A surgical technologist in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara has a median wage of $106,840. In Arecibo the median is $26,880. That is a 3.97-fold difference for the same job title, which is unusually wide even by the standards of a country this large — and it means a national average for this role is close to meaningless.
Ten per cent of surgical technologists earn below $45,940 and ten per cent above $96,940 — a 2.11× band. The upside from median to 90th percentile is 50%, which is a normal amount of room for experience and specialisation to matter. An offer below the 25th percentile is worth questioning; one above the 75th is worth taking seriously.
7 of the ten best-paying metros for surgical technologists are in CA. When one state dominates the top of the table like this, cost of living is doing part of the work but rarely all of it — state licensing rules, public-sector pay scales and the presence of a few large employers usually explain the rest. If you are comparing an offer in CA against one elsewhere, adjust for housing before concluding anything.
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara CA | $106,840 | $51.37 | 0.81 | 700 |
| Vallejo CA | $105,260 | $50.61 | 0.89 | 100 |
| Napa CA | $102,490 | $49.27 | 1.06 | 60 |
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville CA | $100,130 | $48.14 | 1.09 | 80 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma CA | $99,960 | $48.06 | 0.8 | 120 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont CA | $99,390 | $47.79 | 0.8 | 1,440 |
| Redding CA | $89,940 | $43.24 | 1.45 | 80 |
| Urban Honolulu HI | $87,330 | $41.99 | 0.68 | 230 |
| Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury CT | $86,790 | $41.73 | 0.83 | 250 |
| North Valley-Northern Mountains Region of California nonmetropolitan area | $86,410 | $41.54 | 0.64 | 50 |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City NY-NJ | $84,120 | $40.44 | 0.88 | 6,320 |
| Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford CT | $83,580 | $40.18 | 0.84 | 380 |
| Barnstable Town MA | $82,860 | $39.84 | 0.67 | 50 |
| Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro OR-WA | $82,430 | $39.63 | 0.72 | 650 |
| Stockton-Lodi CA | $82,300 | $39.57 | 0.77 | 170 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad CA | $82,260 | $39.55 | 0.95 | 1,110 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington MN-WI | $82,000 | $39.43 | 0.73 | 1,080 |
| Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region of California nonmetropolitan area | $81,810 | $39.33 | 0.97 | 50 |
| North Coast Region of California nonmetropolitan area | $81,740 | $39.30 | 0.98 | 80 |
| Boulder CO | $81,600 | $39.23 | 0.92 | 130 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim CA | $81,580 | $39.22 | 0.73 | 3,440 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton MA-NH | $81,500 | $39.18 | 0.76 | 1,550 |
| Mount Vernon-Anacortes WA | $81,470 | $39.17 | 1.18 | 50 |
| Coast Oregon nonmetropolitan area | $81,320 | $39.10 | 0.47 | 40 |
| Anchorage AK | $80,880 | $38.89 | 1.54 | 210 |
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arecibo PR | $26,880 | $12.93 | 1.2 | 30 |
| Ponce PR | $27,230 | $13.09 | 2.14 | 100 |
| San Juan-Bayamon-Caguas PR | $30,620 | $14.72 | 1.3 | 680 |
| Mayaguez PR | $31,200 | $15.00 | 5.27 | 210 |
| Northeastern South Carolina nonmetropolitan area | $36,660 | $17.63 | 1.76 | 100 |
| Northwest Alabama nonmetropolitan area | $40,620 | $19.53 | 1.15 | 60 |
| Anniston-Oxford AL | $42,720 | $20.54 | 1.6 | 50 |
| Northeast Alabama nonmetropolitan area | $44,210 | $21.25 | 0.51 | 60 |
| Southeast Alabama nonmetropolitan area | $44,230 | $21.26 | 0.93 | 60 |
| Middle Georgia nonmetropolitan area | $44,580 | $21.43 | 1.16 | 120 |
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mayaguez PR | $31,200 | $15.00 | 5.27 | 210 |
| Hattiesburg MS | $48,610 | $23.37 | 4.53 | 210 |
| Pinehurst-Southern Pines NC | $56,510 | $27.17 | 3.89 | 130 |
| Florence SC | $67,080 | $32.25 | 3.87 | 260 |
| Dothan AL | $47,100 | $22.64 | 3.05 | 140 |
| Jonesboro AR | $49,590 | $23.84 | 3.04 | 140 |
| Morgantown WV | $49,390 | $23.75 | 2.91 | 150 |
| Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach SC | $48,790 | $23.46 | 2.77 | 310 |
| Enid OK | $59,920 | $28.81 | 2.61 | 50 |
| Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway AR | $60,910 | $29.28 | 2.38 | 640 |
| Slidell-Mandeville-Covington LA | $59,100 | $28.42 | 2.35 | 170 |
| Sioux Falls SD-MN | $53,850 | $25.89 | 2.33 | 310 |
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York-Newark-Jersey City NY-NJ | $84,120 | $40.44 | 0.88 | 6,320 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim CA | $81,580 | $39.22 | 0.73 | 3,440 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington TX | $79,990 | $38.46 | 0.91 | 2,790 |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands TX | $71,050 | $34.16 | 1.07 | 2,660 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin IL-IN | $66,360 | $31.91 | 0.74 | 2,530 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell GA | $67,570 | $32.49 | 1.1 | 2,400 |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach FL | $65,520 | $31.50 | 1.03 | 2,200 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington PA-NJ-DE-MD | $69,650 | $33.49 | 0.92 | 2,020 |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler AZ | $78,050 | $37.53 | 1 | 1,790 |
| Detroit-Warren-Dearborn MI | $65,810 | $31.64 | 1.16 | 1,670 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton MA-NH | $81,500 | $39.18 | 0.76 | 1,550 |
| Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford FL | $61,730 | $29.68 | 1.39 | 1,490 |
Figures come from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics programme, May 2025 release, SOC code 29-2055. OEWS surveys employers, so it reports what is actually paid rather than what job advertisements claim, and it excludes the self-employed. Estimates are published for 393 of 528 metropolitan areas; the remaining 135 had too few survey responses for BLS to publish without risking disclosure, so they are absent here rather than estimated. For a specialised role that is normal. Read the methodology.