Florida·Healthcare Support Occupations·SOC 31-9093

Best Medical Equipment Preparer programs in Florida, ranked by enrollment

Prepare, sterilize, install, or clean laboratory or healthcare equipment.

16 schools in Florida run programs that feed this job, graduating 386 people a year. The job pays a median of $45,890 in Florida across about 5,250 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledCentral Service Technician (CST)Central Sterile Supply Technician (CSS Technician)Certified Registered Central Service Technician (CRCST)Sterile Processing Technician (Sterile Processing Tech)Hot PackerSterilizerBandage MakerReuse Technician
Graduates / yr
386
in Florida
Median pay · Florida
$45,890
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
5,250
people employed
Schools
16
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
56%
across those schools
Median net price
$28,466
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Florida that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

1 programs in Florida that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Florida (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Florida page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 51.1012In Florida
386
100.0%
16$49,401$19,848

Top 16 schools in Florida

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 4 of the 16 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Concorde Career Institute - Miramar
Miramar, FL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
89Sterile Processing Technology/Technician67%$27,271100%
2Concorde Career Institute - Orlando
Orlando, FL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
62Sterile Processing Technology/Technician69%$34,10090%
3Concorde Career Institute - Tampa
Tampa, FL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
43Sterile Processing Technology/Technician56%$26,04796%
4Atlantic Technical College
Coconut Creek, FL Public · 1 feeder programs
35Sterile Processing Technology/Technician$26,46465%
5Concorde Career Institute - Jacksonville
Jacksonville, FL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
35Sterile Processing Technology/Technician47%$28,46694%
6H W Brewster Technical College
Tampa, FL Public · 1 feeder programs
35Sterile Processing Technology/Technician$37,85172%
7Florida State College at Jacksonville
Jacksonville, FL Public · 1 feeder programs
19Sterile Processing Technology/Technician$58,34637%
8Santa Fe College
Gainesville, FL Public · 1 feeder programs
14Sterile Processing Technology/Technician53%
9Miami Dade College
Miami, FL Public · 1 feeder programs
13Sterile Processing Technology/Technician$25,92346%
10Lively Technical College
Tallahassee, FL Public · 1 feeder programs
11Sterile Processing Technology/Technician51%
11Eastern Florida State College
Melbourne, FL Public · 1 feeder programs
7Sterile Processing Technology/Technician52%
12Pinellas Technical College - St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg, FL Public · 1 feeder programs
7Sterile Processing Technology/Technician60%
13Gulf Coast State College
Panama City, FL Public · 1 feeder programs
6Sterile Processing Technology/Technician43%
14Tom P. Haney Technical College
Panama City, FL Public · 1 feeder programs
5Sterile Processing Technology/Technician61%
15Indian River State College
Fort Pierce, FL Public · 1 feeder programs
3Sterile Processing Technology/Technician45%
16Lindsey Hopkins Technical College
Miami, FL Public · 1 feeder programs
2Sterile Processing Technology/Technician66%

All 16 schools in Florida

Every school in Florida with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Florida that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Concorde Career Institute - MiramarMiramarPrivate for-profit891
Concorde Career Institute - OrlandoOrlandoPrivate for-profit621
Concorde Career Institute - TampaTampaPrivate for-profit431
Atlantic Technical CollegeCoconut CreekPublic351
Concorde Career Institute - JacksonvilleJacksonvillePrivate for-profit351
H W Brewster Technical CollegeTampaPublic351
Florida State College at JacksonvilleJacksonvillePublic191
Santa Fe CollegeGainesvillePublic141
Miami Dade CollegeMiamiPublic131
Lively Technical CollegeTallahasseePublic111
Eastern Florida State CollegeMelbournePublic71
Pinellas Technical College - St. PetersburgSaint PetersburgPublic71
Gulf Coast State CollegePanama CityPublic61
Tom P. Haney Technical CollegePanama CityPublic51
Indian River State CollegeFort PiercePublic31

What medical equipment preparers earn in Florida

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Florida
$45,890
Mean annual
$46,940
Jobs in state
5,250
What the range looks like
10th pct$35,630Median$45,89090th pct$62,000
Versus the national median
-3.8%

U.S. median $47,700. Florida pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
1.06×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Florida

Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL
$47,180median
920 jobs
North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL
$50,510median
210 jobs
Naples-Marco Island, FL
$43,550median
50 jobs
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL
$46,330median
1,350 jobs
Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL
$47,020median
220 jobs
Jacksonville, FL
$46,030median
430 jobs
Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL
$46,780median
130 jobs
Ocala, FL
$44,120median
60 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+10.0%
Much faster than average
Openings per year
10,900
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
7,600
76,500 → 84,200
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
Plus moderate-term on-the-job training

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Medical Equipment Preparers page.

How to become a Medical Equipment Preparer

Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
On-the-job training
Moderate-term on-the-job training

Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.

Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.

Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.

Top skills

Critical ThinkingMonitoringActive ListeningSpeakingReading ComprehensionActive Learning

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Florida

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 1 majors mapped to Medical Equipment Preparers1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 51.1012Sterile Processing Technology/Technician

Common questions

Answers for people weighing medical equipment preparers programs in Florida.

What degree do you need to become a Medical Equipment Preparer?+

High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Sterile Processing Technology/Technician, which awarded 386 degrees in Florida in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Medical Equipment Preparer?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science/Research and Allied Professions. Together they graduate about 386 people a year in Florida.

How much do medical equipment preparers earn in Florida?+

The median is $45,890 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 3.8% below the U.S. median of $47,700. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for medical equipment preparers growing?+

BLS projects a +10.0% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 10,900 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Florida?+

16 institutions in Florida reported graduates from at least one of the 1 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do medical equipment preparers work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Central Service Technician (CST), Central Sterile Supply Technician (CSS Technician), Certified Registered Central Service Technician (CRCST), Sterile Processing Technician (Sterile Processing Tech) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 31-9093.

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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