Oklahoma·Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations·SOC 29-1292

Best Dental Hygienist programs in Oklahoma, ranked by enrollment

Administer oral hygiene care to patients. Assess patient oral hygiene problems or needs and maintain health records. Advise patients on oral health maintenance and disease prevention.

3 schools in Oklahoma run programs that feed this job, graduating 73 people a year. The job pays a median of $97,580 in Oklahoma across about 2,860 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledHygienistDental HygienistLicensed Dental HygienistRegistered Dental Hygienist (RDH)Dental NurseOral HygienistPediatric Dental HygienistDental Treatment Coordinator
Graduates / yr
73
in Oklahoma
Median pay · Oklahoma
$97,580
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
2,860
people employed
Schools
3
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
24%
across those schools
Median net price
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Oklahoma that lead to this job

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

1 programs in Oklahoma that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Oklahoma (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 Oklahoma page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 51.0602In Oklahoma
73
100.0%
3$28,924$10,782

Top 3 schools in Oklahoma

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 3 of the 3 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1University of Oklahoma - Health Sciences Center
Oklahoma City, OK Public · 1 feeder programs
47Dental Hygiene/Hygienist$75,367
2Tulsa Community College
Tulsa, OK Public · 1 feeder programs
14Dental Hygiene/Hygienist$63,22428%
3Rose State College
Midwest City, OK Public · 1 feeder programs
12Dental Hygiene/Hygienist$70,42720%

All 3 schools in Oklahoma

Every school in Oklahoma 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 Oklahoma that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
University of Oklahoma - Health Sciences CenterOklahoma CityPublic471
Tulsa Community CollegeTulsaPublic141
Rose State CollegeMidwest CityPublic121

What dental hygienists earn in Oklahoma

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

Median annual in Oklahoma
$97,580
Mean annual
$98,000
Jobs in state
2,860
What the range looks like
10th pct$81,290Median$97,58090th pct$119,760
Versus the national median
-0.5%

U.S. median $98,100. Oklahoma pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
1.17×

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

Metro areas in Oklahoma

Oklahoma City, OK
$97,110median
1,420 jobs
Tulsa, OK
$100,350median
820 jobs
Lawton, OK
$92,210median
70 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+7.0%
Faster than average
Openings per year
15,300
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
15,500
221,600 → 237,200
Typical entry education
Associate's degree

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 Dental Hygienists page.

How to become a Dental Hygienist

Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0
Typical entry education
Associate's degree

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.

Top skills

Active ListeningSpeakingCritical ThinkingWritingMonitoringActive Learning

The same job in other states

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

Related careers in Oklahoma

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 1 majors mapped to Dental Hygienists1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 51.0602Dental Hygiene/Hygienist

Common questions

Answers for people weighing dental hygienists programs in Oklahoma.

What degree do you need to become a Dental Hygienist?+

Associate's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Dental Hygiene/Hygienist, which awarded 73 degrees in Oklahoma in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Dental Hygienist?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Dental Support Services and Allied Professions. Together they graduate about 73 people a year in Oklahoma.

How much do dental hygienists earn in Oklahoma?+

The median is $97,580 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 0.5% below the U.S. median of $98,100. 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 dental hygienists growing?+

BLS projects a +7.0% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 15,300 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

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

3 institutions in Oklahoma 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 dental hygienists work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Hygienist, Dental Hygienist, Licensed Dental Hygienist, Registered Dental Hygienist (RDH) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 29-1292.

Programs in OklahomaDental Hygiene/Hygienist

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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