Dental Assistant salary in Lake Charles
Lake Charles, LA
The verified BLS median dental assistant in the Lake Charles metro earns $40,200 ($19.33/hr). Lake Charles pays roughly 16% below the national median of $48,070.
Dental Assistant pay in Lake Charles: the analysis
At a verified median of $40,200, dental assistants in Lake Charles earn notably below the U.S. median of $48,070 — a gap of about 16%. Among the 377 metro areas where the BLS reports dental assistant pay, Lake Charles ranks 340th.
Compared with Louisiana as a whole (median $44,090), Lake Charles pays dental assistants about 9% less than the statewide median. Local demand, cost of labor, and the mix of practices drive most of that difference.
The pay range is wide: the lowest-paid tenth of dental assistants in this metro area earn around $29,400, while the top tenth earn $49,190 or more — a spread of about $19,790. That gap reflects experience, practice setting, and local demand more than any single factor, so an individual offer can sit well above or below the midpoint.
The BLS counts roughly 220 dental assistants employed in Lake Charles — a measure of how deep the local job market is for the role.
Within Lake Charles, a dental assistant earns about 2.8× less than a general dentist and about 2.1× less than a dental hygienist ($114,470, $84,080 respectively) — a quick way to see where the role sits in the local dental pay ladder.
Dental Assistant pay distribution — Lake Charles (verified)
Inner percentiles marked “est.” are interpolated between published anchors.
| Percentile | Annual pay | Hourly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentilei | $29,400 | $14.13/hr |
| 25th percentilei | $35,020 | $16.84/hr |
| Median (50th)i | $40,200 | $19.33/hr |
| 75th percentilei | $48,850 | $23.49/hr |
| 90th percentilei | $49,190 | $23.65/hr |
| Mean (average)i | $40,560 | $19.50/hr |
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How much does a dental assistant make in Lake Charles?
The verified BLS OEWS median dental assistant in the Lake Charles metro earns about $40,200 ($19.33/hr), from the official May 2025 metropolitan wage survey.
How does Lake Charles dental assistant pay compare to Louisiana overall?
The verified BLS OEWS Lake Charles metro median is about $40,200, versus the verified BLS OEWS Louisiana statewide median of about $44,090.
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