Surgical Technologists
Assist in operations, under the supervision of surgeons, registered nurses, or other surgical personnel. May help set up operating room, prepare and transport patients for surgery, adjust lights and equipment, pass instruments and other supplies to surgeons and surgeons' assistants, hold retractors, cut sutures, and help count sponges, needles, supplies, and instruments.
A wage reference for United States.
Published wage percentiles describe a distribution within the source occupation group. They provide context for a career decision; employer packages and job offers have their own terms.
This wage group may include multiple detailed occupations. The figures are for the source group, which may be broader than Surgical Technologists. They are not an exact-title, employer, experience or seniority match.
May 2025 · USD · United States. Annual and hourly figures are shown only when the source publishes them; neither is calculated from the other.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage data, distributed through the O*NET® OnLine service.
Annual wage thresholds
USD per year
Hourly wage thresholds
USD per hour
| Percentile | Annual wage (USD/year) | Hourly wage (USD/hour) |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | $45,940 | $22.09 |
| 25th | $54,690 | $26.29 |
| 50th · Median | $64,650 | $31.08 |
| 75th | $79,750 | $38.34 |
| 90th | $96,940 | $46.61 |
“≥” means at least the published amount; “≤” means at most that amount. These are bounds, not exact values. “Not published” means the source did not provide that figure. Occupational wages follow the source definition and do not establish an employer’s base salary, equity or total compensation.
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What this career involves.
Occupation definitions describe common work. Responsibilities and requirements vary by employer and specific job.
Selected title examples
Expand more title examples (5)
Typical tasks
- Maintain a proper sterile field during surgical procedures.
- Count sponges, needles, and instruments before and after operation.
- Hand instruments and supplies to surgeons and surgeons' assistants, hold retractors and cut sutures, and perform other tasks as directed by surgeon during operation.
- Scrub arms and hands and assist the surgical team to scrub and put on gloves, masks, and surgical clothing.
- Wash and sterilize equipment, using germicides and sterilizers.
- Prepare patients for surgery, including positioning patients on the operating table and covering them with sterile surgical drapes to prevent exposure.
Expand more tasks (12)
- Prepare, care for, and dispose of tissue specimens taken for laboratory analysis.
- Monitor and continually assess operating room conditions, including patient and surgical team needs.
- Prepare dressings or bandages and apply or assist with their application following surgery.
- Clean and restock operating room, gathering and placing equipment and supplies and arranging instruments according to instructions, such as a preference card.
- Provide technical assistance to surgeons, surgical nurses, or anesthesiologists.
- Operate, assemble, adjust, or monitor sterilizers, lights, suction machines, or diagnostic equipment to ensure proper operation.
- Maintain supply of fluids, such as plasma, saline, blood, or glucose, for use during operations.
- Schedule surgical procedures for patients.
- Order surgical supplies.
- Maintain files and records of surgical procedures.
- Observe patients' vital signs to assess physical condition.
- Transport patients to and from the operating room.
Skills used in this work
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Expand more skills (29)
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Management of Material Resources
- Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
- Operation and Control
- Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Equipment Maintenance
- Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Quality Control Analysis
- Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- Troubleshooting
- Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Equipment Selection
- Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.
- Management of Financial Resources
- Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
- Science
- Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
- Operations Analysis
- Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
- Technology Design
- Generating or adapting equipment and technology to serve user needs.
- Programming
- Writing computer programs for various purposes.
- Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or programs to meet specifications.
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