Best degree programs for Opticians, Dispensing, ranked by enrollment
1 college programs and 23 schools train Opticians, Dispensing. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $47,260 median wage, 73,530 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
1 college programs at 23 schools train opticians, dispensing, graduating 407 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Opticianry/Ophthalmic Dispensing Optician. The job pays a median of $47,260 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About opticians, dispensing
Design, measure, fit, and adapt lenses and frames for client according to written optical prescription or specification. Assist client with inserting, removing, and caring for contact lenses. Assist client with selecting frames. Measure customer for size of eyeglasses and coordinate frames with facial and eye measurements and optical prescription. Prepare work order for optical laboratory containing instructions for grinding and mounting lenses in frames. Verify exactness of finished lens spectacles. Adjust frame and lens position to fit client. May shape or reshape frames. Includes contact lens opticians.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
1 degree programs that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 51.1801 | 407 | 100.0% | 23 | $32,524 | $11,688 |
Top 23 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
What opticians, dispensing earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Californialimited | $57,990 | 7,840 | 0.91× | 2 | 87 |
| Floridamoderate | $58,850 | 5,080 | 1.08× | 3 | 75 |
| New Jerseymoderate | $72,460 | 2,010 | 0.99× | 3 | 56 |
| Nevadalimited | $46,910 | 960 | 1.31× | 1 | 40 |
| Georgialimited | $48,010 | 2,290 | 0.99× | 2 | 26 |
| Connecticutlimited | $75,300 | 610 | 0.76× | 1 | 24 |
| Virginialimited | $55,820 | 1,860 | 0.96× | 1 | 22 |
| North Carolinalimited | $50,190 | 2,020 | 0.87× | 2 | 21 |
| New Yorklimited | $63,880 | 3,520 | 0.77× | 2 | 18 |
| Massachusettslimited | $67,210 | 1,360 | 0.79× | 1 | 13 |
| Tennesseelimited | $49,840 | 1,530 | 0.98× | 1 | 11 |
| New Mexicolimited | $39,090 | 340 | 0.83× | 1 | 6 |
| Ohiolimited | $50,500 | 2,960 | 1.13× | 1 | 4 |
| Illinoislimited | $43,960 | 3,250 | 1.13× | 1 | 3 |
| Mississippilimited | $36,680 | 560 | 1.01× | 1 | 1 |
Skills and tools
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Measure clients' bridge and eye size, temple length, vertex distance, pupillary distance, and optical centers of eyes, using measuring devices.
- Verify that finished lenses are ground to specifications.
- Evaluate prescriptions in conjunction with clients' vocational and avocational visual requirements.
- Recommend specific lenses, lens coatings, and frames to suit client needs.
- Assist clients in selecting frames according to style and color, and ensure that frames are coordinated with facial and eye measurements and optical prescriptions.
- Maintain records of customer prescriptions, work orders, and payments.
- Heat, shape, or bend plastic or metal frames to adjust eyeglasses to fit clients, using pliers and hands.
- Show customers how to insert, remove, and care for their contact lenses.
Skills
- Speaking4.0
- Active Listening3.9
- Reading Comprehension3.8
- Critical Thinking3.5
- Writing3.3
- Monitoring3.0
- Active Learning3.0
- Mathematics2.9
Knowledge areas
- Customer and Personal Service4.9
- Sales and Marketing4.3
- Mathematics3.9
- Production and Processing3.8
- Administrative3.8
- English Language3.7
Abilities
- Oral Comprehension4.0
- Oral Expression4.0
- Near Vision3.9
- Speech Recognition3.8
- Speech Clarity3.8
- Written Comprehension3.8
Core activities
- Performing for or Working Directly with the Public4.8
- Documenting/Recording Information4.7
- Selling or Influencing Others4.5
- Getting Information4.5
- Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards4.5
- Making Decisions and Solving Problems4.5
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Optician, Dispensing
Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Long-term on-the-job training
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 1 majors mapped to Opticians, Dispensing1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 51.1801Opticianry/Ophthalmic Dispensing Optician
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become an Optician, Dispensing?+
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 Opticianry/Ophthalmic Dispensing Optician, which awarded 407 degrees in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Optician, Dispensing?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Ophthalmic and Optometric Support Services and Allied Professions. Together they graduate about 407 people a year.
How much do opticians, dispensing earn?+
The median is $47,260 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $35,610 at the 10th percentile to $76,750 at the 90th. 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 opticians, dispensing growing?+
BLS projects a +2.9% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 6,800 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
23 institutions 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 opticians, dispensing work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Optician, Licensed Optician, Dispensing Optician, Licensed Dispensing Optician (LDO) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 29-2081.
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 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected 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 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, 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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