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Dental Assistants pay in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA and Walla Walla, WA
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Dental Assistants is $74,600 per year in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA. It is $49,790 per year in Walla Walla, WA. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA is 49.8% above Walla Walla, WA on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 31-9091 and the same annual wage metric. Median means the middle of each area's published wage spread. It is not one worker's pay. The larger median is not proof that one place gives a better job or a better result. It is one wage fact from one source period.
BLS lists 2,870 wage and salary jobs in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA and 110 in Walla Walla, WA. Those are survey job counts, not open posts. Read pay, job scale, local share, and price level as separate facts before you make a choice.
Evidence: bls-oews-may-2025 · Rule: same-soc-same-metric-pair · nominal-median-gap · employment-not-openings