Average Salary

• In 2009 the Bureau of Labor Statistics collated wage data from 21,670 individual nuclear medicine technologists employed throughout the United States. It calculated that the average yearly salary for the occupation was $68,450. It also reported that technologists among the top 10 percent of earners received an average of $90,650 while those in the bottom 10 percent earned $48,710. The bureau's figures correspond roughly to the average salary for technologists reported by wage analysis website Indeed.com in 2001 -- $63,000 per year.
  
  

Salary by Industry

• A nuclear medicine technologist's salary is likely to vary according to which sector of the health care industry she works in. The BLS listed general medical and surgical hospitals, the offices of physicians and medical and diagnostic laboratories as the sectors in which the majority of technologists work. It reported the average salaries in these sectors to be $67,750, $71,070 and $68,150, respectively. Positions within federal government agencies paid an average of $68,780, slightly more than those in specialty hospitals -- $68,060.
  
  

Salary by Location

• The Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2009 survey also showed how geographical location affects the salary of a nuclear medicine technologist. It found that, across all industry sectors, California and New Jersey were the most lucrative states, with average wages of $86,590 and $80,520. West Virginia was listed at just $50,830. Wage comparison website SalaryExpert.com analyzed nuclear medicine technologist salaries across some major cities and found New York City and Chicago, Illinois, were among the cities with the best rates -- $70,688 and $70,398, respectively. In contrast, Miami, Florida, was listed at $58,724.
  
  

Outlook

• In the decade from 2008 to 2018 the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that demand for nuclear technologists will increase by around 16 percent. This exceeds expectations for the country as a whole, with employment across all occupations set to rise between 7 and 13 percent over the same period. An aging population requiring more diagnostic imaging procedures, technological advancement in the field, and an increase in the procedural uses of nuclear medicine technology will be the primary reasons for this increase. As a result, salary levels for technologists should remain competitive, particularly for those trained in several imaging techniques.