Dental Assistants in New York
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,835
after federal, FICA and New York tax
Tax takes
$9,275
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,084
New York costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in New York — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$48,110
Kept after tax
$38,835
Worth in national money
$36,084
State rank
23
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. New York pays dental assistants around $48,110 at the midpoint, 23 of 50 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 493 occupations New York publishes, dental assistants lands at 383. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $48,110 the take-home is $38,835. But New York costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $36,084 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $49,820, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For dental assistants the New York median is $48,110, ranking 23 of 50 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within New York, this work ranks 383 of 493 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and New York income tax is $38,835 for dental assistants, from $48,110. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $36,084. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $49,820 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Dental Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,410 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,110 |
| Top tenth earn over | $60,490 |
| This salary | $48,110 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in New York | $38,835 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,836 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,940 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $45,620 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,184 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in New York earn less than $48,110. The published range is $36,410 up to $60,490, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In New York the take-home figure of $38,835, from $48,110, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 383 of 493 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $36,084 uses one figure for the whole of New York. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 493 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 383.
- Reported values are medians; for dental assistants in New York the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $36,410 to $60,490. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for New York is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $38,835 from $48,110. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 383 of 493 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $36,084, worked from $48,110, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular New York address, on work sitting at 383 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $49,820, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $36,410 and the top tenth $60,490, so most people doing this work in New York sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $36,084 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; New York then takes its own share, leaving $38,835.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in New York is $49,820. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($36,410 to $60,490) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to New York rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
New York's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $36,084 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $38,835 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and New York income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.