10 Highest-Paying States for a Medical Technologist

By Indeed Editorial Team

Published December 14, 2021

The Indeed Editorial Team comprises a diverse and talented team of writers, researchers and subject matter experts equipped with Indeed's data and insights to deliver useful tips to help guide your career journey.

Medical technologist jobs are available all across the U.S. Depending on where you're interested in living, salaries can vary from state to state. Learning about which states offer high salaries for medical technologists may help you determine where to pursue this position. In this article, we list 10 high-paying states for medical technologists and discuss the duties, average salary, skills, education and job outlook of a medical technologist.

What does a medical technologist do?

Medical technologists, also known as clinical laboratory scientists or medical laboratory scientists, conduct experiments to help diagnose and treat diseases. They collect and analyze samples of blood, bodily tissue and bodily fluids to help determine health issues, bacteria or infections. For example, medical technologists may analyze pregnancy tests, histologies, urine tests or bone marrow examinations. Medical technologists use a variety of laboratory equipment, including microscopes, automated lab instruments and data collection software. The tests and lab experiments they complete may help guide doctors' decisions in relation to patient diagnoses, prescription recommendations and treatment methods beyond prescriptions.

Medical technologists may find positions in hospitals, health clinics, research laboratories, public health organizations or animal clinics. You may find medical technologists in laboratories related to microbiology, chemistry, immunology, hematology or blood banks.

10 high-paying states for medical technologists

The national average salary for a medical technologist is $91,399 per year. The following list includes average salaries for 10 high-paying states for medical technologists. For the most up-to-date Indeed salaries, please click on the links below:

Minnesota: $95,178 per year
Michigan: $95,824 per year
Florida: $96,244 per year
Connecticut: $97,474 per year
Idaho: $97,701 per year
Vermont: $97,869 per year
South Dakota: $101,635 per year
Delaware: $102,530 per year
North Dakota: $109,867 per year
California: $113,353 per year

Medical technologist skills

Many medical technologists have a combination of hard skills and soft skills. Here are some important skills for medical technologists:

Data analysis

Data analysis is a process that includes reviewing, cleaning and interpreting data with the goal of discovering useful information to assist with decision-making or problem-solving. Medical technologists perform frequent tests and experiments and document, review and interpret their findings to provide guidance to doctors on diagnosis and remedies. Depending on the type of facility they work for, a medical technologist may need a general understanding of multiple specimen tests, urine samples or blood samples.

Specimen handling

Medical technologists may handle multiple test specimens on a daily basis, including urine samples, blood samples, soft tissue and bone marrow. Because specimen samples are delicate and may be in small amounts, it's important that medical technologists understand the proper handling of different specimen samples. For example, they may consider the room temperature, sealed containers, proper labeling or timing of testing each specimen.

Computer skills

Medical technologists may use computers, software installed on computers and other computer hardware daily with their work. Comfort with using hardware and software applications can be essential for medical technologists to record data, communicate their results and findings, document updates and manage their time spent on testing specimens. If they change positions to a different employer, medical technologists may need to learn new applications at a quick rate. For example, one facility may use documents for recording data and another may use a spreadsheet format.

Problem-solving

Medical technologists review various specimens to answer questions that relate to patient health. For example, although they may have two urinalysis tests, they may test each specimen to learn something different. One urine test, for instance, may determine if someone is pregnant while the other may check for blood issues. Medical technologists may also test specimens to decide a dosage amount required for relieving an illness.

Documentation

Documentation can be a vital part of a medical technologist's responsibilities. They may document a variety of components related to specimen data or diseases, including patient names, the dates they received and tested specimens, notes during the testing process and any results that come from the testing. By keeping records of specimen details, they can refer to past data and share vital information with doctors.

Lab equipment usage

Medical technologists may use a variety of equipment in their lab spaces. This can depend on the type of specimen they're testing or the reason they're testing the specimens. Lab equipment can also change over time, so it's important for medical technologists to learn how to use various lab equipment so they can use equipment efficiently in different scenarios and work environments.

Chemistry

Medical technologists commonly use various chemicals in their testing process. They may also have multiple chemicals in their lab at any given time. Gaining knowledge and understanding of how to use chemicals, including which ones to mix and not mix together, can be vital for testing results and safety purposes.

Verbal and written communication

Medical technologists communicate with doctors and other lab team members through both verbal and written communication. They share their findings through documented data and notes, present their findings to groups and explain their results and recommendations based on testing. It's vital for medical technologists to communicate well so that doctors and other medical professionals clearly understand diseases and treatments for patients.

Organization

Medical technologists work with multiple specimens and enter results and data on documents daily. Tracking this crucial information requires strong organizational skills. Medical technologists need to be able to organize all this information to provide easy access.

Time management

Medical technologists need to multitask and manage multiple steps of lab testing in a short amount of time, and sometimes test results need quick results. This means it's important for medical technologists to set priorities and meet their deadlines for test results. For example, while testing a urine sample for pregnancy, they may start other lab tests while waiting for the results of the pregnancy test.

Medical technologist education

Medical technologists need a bachelor's degree with a concentration in a health care field that provides training in theoretical and practical aspects of statistics and laboratory sciences. You may also need clinical hours in a medical laboratory as part of your degree. Some states require certification or licensing for medical technologists as well, which includes the successful passing of a licensing exam.

The education of a medical technologist may include the following subject areas:

Biology
Chemistry
Biochemistry
Molecular biology
Microbiology
Medical technology
Hematology
Immunology
Biostatistics
Organic chemistry

Medical technologist job outlook

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, medical technologist positions are going to increase by 11% from 2020 to 2030, which is higher than all occupations. During this decade, an average of 25,900 medical technologist positions are likely to be available each year. These openings may be due to people retiring, prenatal testing becoming more common, medical technologists transferring to different positions and the aging population increasing and needing lab testing for various diseases.