An Analysis of Nuclear Medicine Technologist Salaries

Anthony W. Knight; Bhaskar Dawardi

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TABLE 1

Salary by Job Classification

	Mean salary	Number of respondants	Hourly equivalent	Median salary	Range
	Mean salary	Number of respondants	Hourly equivalent	Median salary			High	Low
General imaging—hospital based	$45,791	1953	$22.01	$45,000	$98,000	$19,000
General imaging—private clinic or office	$47,718	227	$22.94	$47,840	$73,300	$22,320
Mobile NM—private mobile imaging service	$46,611	50	$22.41	$44,950	$93,600	$30,000
Mobile NM—hospital or clinic based	$49,986	19	$24.03	$50,000	$61,152	$34,000
Average for general imaging NMTs	$47,526	2249	$22.85	$46,948
Cardiac NM—hospital based	$47,079	107	$22.63	$46,750	$90,000	$25,000
Cardiac NM—private office	$49,787	501	$23.94	$48,942	$105,000	$19,872
Average for cardiac NMTs	$48,433	608	$23.28	$47,846
PET—hospital based	$49,666	24	$23.88	$47,720	$96,700	$38,000
PET—private office	$54,229	27	$26.07	$54,000	$75,000	$33,280
Mobile PET—private mobile imaging service	$54,439	27	$26.17	$53,000	$85,500	$32,500
Mobile PET—hospital or clinic based	$51,385	6	$24.70	$47,405	$80,000	$39,500
Average for PET NMTs	$52,430	84	$25.21	$50,531
Research—hospital/clinic/educational institution based	$49,873	45	$23.98	$48,900	$79,400	$32,000
Research—private research laboratory	$37,750	2	$18.15	$37,750	$42,500	$33,000
Average for research NMTs	$43,812	47	$21.06	$43,325
Self-Employed NMTs	$71,035	26	$34.15	$67,500	$135,000	$30,000
Temporary staffing service based	$60,641	96	$29.15	$60,000	$104,000	$33,000
All full time NMTs	$51,142	3110	$24.59	$49,830
Minus self-employed/temp agency NMTs	$48,847	2988	$23.48	$49,726
Supervisor—administrator	$64,913	88	$31.21	$63,043	$150,000	$35,000
Supervisor—chief tech	$53,525	858	$25.73	$52,000	$135,000	$40,400
Specialty supervisor (e.g., cardiac, PET)	$53,151	184	$25.55	$52,150	$104,000	$30,000
Program director	$53,830	40	$25.88	$52,000	$115,000	$35,000
Clinical instructor	$48,084	19	$23.12	$47,500	$68,600	$34,000
Classroom instructor	$64,194	16	$30.86	$53,250	$130,000	$22,800

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TABLE 2
Average Salaries Based on the Number of Years Worked at Current Institution
<1 year 1 year 2–5 years 6–10 years 11–15 years 16–20 years >20 years
General imaging—hospital based $46,480 $43,607 $43,985 $46,018 $49,161 $49,046 $51,636
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TABLE 3
Average Salaries Based on the Number of Years Worked in Current Position
<1 year 1 year 2–5 years 6–10 years 11–15 years 16–20 years >20 years
General imaging—hospital based $39,629 $39,174 $42,154 $44,814 $46,905 $48,343 $49,405

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TABLE 5

Average Full-Time Staff NMT Salaries by Community Size

	Urban	Suburban or small city	Rural
General imaging—hospital based	$46,784	$45,728	$43,348
General imaging—private clinic or office	$48,084	$47,351	$47,717
Mobile NM—private mobile imaging service	$43,012	$46,969	$48,318
Cardiac NM—private office	$49,272	$50,359	$50,101
Cardiac NM—hospital based	$48,828	$43,502	$43,454
PET—hospital based	$49,957	$48,560	—
PET—private office	$56,024	$51,253	—
Mobile PET—private mobile imaging service	$53,344	$54,324	—
Temporary staffing agency	$59,429	$60,351	$51,400
Self-Employed	$75,292	$65,167	$63,220

