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Optometry income trends: Understanding earnings disparities among ODs
Jan. 2, 2025
Each November, Review of Optometry surveys its readers on their anticipated financial performance over the previous 12 months.
In the aggregate, optometry is doing great: posting average annual incomes just shy of $200,000 per doctor.
However, if you split the group in any meaningful way—employed vs. self-employed, young vs. old, men vs. women—you reveal a wide range of earnings, and they don’t always track with what one might consider a fair outcome.
“I feel optometrists are not paid as well as we should be compared to other doctors,” wrote one OD from the Mid-Atlantic region, who practices in a commercial setting. “I had a lot of debt and did not feel my salary (especially starting out) was enough to compensate. Perhaps school overall is too much, considering what we make on the outside. Plus, I’ve had to increase patients per hour to help with income.”
Even though the average income among this year’s pool of 422 respondents—an impressive $194,928—is virtually identical to last year’s, the data in this annual survey continues to highlight the greater opportunities afforded by private practice.
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Senior ODs also typically earn more than younger ones, even though that’s not always an accurate reflection of effort or expertise. Plenty of bright young optometrists are in the “paying their dues” phase of their careers right now.
>>Click HERE for further results and analysis from this survey>>
