BLS MSA DATA · SOC 29-1292 · 7,940 MSA WORKERS · CA LICENSED
Dental Hygienist Salary in Los Angeles, CA 2026, $122,980 Median | BLS + Market Data
Hygiene pay across the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim metro, where a day-rate market, heavy part-time working and California's own licence structure produce one of the widest hygiene bands in the country.
Updated July 2026 · BLS OEWS May 2025
Compiled by GlobalCybers Labor Market Research · Reviewed by Karen Osei, RN, BSN, Clinical Recruitment Lead · See methodology & sources →
Los Angeles Median
$122,980
$59.12/hr BLS
P75
$130,570
$62.77/hr
Sector Peak
$137,310
Metro P90
BLS Workers
7,940
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim MSA
vs CA Median
−$1,950
−1.6% below CA
Direct Answer
How much do dental hygienists make in Los Angeles, CA in 2026?
Los Angeles dental hygienists earn a BLS MSA median of $122,980/yr ($59.12/hr), 25.4% above the US median and 1.6% below the California statewide figure. The LA band is exceptionally wide — $56,800 at the 10th percentile to $137,310 at the 90th — because a large share of the metro's hygienists work part-time or per-diem on a day rate rather than a full salaried schedule. Hygienists are less concentrated here than nationally, with a location quotient of 0.88. → Full dental hygienist career guide, career path, CA licence, and Los Angeles job placement →
Key takeaways
Los Angeles dental hygienists earn a BLS MSA median of $122,980/yr ($59.12/hr) per BLS OEWS May 2025 (SOC 29-1292, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim MSA), with a metro P10–P90 range of $56,800 to $137,310.
LA hygienists earn 25.4% above the national median but sit 1.6% below the California statewide figure, because higher-paying Bay Area metros pull the state number up.
The published LA band is one of the widest in the country, and most of that width reflects part-time and per-diem schedules rather than differences in hourly rate.
California taxes wage income progressively, so the take-home gap against a no-tax metro is largest exactly at LA's pay level.
Los Angeles Dental Hygienist Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Source: BLS OEWS May 2025
Los Angeles Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do Los Angeles dental hygienists earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended metro wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute this MSA's own published percentile range across the tiers Los Angeles employers actually hire at.
Level
MSA Median (BLS percentile-aligned)
New-graduate RDH, first year
$56,800
Registered dental hygienist (RDH), full schedule
$122,980
RDH with extended functions (RDHEF)
$130,570
Specialty practice lead hygienist
$137,310
Level medians are aligned to this metro's own published BLS OEWS May 2025 percentiles for SOC 29-1292; BLS does not publish a wage by credential level. GlobalCybers holds no verified placement sample for Los Angeles dental hygienists, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 29-1292, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA MSA. No verified placement data: GlobalCybers has no placement sample for Los Angeles dental hygienists, so every figure on this page is a published BLS estimate and no verified median is claimed. MSA sample size: an OEWS metro cell is drawn from a much smaller establishment sample than the statewide cell, so metro medians carry wider uncertainty and move more between releases. Where BLS suppresses or top-codes the metro wage for this occupation, this page reports the national figure and says so rather than asserting a Los Angeles median. Employer names mentioned on this page (e.g. in sector or FAQ copy) are illustrative examples of who hires in each market, not a claim of partnership. Full statewide methodology → · Full site methodology & data sources →
Full Data
How much do dental hygienists make in Los Angeles CA in 2026?
Metric
Value
Source
BLS MSA Median (Annual)
$122,980
BLS OEWS May 2025
BLS Median Hourly
$59.12/hr
BLS OEWS May 2025
P10 (Bottom 10%)
$56,800/yr · $27.31/hr
BLS OEWS
P25
$107,570/yr · $51.72/hr
BLS OEWS
P75
$130,570/yr · $62.77/hr
BLS OEWS
P90 (Top 10%)
$137,310/yr · $66.01/hr
BLS OEWS
vs California Median
−$1,950 (−1.6%)
vs $124,930 CA
vs National Median
+$24,880 (+25.4%)
vs $98,100 US
California State Income Tax
9.3%
California Tax Code
Licensing Authority
CA (Dental Hygiene Board of California, Department of Consumer Affairs)
State board
Reading this page's sources:BLS OEWS is the official published wage, sampled 1–2 years back. Market intelligence rows are directional signals from recruiter conversations and industry sources, not independently verified — treat them as a range, not a benchmark.
Los Angeles Sectors
Which Los Angeles sector pays dental hygienists the most?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for dental hygienists across the whole Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim metro and does not break it out by industry. The sectors below are ranked in the order Los Angeles employers actually pay, with each row anchored to this metro's own published percentile ladder (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 29-1292).
Sector
MSA Median
Notes
Westside and specialty practice
$137,310
Periodontal and high-end cosmetic practices on the Westside pay the metro's top hygiene rates and account for the $137,310 P90, almost always for a full weekly schedule.
