Dental Assistant salary in St. Cloud
St. Cloud, MN
The verified BLS median dental assistant in the St. Cloud metro earns $61,000 ($29.33/hr). St. Cloud pays roughly 27% above the national median of $48,070.
Dental Assistant pay in St. Cloud: the analysis
At a verified median of $61,000, dental assistants in St. Cloud earn substantially above the U.S. median of $48,070 — a gap of about 27%. Among the 377 metro areas where the BLS reports dental assistant pay, St. Cloud ranks 8th.
Compared with Minnesota as a whole (median $65,270), St. Cloud pays dental assistants about 7% 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 $49,140, while the top tenth earn $72,480 or more — a spread of about $23,340. 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 270 dental assistants employed in St. Cloud — a measure of how deep the local job market is for the role.
Within St. Cloud, a dental assistant earns about 3.4× less than a general dentist and about 1.6× less than a dental hygienist ($208,000, $100,480 respectively) — a quick way to see where the role sits in the local dental pay ladder.
Dental Assistant pay distribution — St. Cloud (verified)
Inner percentiles marked “est.” are interpolated between published anchors.
| Percentile | Annual pay | Hourly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentilei | $49,140 | $23.63/hr |
| 25th percentilei | $59,940 | $28.82/hr |
| Median (50th)i | $61,000 | $29.33/hr |
| 75th percentilei | $62,910 | $30.25/hr |
| 90th percentilei | $72,480 | $34.85/hr |
| Mean (average)i | $60,540 | $29.11/hr |
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Submit your salary →Frequently asked questions
How much does a dental assistant make in St. Cloud?
The verified BLS OEWS median dental assistant in the St. Cloud metro earns about $61,000 ($29.33/hr), from the official May 2025 metropolitan wage survey.
How does St. Cloud dental assistant pay compare to Minnesota overall?
The verified BLS OEWS St. Cloud metro median is about $61,000, versus the verified BLS OEWS Minnesota statewide median of about $65,270.
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