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TABLE 6

Average Full-Time Salaries by State

General imaging NMT—hospital based
Rank	State	Region¹	Annual salary	Number of respondents	Hourly wage
1	Alaska	PA	$57,710	2	$27.75
2	California	PA	$54,886	127	$26.39
3	Washington	PA	$54,723	33	$26.31
4	New Jersey	MA	$53,959	49	$25.94
5	Rhode Island	NE	$52,762	10	$25.37
6	Hawaii	PA	$51,239	7	$24.63
7	District of Columbia	MA	$50,760	3	$24.40
8	Connecticut	NE	$50,637	19	$24.34
9	Nevada	RM	$50,147	8	$24.11
10	Massachusetts	NE	$50,037	46	$24.06
11	Kansas	PL	$49,888	16	$23.98
12	Oregon	PA	$48,937	16	$23.53
13	Colorado	RM	$48,806	23	$23.46
14	Maryland	MA	$48,398	27	$23.27
15	Minnesota	PL	$47,802	28	$22.98
16	Delaware	MA	$47,699	5	$22.93
17	New Mexico	RM	$47,435	6	$22.81
18	Indiana	MW	$47,056	63	$22.62
19	Arizona	RM	$47,007	15	$22.60
20	Alabama	SO	$46,426	25	$22.32
21	Montana	RM	$46,295	12	$22.26
22	Missouri	PL	$46,213	48	$22.22
23	New York	NE	$46,210	128	$22.22
24	Iowa	PL	$46,103	24	$22.16
25	Georgia	SO	$46,070	31	$22.15
26	Texas	OP	$46,028	79	$22.13
27	Florida	SO	$46,013	99	$22.12
28	Illinois	MW	$45,803	85	$22.02
29	Oklahoma	OP	$45,742	15	$21.99
30	Maine	NE	$45,675	8	$21.96
31	New Hampshire	NE	$45,674	14	$21.96
32	Wisconsin	MW	$45,492	69	$21.87
33	South Carolina	SO	$45,483	35	$21.87
34	Michigan	MW	$44,733	97	$21.51
35	Louisiana	OP	$44,656	27	$21.47
36	North Dakota	PL	$44,221	6	$21.26
37	Mississippi	SO	$44,145	17	$21.22
38	Vermont	NE	$43,879	7	$21.10
39	Virginia	MA	$43,434	53	$20.88
40	Nebraska	PL	$42,629	11	$20.49
41	Ohio	MW	$42,446	138	$20.41
42	Arkansas	OP	$42,354	26	$20.36
43	North Carolina	SO	$42,299	65	$20.34
44	Idaho	RM	$42,200	6	$20.29
45	Tennessee	SO	$42,066	61	$20.22
46	Pennsylvania	MA	$41,281	154	$19.85
47	Wyoming	RM	$41,200	3	$19.81
48	Utah	RM	$41,107	13	$19.76
49	Kentucky	SO	$39,392	42	$18.94
50	West Virginia	MA	$38,770	25	$18.64
51	South Dakota	PL	$37,666	11	$18.11
52	Puerto Rico		$24,256	8	$11.66
				1945
	Mean:		$45,882		$22.06
	Median:		$46,020		$22.13

↵1 PA-Pacific, NE-North East, MA-Mid-Atlantic, RM-Rocky Mountain, PL-Plains, SO-South, OP-Oil Patch.

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TABLE 7

Regional Average Salaries

General imaging NMT—hospital based
	Region	Annual salary	Difference from the mean	Hourly wage	Difference from the mean
The Pacific states	$53,499	$6,962	$25.72	$3.35
The North East	$47,839	$1,302	$23.00	$0.63
The Mid-Atlantic	$46,329	−$208	$22.27	−$0.10
The Rocky Mountain states	$45,525	−$1,012	$21.89	−$0.49
The Plains states	$45,315	−$1,221	$21.79	−$0.59
The Industrial Mid-West	$45,106	−$1,431	$21.69	−$0.69
The Oil Patch states	$44,695	−$1,842	$21.49	−$0.89
The South	$43,987	−$2,550	$21.15	−$1.23
Mean:	$46,537	—		$22.37
Median:	$45,420	—		$21.84

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TABLE 8

Culture/Ethnicity/Age Data (All Respondants)

Culture/Ethnicity/Age Data (All Respondants)
	Number of individuals	Percent of respondants	Average age	Median age	Minimum age	Maximum age
American Indian or Alaskan	34	0.68%	42.6	45.0	24.0	59.0
Asian or Pacific Islander	231	4.64%	39.7	39.0	23.0	64.0
Black or African American	115	2.31%	40.7	41.5	22.0	58.0
Latino or Hispanic	143	2.87%	37.1	36.5	23.0	57.0
White	4364	87.61%	40.1	40.0	21.0	69.0
Mixed Heritage	47	0.94%	36.1	34.0	23.0	58.0
Other	47	0.94%	42.3	43.5	21.0	63.0
Total:	4981	100.0%
Grand Mean			40.0	39.9

