How much do phlebotomists make in 2026?
Phlebotomists earn a national median of $45,230 a year ($21.75 an hour) per BLS OEWS May 2025 (SOC 31-9097). The bottom 10% earn about $35,780 and the top 10% reach $58,780. The band is deliberately tight: the credential is a short certificate plus a national certification exam, and most employers pay to a posted hourly grid. What moves the number is setting and schedule — outpatient draw stations sit at the bottom, hospital inpatient and emergency-department phlebotomy with night and weekend differentials sits above the median, and lead phlebotomists who run a draw team and train new staff approach the $48,930 P75 and beyond. Employment is projected to grow 5.6% through 2034 with roughly 18,400 openings a year. → Full phlebotomist career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $45,230 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Phlebotomists earn a national median $45,230/yr ($21.75/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 31-9097); the P10 to P90 range is $35,780 to $58,780.
- The range runs $35,780 to $58,780, and within a market the difference is mostly setting and shift: hospital inpatient and emergency draws pay above outpatient collection sites.
- National certification (ASCP, NHA or AMT) plus a clean difficult-stick record is what gets you onto a hospital draw team, which is the practical route past the median.
- BLS projects 5.6% growth through 2034 with roughly 18,400 openings a year, and phlebotomy remains one of the shortest credentialed entries into hospital clinical work.
US Phlebotomist Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do phlebotomists earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute the published percentile range across the credential tiers this role actually hires at.
Level medians are aligned to the BLS OEWS May 2025 percentile distribution for SOC 31-9097; GlobalCybers does not yet publish a verified placement sample for this role, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
How the numbers on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 31-9097, United States national estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them.
Level and certification medians: distributed across the published BLS percentile range for this SOC code (P10 through P90) according to the credential tiers this occupation actually hires at. They are modeled reference points, not separately surveyed wages.
State and metro figures: modeled — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers state wage index, and for metros by the published metro index for that state. They are estimates of local pay, not BLS state or metropolitan-area observations, and are labelled as modeled in the tables below.
No verified placement sample:GlobalCybers does not yet publish a placement median for this role, so no "verified" figure appears anywhere on this page.
Pay by Career Level
How much does a phlebotomist earn at each career stage?
Phlebotomy has no licence tiers in most states, so the stages below track setting, difficulty of draw and team responsibility. Each median is anchored to the BLS OEWS percentile distribution for SOC 31-9097.
By State
Which states pay phlebotomists the most in 2026?
These are modeled state estimates — the BLS national median scaled by the GlobalCybers state wage index — not BLS state observations. Only a handful of states licence phlebotomy separately, so geography works on this role through local hourly wage levels and hospital pay grids rather than through credential rules.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($52,010), the highest-paying state shown. See all 51 state salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay phlebotomists the most?
Modeled metro estimates: the national median scaled by the state wage index and then by the published metro index. Treat them as local wage-level estimates, not BLS metropolitan-area observations.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise a phlebotomist’s pay the most?
Median annual pay before and after each credential, based on GlobalCybers placement data cross-referenced with BLS. License upgrades move the needle most; stackable certs add on top.
Impacts are not additive, the licensing rows share the same career ladder. Browse all 167 certifications →
Trade Comparison
How does phlebotomist pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Phlebotomists sit mid-pack on median but carry one of the widest P10–P90 spreads, licensing and specialization drive the upside.
BLS OEWS May 2025. Verify phlebotomist wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a phlebotomist actually take home after taxes?
The medians above are gross base wage.
Estimates use 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction, and 7.65% FICA. Actual take-home varies with filing status, deductions, and local tax.
FAQ
Phlebotomist Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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