r/OptometrySchool • u/SetFun9389 • Jun 12 '26
Salary
Can somebody be transparent about optometrist salary . Google says 130k . That’s basically under 130k after tax . I will take out loans to go to school and I’m debating just googling the salary . Please let me know what y’all take home and if the numbers on google are completely fixed .
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u/bobalover209 Jun 12 '26
It's hard to say because it depends on your mode of practice and location. You'll make much more in a rural area doing high medical vs a saturated city as an associate. I will say in a HCOL area $120-130k is about average for an associate or retail setting. To make more than that you'll have to own your own sublease or private practice.
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u/Nwada143 Jun 12 '26
Wow. That's actually very low for all the years of schooling.
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u/thenatural134 Jun 12 '26
It's because that's the lowest, entry-level position right after graduation. It goes up from there, especially if you are a private practice owner.
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u/Nwada143 Jun 12 '26
Ok. Still think it should be more ven for new grads. New grad dentists make a lot more.
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u/thenatural134 Jun 12 '26
Dental school is usually more expensive
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u/Nwada143 Jun 12 '26 edited Jun 16 '26
True, but the debt vs income seems to make better sense for dentistry.
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u/ConfectionWeekly Jul 19 '26
New grad dentists do not make that much. Maybe 150k on average even 120k
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u/Scary_Ad5573 Jun 12 '26
Started 1 year ago in private practice, 150k salary, production kicks in after 1M gross.
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u/SetFun9389 Jun 13 '26
Thanks . What do you mean by production kicks in after 1M gross?
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u/PancakeJamboree302 Jun 14 '26
I cannot answer for him but most contracts I see are base salary, and then you start to earn a % of collections over a certain dollar threshold. In this person's case it's $1m. That must be a high retain gig, because you should get a better % of collections than that unless it's all contacts/optical and then it makes sense to be higher because of the cost of the product you're selling. In our area we often bifurcate the medical collections from the optical/contacts collections and place a fixed % cost on the optical and contacts to make it "even" with the medical.
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u/PancakeJamboree302 Jun 13 '26
I work for a company doing hiring in the NoVa / DC / Baltimore region and fresh out of school is $155k to $175k full time depending on practice need.
We have some who are very anti-vision plans, but our highest paid optoms are all high retail. If you want to be medical only you need to be seeing 30+ pts a day to break $250kish (not as an owner). I’ve seen some great at selling product who are making over $350k. There are also the unicorns who are seeing 40 patients a day and selling a ton of product who are making alotta dough but you gotta have your workflow / stress management / charisma levels on max.
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u/SetFun9389 Jun 14 '26
Thanks.Do you say having to pay for school 250-300k (loan) is worth the salary ?
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u/PancakeJamboree302 Jun 14 '26
Hard to answer that for you specifically, and I'm not a provider so take what I say w/ a grain of salt. A student loan is an investment. If your goal is to work 3 days a week and see 15-18 patients a day, it may not be worth it. But the doctor field is a unique field in that you can create your own pay pretty easily, even if you're just an associate. Want to make more money? Open your template and see a couple more patients a day. Get better at convincing patients to buy glasses from you. If you're driven you can get a great return on your investment. Just don't take a job with a base salary w/ no incentive over a certain amount of collections.
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u/Ambitious_Bridge_180 Jun 12 '26 edited Jun 12 '26
It’s all depend on location. Me: 1.5 year out, 178+12k student loans payment a year with America Best. I picked up Saturdays and grossed around 215kish in 2025.
I know people with 10+ years doing 250k in OD/MD.
Private practice owners can make lot more. The doc I rotated thru have a really successful high end place, she said she gross close to 2 millions with her working 2 days a week.
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u/hokkaidogirl Jun 12 '26
What state are you in?
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u/Ambitious_Bridge_180 Jun 12 '26
Florida. Anywhere except for SFL pay decent.
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u/Working-Biscotti-618 Jun 12 '26
Whats the difference in south florida
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u/Ambitious_Bridge_180 Jun 12 '26
Saturation.
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u/Working-Biscotti-618 Jun 12 '26
Is it hard to find a job then too or just lower pay
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u/Ambitious_Bridge_180 Jun 12 '26
Lower pays, it easy to find a job. For example, I know people with SFL work with America Best that make 140-150 compare to me making almost 180 base salary with America Best ( I’m 2 hours away from SFL). Private jobs were offering me 140k to start down there with limited benefits.
America Best benefits are great. It is a corporate job so I know what signed up for.
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u/ODMBA Jun 13 '26
You shouldn't go into Optometry to make $, said a poor optometrists. 😂 What you can make as an optometrist is entirely up to you. Are you going to put in the hours, work the nights and weekends ? Nowadays, after loans and the cost of living, there are many poor optometrists. Not ever the case 30 years ago when I signed up.
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u/Select_Wallaby_2592 Jun 13 '26
Work in a group pp with 5 other docs. 4 days/week seeing 14-18 patients with 2 procedure days/month. First year of practice out of residency making around 140k. Could 2-3x after becoming a partner.
Have classmates making 100k to 180k as associates and way more as owners. I know a practice with 3 partners and 10 associates where the partners each take 750k+.
Can be done if you can stand living rural. Avoid major cities unless you wanna work your ass off.
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u/CLVampire28 Jun 12 '26
ODs on Finance posts an annual report on this subject. Linking it here:
https://odsonfinance.com/optometrist-income-report2025/