Established general practice, full schedule
$130,570
Settled general practices across the metro pay around the $130,570 P75 for a full-time hygienist with several years of experience.
Group and multi-location practice
$122,980
The typical LA hygienist working a standard schedule in a group or multi-location practice sits at the $122,980 metro median.
Per-diem, part-time and community clinics
$107,570
Per-diem work, part-time schedules and community and FQHC clinics sit near the $107,570 P25, with the bottom of the band reflecting hygienists working only one or two days a week.
Real Take-Home
What is the actual take-home pay for a Los Angeles dental hygienist?
Real Los Angeles scenarios, line by line. California applies a progressive state income tax, and at the $122,980 metro median a Los Angeles hygienist is well into the middle brackets — the single largest deduction after federal tax. Hygienists working per-diem across several practices are typically treated as employees of each, but any genuine contract work should be planned for with quarterly estimates.
Estimates only. Pre-tax deductions (401k, health premium) reduce taxable income further. Consult a tax professional.
Los Angeles Dental Hygienist Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
How much do dental hygienists make in Los Angeles?
Los Angeles dental hygienists earn a BLS MSA median of $122,980/yr, or $59.12/hr, with a published range of $56,800 to $137,310. That is 25.4% above the national median. The unusually wide band reflects how much of LA hygiene work is per-diem or part-time — the hourly rate is high across the metro, but annual income tracks days worked.
Do dental hygienists earn more in Los Angeles than elsewhere in California?
No — Los Angeles sits 1.6% below the California statewide median. That is not a sign of weak LA pay but of how strong Bay Area hygiene rates are: San Francisco-area figures pull the state median above what the country's second-largest metro pays.
What day rate do Los Angeles hygienists get?
The published median hourly wage is $59.12, and per-diem hygienists across the metro generally negotiate a day rate consistent with that. Because the top of the published band is $137,310 a year, hygienists reaching the upper end are working a full weekly schedule in specialty or established general practice rather than commanding an unusual rate.
What licence do LA dental hygienists need?
A California registered dental hygienist licence from the Dental Hygiene Board of California within the Department of Consumer Affairs. It is statewide, not city-issued: you need a CODA-accredited programme, the national board, the state clinical and law-and-ethics examinations, and continuing education at renewal. Extended functions are a separate certification.
Is the LA hygiene market worth the cost of living?
The metro median of $122,980 is 25.4% above the national figure, but California's income tax and LA housing costs absorb much of that. Hygienists who do best here work a full five-day schedule, hold extended-functions certification, and treat the day rate rather than the annual figure as the number to negotiate.
Why the LA band is so wide
Los Angeles hygiene is a day-rate market with an unusually large part-time workforce, so the published distribution measures schedule as much as pay. A hygienist working two days a week at a strong rate lands near the bottom decile in annual terms while earning the same hourly as a colleague near the top. That is why the P10-to-P90 spread here is far wider than in metros where salaried full-time hygiene dominates.
What this figure does not capture
OEWS reports wage and salary employment, so LA's substantial independent per-diem workforce is thinly represented, and benefits are excluded — a large omission in a market where many hygienists trade benefits for rate. The estimate also averages a metro that stretches from the Westside to Anaheim with very different practice economics at each end.
The extended-functions mechanic
California licenses registered dental hygienists in extended functions, allowing procedures that most states reserve to the dentist. In a high-cost metro like Los Angeles this is one of the few credentials that measurably changes a hygienist's negotiating position, because it changes what the practice can bill for a hygiene appointment rather than just how fast the hygienist works.
Free · 15 seconds · No login
Get matched to Dental Hygienist jobs in Los Angeles
Skip the applications. Give us your email and we’ll send you dental hygienist openings in Los Angeles that match this pay range, with the offer benchmarked before you say yes.
Outlook & openings: Nationally BLS projects 7% growth for dental hygienists over 2024–2034; scaled to the Los Angeles metro's share of national employment that is roughly 550 openings a year, a pro-rated figure from the national EP total rather than an LA-specific projection. (2024–2034 · national BLS EP 2024–34, pro-rated to the metro)
Your career research journey in Los Angeles
Do your homework, then let the network do the rest.
Set your intent, matching jobs come to you. No applying.
📈
Step 6
Career advancement plan
A roadmap to your next licence tier and higher pay band.
🎓
Step 7
We fund your fees
Once placed, we cover all certification, licence & career-guide fees.
⚡
Hiring in Los Angeles?
Get a verified shortlist of 3–5 qualified candidates in 48 hours
GlobalCybers verifies active state licenses, trade certifications, Intent and right-to-work status before any candidate reaches your portal. Flat $2,999/mo RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing), up to 3 concurrent roles, or a free trial (pay on hire). 90-day written guarantee.
Los Angeles dental hygienist pay, licensing, interview prep, and hiring — cross-linked so you can move from local salary data to the licence steps and local jobs in one place.