Dental Assistant Salary in Florida: What Dental Assistants Earn in 2026
25th percentile
$45,120
Median (50th)
$47,620
75th percentile
$54,690
National median
$48,070
BLS OEWS (SOC 31-9091), May 2025
What does a dental assistant make in Florida?
The median dental assistant in Florida earns $47,620 a year ($22.89 an hour), which is $450 below the national median of $48,070, and more than in nearby Georgia ($46,840) and Alabama ($39,080). The mean is $48,500.
That ranks 28th of the 49 states plus DC where BLS publishes a dental assistant median.
Entry-level vs top earners in Florida
The middle half of Florida dental assistants earn $45,120 to $54,690. The lowest-paid tenth earn under $37,800, $670 above the national 10th percentile. The top tenth earn over $58,880, $3,370 below the national 90th percentile.
How far the pay goes in Florida
The Bureau of Economic Analysis puts Florida's 2024 price level at 103.4 (U.S. = 100): prices overall run 3.4% above the national average, and housing (index 122.1) runs 22.1% above.
Converted to national average prices, the $47,620 median is worth about $46,050 — $2,020 below the national median of $48,070.
How many dental assistants work in Florida
BLS counts about 26,620 dental assistant jobs in Florida, 6.9% of the 387,790 nationwide, or 2.681 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 Florida
Across the 22 Florida metro areas where BLS publishes a dental assistant median, pay runs from $44,900 in Ocala to $57,260 in Naples, a spread of $12,360.
All dental roles by metro: Cape Coral · Deltona · Jacksonville · Lakeland · Miami · Naples · North Port · Orlando · Port St. Lucie · Punta Gorda · Sebastian · Tallahassee · Wildwood
Who's hiring dental assistants in Florida now
DentistryHires has 400 open dental assistant listings in Florida from 102 employers, the most of them in Jacksonville (18).
159 post hourly pay, from $15 to $35 an hour; 1 posts a salary from $53,740 to $69,864 a year. These are employers' posted ranges, not survey figures.
Dental Assistant Regulatory Context in Florida
Dental assistant practice in Florida is regulated by the Florida Board of Dentistry.
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 Florida Compares
Other dental salaries in Florida
- Dentist salary in Florida: median $174,900, $127,280 above the dental assistant median
- Dental Hygienist salary in Florida: median $91,980, $44,360 above the dental assistant median
- Dental Lab Technician salary in Florida: median $59,790, $12,170 above the dental assistant median
- Oral Surgeon salary in Florida: median $233,050
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.