Culture/Ethnicity/Age Salaries (General imaging NMT—hospital based)
	Average salary	Number of individuals	Percent of group	Hourly wage	Average age (years)
American Indian or Alaskan	$42,011	10	0.52%	$20.20	36.1
Asian or Pacific Islander	$48,990	103	5.31%	$23.55	43.8
Black or African American	$43,939	48	2.48%	$21.12	41.5
Latino or Hispanic	$42,564	48	2.48%	$20.46	40.4
White	$45,709	1,686	86.95%	$21.98	39.9
Mixed Heritage	$47,523	21	1.08%	$22.85	41.1
Other	$46,280	23	1.19%	$22.25	39.0
Total:		1,939	100%
Grand Mean:	$45,288			$21.77	40.1

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TABLE 9

Salary by Job Classification and Gender:

	Males					Females		Salary difference
		Mean salary	Number of respondents	% Male	Mean salary	Number of respondents	% Female	Salary difference
General imaging—hospital based	$47,654	866	42.9%	$44,765	1,154	57.1%	$2,888.87
General imaging—private clinic or office	$50,947	76	33.8%	$45,990	149	66.2%	$4,957.05
Mobile NM—private imaging service	$49,716	29	58.0%	$42,323	21	42.0%	$7,392.53
Mobile NM—hospital or clinic based	$50,748	9	47.4%	$49,300	10	52.6%	$1,448.00
Average for general imaging NMTs	$49,766	980	42.4%	$45,595	1,334	57.6%	$4,171.61
Cardiac NM—hospital based	$49,116	42	40.0%	$45,850	63	60.0%	$3,266.16
Cardiac NM—private office	$53,268	194	38.7%	$47,594	307	61.3%	$5,673.72
Average for cardiac NMTs	$51,192	236	38.9%	$46,722	370	61.1%	$4,469.94
PET—hospital based	$48,618	10	41.7%	$50,414	14	58.3%	($1,796.36)
PET—private office	$58,547	12	44.4%	$50,775	15	55.6%	$7,772.67
Mobile PET—private mobile imaging service	$54,293	17	63.0%	$54,688	10	37.0%	($395.06)
Mobile PET—hospital or clinic based	$56,270	3	50.0%	$46,500	3	50.0%	$9,770.00
Average for PET NMTs	$54,432	42	50.0%	$50,594	42	50.0%	$3,837.81
Self-Employed NMTs	$74,416	19	73.1%	$61,857	7	26.9%	$12,558.65
Temporary staffing service based	$64,173	41	43.2%	$57,845	54	56.8%	$6,327.73
All Full Time NMTs	$49,826	1,261	40.7%	$46,038	1,835	59.3%	$3,787.97
Minus Self-Employed/Temp Agency NMTs	$48,948	1,201	40.4%	$45,617	1,774	59.6%	$3,331.01

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TABLE 10

Full-Time Salaries vs. Level of Education

Staff NMT’s
	High school	Certificate	AA	BA/BS	Masters	Doctorate	Post doctorate	Total	Grand mean
Average salary	$46,612	$47,419	$46,718	$47,937	$53,968	$49,249	$52,671	—	$49,225
Number of individuals	78	415	1037	1511	142	10	3	3196
Percentage	2.4%	13.0%	32.4%	47.3%	4.4%	0.3%	0.1%	100%	%

Nuclear medicine administrators
	High school	Certificate	AA	BA/BS	Masters	Doctorate	Post doctorate	Total	Grand mean
Average salary	$64,617	$56,084	$62,660	$68,239	$65,585	—	—	—	$63,437
Number of individuals	3	6	20	27	10	—	—	66
Percentage	4.5%	9.1%	30.3%	40.9%	15.2%	0.0%	0.0%	100%

Nuclear medicine program directors
	High school	Certificate	AA	BA/BS	Masters	Doctorate	Post doctorate	Total	Grand mean
Average salary	—	$51,839	$55,400	$51,405	$53,774	$52,200	—	—	$52,924
Number of individuals	—	1	2	6	18	1	—	28
Percentage	0.0%	3.6%	7.1%	21.4%	64.3%	3.6%	0.0%	100%

Radiology administrators
	High school	Certificate	AA	BA/BS	Masters	Doctorate	Post doctorate	Total	Grand mean
Average salary	$58,000	$61,420	$63,152	$66,023	$72,706	—	—	—	$64,260
Number of individuals	1	10	7	26	18	—	—	62
Percentage	1.6%	16.1%	11.3%	41.9%	29.0%	0.0%	0.0%	100%