Dental Assistant salary in Memphis
Memphis, TN-MS-AR
The verified BLS median dental assistant in the Memphis metro earns $48,200 ($23.17/hr). Memphis is about the national median ($48,070).
Dental Assistant pay in Memphis: the analysis
At a verified median of $48,200, dental assistants in Memphis earn about the U.S. median. Among the 377 metro areas where the BLS reports dental assistant pay, Memphis ranks 131st.
Compared with Tennessee as a whole (median $46,720), Memphis pays dental assistants about 3% more — slightly above the statewide figure. 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 $36,940, while the top tenth earn $61,790 or more — a spread of about $24,850. 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 1,200 dental assistants employed in Memphis — a measure of how deep the local job market is for the role.
Within Memphis, a dental assistant earns about 4.9× less than a general dentist and about 1.6× less than a dental hygienist ($238,040, $78,580 respectively) — a quick way to see where the role sits in the local dental pay ladder.
Dental Assistant pay distribution — Memphis (verified)
Inner percentiles marked “est.” are interpolated between published anchors.
| Percentile | Annual pay | Hourly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentilei | $36,940 | $17.76/hr |
| 25th percentilei | $40,650 | $19.54/hr |
| Median (50th)i | $48,200 | $23.17/hr |
| 75th percentilei | $59,010 | $28.37/hr |
| 90th percentilei | $61,790 | $29.71/hr |
| Mean (average)i | $49,340 | $23.72/hr |
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Submit your salary →Frequently asked questions
How much does a dental assistant make in Memphis?
The verified BLS OEWS median dental assistant in the Memphis metro earns about $48,200 ($23.17/hr), from the official May 2025 metropolitan wage survey.
How does Memphis dental assistant pay compare to Tennessee overall?
The verified BLS OEWS Memphis metro median is about $48,200, versus the verified BLS OEWS Tennessee statewide median of about $46,720.
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