Dentist Salary in Massachusetts: What Dentists Earn in 2026
25th percentile
$157,670
Median (50th)
$181,600
75th percentile
$315,990
National median
$170,950
BLS OEWS (SOC 29-1021), May 2025
The median dentist salary in Massachusetts is $181,600 a year, or $87.31 an hour, in the Bureau of Labor Statistics' May 2025 wage estimates for general dentists (SOC 29-1021).
The middle half of the state's dentists earn $157,670 to $315,990, and the mean is $223,200.
BLS rates the Massachusetts estimate at ±16.2%, so use it as a rough benchmark rather than an exact market rate.
What does a dentist make in Massachusetts?
BLS's May 2025 estimate puts the median dentist pay in Massachusetts at $181,600 a year ($87.31 an hour), with a mean of $223,200. For reference, the national median is $170,950.
Entry-level vs top earners in Massachusetts
The middle half of Massachusetts dentists earn $157,670 to $315,990. The lowest-paid tenth earn under $101,470. The top tenth earn over $417,670.
How far the pay goes in Massachusetts
The Bureau of Economic Analysis puts Massachusetts's 2024 price level at 105.8 (U.S. = 100): prices overall run 5.8% above the national average, and housing (index 128.1) runs 28.1% above.
Converted to national average prices, the $181,600 median is worth about $171,710.
How many dentists work in Massachusetts
BLS counts about 2,780 dentist jobs in Massachusetts, 2.2% of the 124,390 nationwide, or 0.765 per 1,000 jobs in the state. Dentists hold a 4% smaller share of local jobs than nationally (location quotient 0.96).
Dentist Salary by City in Massachusetts
All dental roles by metro: Amherst Town · Barnstable Town · Boston · Worcester
Median vs. mean: which dentist salary figure to use
BLS publishes two averages for Massachusetts dentists: a median of $181,600 and a mean of $223,200.
The median is the middle dentist, with half earning more and half earning less, so it's the better read of typical pay.
The mean runs $41,600 higher because the top earners pull it up.
The 75th percentile ($315,990) sits $134,390 above the median, while the 25th percentile ($157,670) sits only $23,930 below it.
That long top tail lifts the mean without moving the median.
What this dentist salary data covers
These are BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) estimates for May 2025, for the general-dentist occupation across all industries in the state.
OEWS is a survey of employers, so it measures wage and salary pay.
Self-employed practice owners aren't in it, and specialists such as orthodontists and oral surgeons are counted under their own occupation codes.
BLS doesn't break Massachusetts dentist pay out by years of experience, practice setting or clinical skills, so this page doesn't estimate any of those.
To build a benchmark for a specific offer, set it against the percentile table above and the posted pay in current dentist jobs.
For the education and licensing path, see the dentist career guide.
How much does a dentist make in Boston?
BLS's May 2025 median for general dentists in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton metro area, which extends into southern New Hampshire, is $181,150 a year ($87.09 an hour).
The mean is $220,730, and the middle half earn $157,670 to $216,010.
BLS counts about 1,920 dentist jobs in the Boston metro and about 2,780 statewide.
It rates the Boston wage estimate at ±19.7%, so read the Boston figure as a rough signal too.
The Boston dental salary page covers every dental role in the metro, and the city table above lists BLS medians for Worcester, Barnstable Town, Springfield and Amherst Town.
Dentist salary by state and by specialty
For dentist salary by state, including the highest- and lowest-paying states, see the national dentist salary guide, which lists every state where BLS publishes a median.
The Massachusetts estimate is too imprecise to rank with confidence, so this page doesn't place the state in that table.
Specialist pay isn't in these figures, and the May 2025 release has no Massachusetts state estimate for orthodontists or oral surgeons.
See national orthodontist salary and oral surgeon salary data instead, or browse associate dentist jobs for employed general-dentist roles.
Who's hiring dentists in Massachusetts now
DentistryHires has 12 open dentist listings in Massachusetts from 4 employers, the most of them in Waltham (2).
1 posts a salary from $140,000 to $240,000 a year. These are employers' posted ranges, not survey figures.
Dentist Regulatory Context in Massachusetts
Dentist practice in Massachusetts is regulated by the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Dentistry.
Scope of practice — what a dentist 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 Massachusetts Compares
Other dental salaries in Massachusetts
- Dental Hygienist salary in Massachusetts: median $100,640
- Dental Assistant salary in Massachusetts: median $57,980
- Dental Lab Technician salary in Massachusetts: median $72,800
Dentist Salary FAQs
What do entry-level dentists earn in Massachusetts?
BLS doesn't publish dentist pay by years of experience, so there's no official Massachusetts starting salary.
The closest proxy is the low end of the pay distribution: the 10th percentile is $101,470 and the 25th percentile is $157,670 (BLS OEWS, SOC 29-1021, May 2025).
Percentiles rank every dentist in the survey whatever their experience, so treat these as a floor for comparison, not a new-graduate salary.
How does dentist pay compare with hygienist and assistant pay in Massachusetts?
BLS's May 2025 Massachusetts medians are $181,600 for general dentists (SOC 29-1021), $100,640 for dental hygienists (SOC 29-1292), $72,800 for dental laboratory technicians (SOC 51-9081) and $57,980 for dental assistants (SOC 31-9091).
The hygienist, assistant and lab technician estimates are far more precise than the dentist one, which BLS rates at ±16.2%, so compare against the dentist figure loosely.
Which states pay dentists the most?
BLS publishes a general-dentist median for 47 states, and DentistryHires' national dentist salary page lists all of them in one table, from highest to lowest.
Massachusetts isn't ranked on this page because BLS rates its dentist wage estimate at ±16.2%, too wide a margin to say where the state really sits among the others.
Use the national table for state-to-state comparisons.
Do these Massachusetts salary figures include orthodontists and oral surgeons?
No. The figures on this page cover BLS's general-dentist occupation (SOC 29-1021).
BLS counts specialists separately: oral and maxillofacial surgeons (29-1022), orthodontists (29-1023), prosthodontists (29-1024) and other specialists (29-1029).
The May 2025 release has no Massachusetts state estimate for orthodontists or oral surgeons, so their national salary pages are the closest DentistryHires source.
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.
This page is general information, not legal or medical advice. Verify licensing questions with the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Dentistry.