Optometrist Salary in 2026: What ODs Actually Earn
Updated September 15, 2026. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual optometrist wage of $136,570 in May 2025. The lowest tenth earned below $74,870 and the highest tenth earned above $202,180. These are national wage estimates, not a guaranteed offer or practice-owner profit.
Source: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Optometrists.
Read the salary figure correctly
The median divides the measured workers into two equal groups. It is different from the mean, which is the arithmetic average. BLS wage data excludes self-employed workers. The date describes the wage measurement period; it does not mean every offer made in 2026 matches that figure.
Compare the whole offer
Start with the guaranteed base and expected schedule. Then ask how production is defined, when bonuses are calculated, which collections qualify, and how leave or changes in clinical hours affect the result. A large advertised maximum can depend on conditions that do not apply to your first year.
| Item to compare | Question for the employer |
|---|---|
| Schedule | How many clinical hours, weekends and locations are required? |
| Compensation | What is guaranteed, and what depends on production or collections? |
| Benefits | Which insurance, retirement, paid leave and continuing education costs are covered? |
| Clinical support | Who handles pretesting, documentation support, billing and follow-up? |
| Contract | What are the renewal, termination, repayment and post-employment obligations? |
Location and practice setting
Compare local offers with the same occupation and measurement year. Factor in housing, commuting, relocation and the schedule you can sustain. A national headline alone cannot tell you whether a particular offer is competitive. Use the state and area resources linked in the BLS profile when researching a location.
Owner income and employee pay are different measures
A practice’s revenue is not its owner’s compensation. Before comparing ownership with employment, separate operating expenses, debt service, capital investment, the owner’s clinical pay and any distributable profit. Review an acquisition’s records with qualified advisers instead of assuming an income multiple from national wage data.
Building a hiring budget
List the role, expected hours, employer-paid benefits, recruiting costs and coverage needs. Define which duties belong to the doctor and which belong to trained support staff. Review the budget against your actual capacity and collection assumptions; software cannot guarantee a salary, profit or patient volume.
For training requirements, see how to become an optometrist. For support-role planning, use the technician job-description guide.
Planning your own practice?
Explore practice ownership resources and software workflows for a solo practice. Jelo’s platform costs $300/month per location or $3,000/year per location, with unlimited doctors and staff at that paid location. AI add-ons are in development and priced separately.