Average Salary

• According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wages report of May 2009, the mean annual salary for a dentist working in the U.S. was recorded as $156,850. This was calculated by analyzing data from 86,270 practitioners across the nation. It represents a monthly income of $13,071 or a mean hourly pay rate of $75.41.
  
  

Salary by Employer

• The data supplied by the BLS also examined how salary levels for dentists varied across different sectors of the medical industry in which they are employed. A dentist working in his own or a fellow practitioner's office received the highest mean salary, $159,350 per year, followed by an individual employed by a state government agency, who earned $150,020. Outpatient care centers were listed at offering an average salary of $138,750, while general medical and surgical hospitals paid $109,560.
  
  

Salary by Experience

• As a dentist gains more professional experience he should see a commensurate rise in his salary level. Data compiled by PayScale.com in January 2010 recorded the average annual salary for a dentist with less than 12 months of experience as between $83,246 and $110,000 per year. A practitioner with five to nine years experience could expect between $90,575 and $152,595, while someone with 20 years or more in the job received $98,219 to $166,193.
  
  

Salary by Location

• The state in which a dentist chooses to practice his profession will also impact the salary he can expect to achieve. Of the seven listed states, PayScale.com shows Texas and Georgia as offering the best compensation packages as of January 2011, with annual ranges of $89,433 to $151,262 and $95,000 to $151,710 respectively. Of the states surveyed Pennsylvania and New York trailed the field in terms of average salaries offered to dentists, $81,389 to $122,084 and $78,396 to $118,172.
  
  

Prospects

• The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that the job market for qualified dentists will grow by between 14 and 19 percent in the decade from 2008 to 2018. It points to an increasing, aging American population requiring increased levels of dental care as the primary reason for this rise. As such, dentists should continue to receive excellent compensation rates, at least in the immediate future.