Surgical Technologist
Health Science
Prepare operating rooms and assist surgeons during procedures.
Why it matters here: Fast entry pathway through Montgomery College programs.
Labor Market — DMV Region
Sourced from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS releases (DMV metro and nationwide) plus MD, VA, and D.C. workforce agencies.
Local cost of living is why DMV pay often differs from the national median.
- DMV & state figures: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — OEWS wage & employment estimates and Employment Projections, with OEWS area pay relatives for the Washington–Arlington–Alexandria metro, Maryland, D.C., and Northern Virginia · View source
- Occupation profiles & skills: O*NET OnLine (U.S. Department of Labor) · onetonline.org
All salary figures are published estimates for groups of workers, not offers or guarantees for any individual role.
Education & Career Pathways
Multiple ways to get here — pick the one that fits your life.
Career Progression
How you can grow — with expected salary at each step.
- Entry-level Surgical TechnologistLearning the role, supervised work, building core skills.$54,500
- Surgical Technologist (experienced)Independent work, mentoring newer team members.$66,060
- Senior / Lead Surgical TechnologistOwning projects, specialization, higher responsibility.$79,570
- Manager or specialist trackSupervising a team or moving into a high-demand specialty.$95,484
Skills Required
What you'll actually do — and how you'll be judged.
Operating room, early starts, sterile and highly focused
Where you work
A cold, bright, sterile operating room. You set up the instrument table before the case and stay at the surgeon's side throughout.
Hours and schedule
Early starts — often 6:30 a.m. — with weekday cases, plus rotating on-call for emergency surgeries at hospitals.
Pace and pressure
Intense in bursts. Long stretches of quiet concentration, then fast, exact movement when the surgeon asks for something.
Who you work with
A tight surgical team of four to six people who work the same rooms repeatedly and learn each other's rhythm.
Physical demands
Standing still for hours, gowned and gloved, sometimes holding position during long cases.
What people wear
Hospital-issued scrubs, cap, mask, sterile gown and gloves; no personal clothing in the OR.
Remote reality
Fully on site.
Workplace culture: what's normal here
- Sterile field discipline is absolute — anyone in the room can and should call a break in sterility.
- Instrument counts before and after every case are done out loud, every single time.
- OR teams communicate in short, direct phrases; brevity is professionalism, not rudeness.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook — Work Environment, with regional detail for the DMV.
Official data behind this career
Federal statistics for DMV Region, translated into plain language.
Washington–Arlington–Alexandria, DC–VA–MD–WV metro area
Source: U.S. Census Bureau — ACS 2019–2023 5-year estimates (tables DP03, DP02, DP05)
- The DMV functions as one labor market: workers routinely cross state lines to get to work.
- The largest employment destinations are D.C., Fairfax County and Montgomery County.
Top places these workers go to work
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — BEA regional GDP and personal income, most recent published year
Private-sector payroll data from ADP. It is a supplemental near-real-time indicator and does not replace BLS government employment statistics.
Source: ADP National Employment Report — Most recent monthly ADP National Employment Report
- 1U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OOH, OEWS, Employment Projections, CES) — Primary source for occupation wages, outlook, projected openings, education and training.
- 2U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey — Primary source for income, educational attainment, labor force and demographic context by place.
- 3Census LEHD (LODES / OnTheMap) — Primary source for where workers live versus where they work, and local workforce flows.
- 4U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Primary source for regional GDP, industry contribution, compensation and personal income.
- 5ADP National Employment Report — Supplemental near-real-time private-sector employment and pay indicator. Not a replacement for BLS.
Figures describe groups of workers, not any one person. Where an official figure is not published for a category, this page says “Data unavailable for this category.” rather than estimating.
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