---
title: "Ophthalmic Medical Technologist"
description: "Assist ophthalmologists by performing ophthalmic clinical functions and ophthalmic photography. Provide instruction and supervision to other ophthalmic…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/ophthalmic-medical-technologist"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Ophthalmic Medical Technologist

**Category:** Healthcare Practitioners and Technical · **SOC code:** 29-2099 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 29-2099.05

Assist ophthalmologists by performing ophthalmic clinical functions and ophthalmic photography. Provide instruction and supervision to other ophthalmic personnel. Assist with minor surgical procedures, applying aseptic techniques and preparing instruments. May perform eye exams, administer eye medications, and instruct patients in care and use of corrective lenses.

Also advertised as: Certified Diagnostic Ophthalmic Sonographer (CDOS); Certified Ophthalmic Medical Technologist (COMT); Ophthalmic Echographer; Ophthalmic Medical Technologist (Ophthalmic Medical Tech); Ophthalmic Photographer; Ophthalmic Sonographer; Ophthalmic Technologist (Ophthalmic Tech); Ophthalmic Ultrasonographer.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $50,290 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $24.18/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $38,180 to $85,270, with the middle half between $44,170 and $64,340
- **Total US employment:** 182,610
- **Typical entry education:** Certificate
- **Preparation required:** Some preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +5.9% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 12,400 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 48/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 182,610 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $38,180 |
| 25th | $44,170 |
| 50th (median) | $50,290 |
| 75th | $64,340 |
| 90th | $85,270 |
| Mean (average) | $58,710 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| WY | $80,520 | $86,869 | 90 |
| DE | $78,650 | $78,801 | 110 |
| VI | $72,450 | No BEA price parity | 30 |
| WA | $62,090 | $58,021 | 3,870 |
| ME | $61,490 | $63,359 | 550 |
| MA | $60,500 | $57,207 | 3,550 |
| CA | $60,390 | $54,543 | 26,540 |
| OR | $60,390 | $58,426 | 1,720 |
| NY | $60,320 | $55,893 | 11,910 |
| HI | $59,900 | $54,479 | 1,000 |
| MN | $59,540 | $60,373 | 2,030 |
| VT | $59,470 | $60,710 | 430 |
| CO | $59,430 | $57,670 | 2,470 |
| NJ | $58,300 | $53,582 | 5,830 |
| RI | $57,800 | $56,512 | 530 |

38 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 53 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/ophthalmic-medical-technologist/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/ophthalmic-medical-technologist.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 185,600 in the 2025–2035 base year to 196,400 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 10,900 jobs, or +5.9%. Faster than average: 5.9% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 12,400 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** Postsecondary nondegree award (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Some preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** None.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) | 30.0% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 25.0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 15.0% |
| Some College Courses | 10.0% |
| Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree | 10.0% |
| Post-Baccalaureate Certificate | 10.0% |

## What the work involves

- Conduct tonometry or tonography tests to measure intraocular pressure.
- Take and document patients' medical histories.
- Take anatomical or functional ocular measurements, such as axial length measurements, of the eye or surrounding tissue.
- Measure visual acuity, including near, distance, pinhole, or dynamic visual acuity, using appropriate tests.
- Administer topical ophthalmic or oral medications.
- Measure and record lens power, using lensometers.
- Calculate corrections for refractive errors.
- Clean or sterilize ophthalmic or surgical instruments.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Active Listening — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Social Perceptiveness — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Service Orientation — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Instructing — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Management of Personnel Resources — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Customer and Personal Service — importance 4.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Medicine and Dentistry — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Education and Training — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Administrative — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Oral Expression — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Near Vision — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Comprehension — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speech Recognition — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speech Clarity — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Realistic (R), Conventional (C), Investigative (I).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| R — Realistic | 5.41 |
| C — Conventional | 4.73 |
| I — Investigative | 4.71 |
| S — Social | 4.32 |
| E — Enterprising | 2.02 |
| A — Artistic | 1.12 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 84.6 |
| ISFJ | 79.3 |
| ESTJ | 71.1 |
| ISTP | 66.9 |
| INTJ | 61.2 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Ophthalmic Medical Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/ophthalmic-medical-technician) — median $45,570
- [Cardiovascular Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cardiovascular-technologist-and-technician) — median $74,310
- [Radiologic Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/radiologic-technologist-and-technician) — median $80,110
- [Neurodiagnostic Technologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/neurodiagnostic-technologist) — median $50,290
- [Diagnostic Medical Sonographer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/diagnostic-medical-sonographer) — median $96,590
- [Surgical Assistant](https://nuecareer.com/careers/surgical-assistant) — median $66,800
- [Endoscopy Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/endoscopy-technician) — median $48,430
- [Medical Assistant](https://nuecareer.com/careers/medical-assistant) — median $45,690
- [Surgical Technologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/surgical-technologist) — median $64,650
- [Magnetic Resonance Imaging Technologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/magnetic-resonance-imaging-technologist) — median $95,480

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank 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 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/ophthalmic-medical-technologist