Dental Assistant Salary in Arizona: What Dental Assistants Earn in 2026
25th percentile
$46,050
Median (50th)
$49,000
75th percentile
$57,880
National median
$48,070
BLS OEWS (SOC 31-9091), May 2025
What does a dental assistant make in Arizona?
The median dental assistant in Arizona earns $49,000 a year ($23.56 an hour), which is $930 above the national median of $48,070, and more than in nearby Colorado ($48,340) and Nevada ($47,110) but less than in California ($50,110). The mean is $50,280.
That ranks 16th of the 49 states plus DC where BLS publishes a dental assistant median.
Entry-level vs top earners in Arizona
The middle half of Arizona dental assistants earn $46,050 to $57,880. The lowest-paid tenth earn under $38,500, $1,370 above the national 10th percentile. The top tenth earn over $59,380, $2,870 below the national 90th percentile.
How far the pay goes in Arizona
The Bureau of Economic Analysis puts Arizona's 2024 price level at 100.7 (U.S. = 100): prices overall run 0.7% above the national average, and housing (index 106.8) runs 6.8% above.
Converted to national average prices, the $49,000 median is worth about $48,670 — $600 above the national median of $48,070.
How many dental assistants work in Arizona
BLS counts about 8,680 dental assistant jobs in Arizona, 2.2% of the 387,790 nationwide, or 2.68 per 1,000 jobs in the state. Dental assistants hold a 7% larger share of local jobs than nationally (location quotient 1.07).
Dental Assistant Salary by City in Arizona
Across the 7 Arizona metro areas where BLS publishes a dental assistant median, pay runs from $45,350 in Yuma to $49,760 in Phoenix, a spread of $4,410.
Who's hiring dental assistants in Arizona now
DentistryHires has 122 open dental assistant listings in Arizona from 42 employers, the most of them in Phoenix (25).
78 post hourly pay, from $15 to $32 an hour. These are employers' posted ranges, not survey figures.
Dental Assistant Regulatory Context in Arizona
Dental assistant practice in Arizona is regulated by the Arizona State Board of Dental Examiners.
Scope of practice — what a dental assistant may do, and under what level of supervision — is set by state law and changes over time, so verify current rules with the board before relying on them.
How Arizona Compares
Other dental salaries in Arizona
- Dentist salary in Arizona: median $194,180, $145,180 above the dental assistant median
- Dental Hygienist salary in Arizona: median $101,010, $52,010 above the dental assistant median
- Dental Lab Technician salary in Arizona: median $47,930, $1,070 below the dental assistant median
- Orthodontist salary in Arizona: median $272,330
- Oral Surgeon salary in Arizona: median $322,800
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (state and national estimates, all industries); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024. Price-adjusted pay divides the median by the price level. Listing counts and posted pay are live DentistryHires listings, refreshed hourly. A dash means BLS did not publish that figure; nothing is estimated.