Career
Ophthalmic medical technicians
Help eye doctors examine and treat patients.
$45,570
Median pay
+21.4%
Job growth, 2025–35
11,800
Openings a year
Postsecondary nondegree award
Typical education
Under 2 years
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Take and document patients' medical histories.
- Conduct tonometry or tonography tests to measure intraocular pressure.
- Operate ophthalmic equipment, such as autorefractors, phoropters, tomographs, or retinoscopes.
- Take anatomical or functional ocular measurements of the eye or surrounding tissue, such as axial length measurements.
- Measure visual acuity, including near, distance, pinhole, or dynamic visual acuity, using appropriate tests.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on objects & tools, then ideas & analysis?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Take and document patients' medical histories.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Active Listening, Speaking, Reading Comprehension, Writing.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
Under 2 years of education after high school (postsecondary nondegree award), for a median of $45,570 a year and 11,800 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- Optometric Technician/AssistantCIP 51.1802
- Ophthalmic Technician/TechnologistCIP 51.1803
- Orthoptics/OrthoptistCIP 51.1804
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Ophthalmic Medical Technologists
- Cardiovascular Technologists and Technicians$74,310 · +3.7%
- Medical Assistants$45,690 · +12.9%
- Surgical Assistants$66,800 · +6.1%
- Neurodiagnostic Technologists
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.