The best online radiology technologist schools

With any career path, your salary is highly dependent on where you live. This is as true in the medical world as in any industry, with some states and cities have vastly higher average salaries than others. After you complete your radiology technician degree, choosing where you want to live should be, in part, based on the salary you can expect in certain areas, as well as the job openings for your position.

First, it is important to remember that salary always needs to be compared to cost of living. Cost of living is the total amount of money you’ll need, in general, to live in a certain area. Usually, cost of living will be highest in cities, where rent, food, transportation, and other livings costs are more expensive. To make living in such an area possible, jobs pay higher amounts, so what you really need to look at it your income versus your cost of living in terms of a percentage. It might make more sense to take a job where you’ll be earning less if it means you’ll have more money in your savings account at the end of the year because cost of living is so low.

That said, the national average annual wage for radiology technicians is $53,230, and the top five states in terms of annual salary are as follows, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics:

• Massachusetts: $67,240
• Nevada: $64,560
• Maryland: $63,810
• New Jersey: $62,380
• California: $61,780

If, instead, you want to go to one of the states that has the most number of radiology technician jobs in relation to overall state population, the top five states are as follows:

• West Virginia
• Rhode Island
• South Dakota
• Kentucky
• Tennessee

Average salaries in this states range from $41,660 to $60,970. You can also look at employment opportunities in terms of cities. The following metropolitan areas had the most radiology technician jobs, as related to total population, in 2008:

• Punta Gorda, Florida
• Huntington – Ashland, West Virginia/Kentucky/Ohio
• Jackson, Tennessee
• Tyler, Texas
• Johnson City Tennessee

Of course, just because a state or city has a high number of jobs doesn’t necessarily mean that they have a high number of job openings. These are good places to start, but careers in radiology don’t have as high of a turnover rate as many other careers in the medical world, as employers tend to hire for advanced positions from within their own pool of employees.

The bottom line is that if you’re job hunting for a position as a radiology technician, you should start with states that employ the most people in this field, but widen your search to include states that have the best average salaries in relation to cost of living, as well as states that have other positive attributes, like proximity to people you care about or weather you enjoy. Getting a job in the radiology field is becoming more and more competitive, so apply to a number of positions, comparing locations only after you’ve received job offers.

Having an associate's degree is the most common educational qualification among radiology technicians and technologists. No matter which career options in the radiology technician field you may be pursuing, the health degrees listed here will have you on your way to fulfilling your dreams.

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