytotechnologists earn more than that (BLS OEWS, May 2025). No state's median reaches $100,000; the highest is New York at $97,280.

The highest state medians for Cytotechnologists are New York ($97,280), Oregon ($83,010), New Hampshire ($81,020) (BLS OEWS, May 2025).

BLS does not split cytotechnologists' pay by specialty or employer, but its range shows how far the top end runs: the highest-paid 10% earn more than $100,990, against a median of $62,930 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Location moves pay the most in the published data: the best-paying states are New York ($97,280), Oregon ($83,010), New Hampshire ($81,020).

Yes. BLS reports a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education for Cytotechnologists, and O*NET rates the preparation needed as extensive preparation. In O*NET's survey of people already doing the job, 50.0% hold bachelor's degree.

It is stable rather than fast-growing: employment is projected to change 2.7% over 2025–2035, about the same as the 3.5% projected across all occupations (BLS EP, 2025–2035). BLS still projects about 20,800 openings a year, mostly from workers retiring or moving to other work.

Clinical laboratory technologists (also known as medical laboratory scientists) and clinical laboratory technicians (also known as medical laboratory technicians) perform medical laboratory tests for the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease. A core O*NET task: examine cell samples to detect abnormalities in the color, shape, or size of cellular components and patterns. Employers most often ask for Expert system software, Medical software, Office suite software.

Yes, for most. In O*NET's survey of people in the job, 9% of cytotechnologists usually work more than 40 hours a week, 91% work exactly 40 and 0% work fewer. 96% say their schedule is regular and 5% irregular. Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, Work Context.

O*NET scores Cytotechnologists highest on the Investigative, Realistic and Conventional interest areas, so the work mixes investigating, analysing and solving problems with ideas and data with hands-on, practical work with tools, machines or the outdoors. On NueCareer's MBTI-to-interest mapping that lines up most closely with ISTJ personalities. Personality is a fit signal, not a gate. The free NueCareer quiz scores your own profile against all 1,731 careers in the bank.

California specifies a 12-month CAAHEP-accredited cytotechnology programme for its licence, and separately allows five years of full-time clinical cytology experience in its place. Nationally, the accredited programmes are moving from baccalaureate to master's level, and the BOC treats graduates of either as eligible for 5 years after completion.

Not a state license. The ASCP Board of Certification lists 11 jurisdictions that license clinical laboratory personnel: California, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Tennessee, West Virginia and Puerto Rico. Cytotechnology is the laboratory role most consistently covered among them. California licenses cytotechnologists through CDPH Laboratory Field Services, with annual renewal, and excludes biotechnology, pharmaceutical, forensic, academic, veterinary, research and student laboratory experience from counting toward the licence. New York licenses cytotechnologists under Subpart 79-14 and accepts a California or Hawaii licence as one qualifying route. Florida licenses cytology at technologist level only, with no technician tier, and keys the requirement directly to CT(ASCP). Everywhere else the credential is the employer's requirement rather than the state's.

The CT(ASCP) (Cytologist, CT(ASCP)). Computer adaptive examination, 100 questions in 2 hours 30 minutes, scored 100 to 999 with 400 to pass. Application fee $260. One domestic eligibility route: a baccalaureate degree plus a CAAHEP-accredited cytology programme completed within the last 5 years. CMS and CDC recognised the ASCP SCT credential as an approved board examination for the CLIA personnel qualifications at 42 CFR 493.1483 with effect from July 2024, and both CT(ASCP) and SCT(ASCP) holders are recognised there.

Women make up 67.2% of cytotechnologists, against 47.1% of all employed people: more women than in the workforce as a whole. 22.0% are 55 or older, close to the 23.2% across all jobs. The median worker is 39.9 years old (all workers: 42.1). Source: BLS Current Population Survey, 2025 annual averages, for the Census group "Clinical laboratory technologists and technicians".