2017 RDH eVillage Annual Salary Survey, part 2: Fewer hygienists believe it’s tough to land a job

MOST HYGIENISTS view finding employment in their area as being difficult, and many equate the difficulty as a factor in employers’ flexibility in offering lower wages. But the difficulty in finding jobs may be easing up.

For example, a Utah dental hygienist stated, “With an oversaturation in the workforce, employers are keeping wages low and do not offer any benefits or holiday pay.”

A Pennsylvania dental hygienist added, “Newer graduates sometime take hours for low hourly rate just so they can get work.”

The second part of the 2017 RDH eVillage Salary Survey examines the wages of dental hygienists who say it is difficult (54%) or easy (18%) to find dental hygiene jobs in their area (28% indicated that they were “unsure” about the ease in finding a job). This is an improvement over previous years:

• In 2016, 63% said it was difficult and 12% said it was easy.
• In 2015, 78% said it was difficult, and 13% said it was easy.
• In 2014, 86% said it was difficult, and 8% said it was easy.

DON’T MISS A THING | Catch up on past Salary Survey parts here

The cities below were selected for comparison of salaries. Denver and Seattle were exceptions to the other cities due to the high percentage who said it was easy to land a job in the area.

Atlanta

34 Atlanta dental hygienists responded to the survey.

• 24% said it was easy to find a job.
• 38% said it was difficult.
• 50% of respondents who said it is “difficult” to find a job earn $40 to $42 an hour.
• 59% of respondents who said it is “easy” or were unsure about the difficulty in finding a job earn $30 to $35 an hour.

Chicago

67 Chicago dental hygienists responded to the survey.

• 13% said it was easy to find a job.
• 34% said it was difficult.
• 59% of respondents who said it is “difficult” to find a job earn $39 to $42 an hour.
• 51% of respondents who said it is “easy” or were unsure about the difficulty in finding a job earn $35 to $41 an hour.

Denver

36 Denver dental hygienists responded to the survey.

• 47% said it was easy to find a job.
• 17% said it was difficult.
• 83% of respondents who said it is “difficult” to find a job earn $42 to $43 an hour.
• 63% of respondents who said it is “easy” or were unsure about the difficulty in finding a job earn $40 to $42 an hour.

Detroit

46 Detroit dental hygienists responded to the survey.

• 17% said it was easy to find a job.
• 57% said it was difficult.
• 56% of respondents who said it is “difficult” to find a job earn $32 to $35 an hour.
• 88% of respondents who said it is “easy” or were unsure about the difficulty in finding a job earn $31 to $32 an hour.

Los Angeles

47 Los Angeles dental hygienists responded to the survey.

• 21% said it was easy to find a job
• 53% said it was difficult
• 40% of respondents who said it is “difficult” to find a job earn $44 to $47 an hour.
• 42% of respondents who said it is “easy” or were unsure about the difficulty in finding a job earn $50 an hour.

Minneapolis

36 Minneapolis dental hygienists responded to the survey.

• 14% said it was easy to find a job.
• 53% said it was difficult.
• 63% of respondents who said it is “difficult” to find a job earn $36 to $40 an hour.
• 60% of respondents who said it is “easy” or were unsure about the difficulty in finding a job earn $36 to $39 an hour.

New York City

49 New York City hygienists responded to the survey.

• 21% said it was easy to find a job.
• 44% said it was difficult.
• 39% of respondents who said it is “difficult” to find a job earn $44 to $45 an hour.
• 58% of respondents who said it is “easy” or were unsure about the difficulty in finding a job earn $40 to $42 an hour.

Philadelphia

33 Philadelphia dental hygienists responded to the survey.

• 21% said it was easy to find a job.
• 49% said it was difficult.
• 69% of respondents who said it is “difficult” to find a job earn $34 to $37 an hour.
• 44% of respondents who said it is “easy” or were unsure about the difficulty in finding a job earn $35 to $37 an hour.

Seattle

36 Seattle dental hygienists responded to the survey.

• 47% said it was easy to find a job.
• 11% said it was difficult.
• 50% of respondents who said it is “difficult” to find a job earn $49 to $50 an hour.
• 61% of respondents who said it is “easy” or were unsure about the difficulty in finding a job earn $46 to $48 an hour.

In several cases above, dental hygienists who believe the job market is difficult generally earn more than those who view landing a job to be a fairly easy process. As stated above, perhaps the best news derived from this analysis is that the percentage of dental hygienists who think it’s tough to find a job has been steadily decreasing over the past four years.

Editor's note: This article first appeared in RDH eVillage. Click here to subscribe.

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