Orthodontist salary in Los Angeles

At a verified median of $239,200, orthodontists in Los Angeles earn notably below the U.S. median of $289,140 — a gap of about 17%. Among the 377 metro areas where the BLS reports orthodontist pay, Los Angeles ranks 345th.

Compared with California as a whole (median $352,750), Los Angeles pays orthodontists about 32% 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 orthodontists in this metro area earn around $239,200, while the top tenth earn $239,200 or more — a spread of about $0. 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.

Within Los Angeles, a orthodontist earns about 1.7× what a general dentist earns, about 1.9× what a dental hygienist earns and about 5.1× what a dental assistant earns ($139,990, $122,980, $46,900 respectively) — a quick way to see where the role sits in the local dental pay ladder.