Nuclear Technicians Salary and Pay
How much do Nuclear Technicians make?
Nuclear Technicians pay a median of $104,240 a year in the BLS May 2024 survey, with a mean of $100,730 across 5,990 counted jobs. Half of all workers in the occupation earn between $83,330 and $113,710.
The complete pay picture for Nuclear Technicians: 5,990 jobs nationally, a median of $104,240, and the state and metro tables that show where that median is beaten and where it is not.
Updated November 5, 2026
Salary converter for this occupation
Hourly figures use the BLS full-time convention of 2,080 hours a year. The converter loads this occupation's own ladder, median $104,240 first; type any offer into the custom box to price it against the same year.
The national wage ladder (BLS OEWS, May 2024)
| Pay level | Annual wage | Hourly wage |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $64,370 | $30.95 |
| 25th percentile | $83,330 | $40.06 |
| Median (50th) | $104,240 | $50.11 |
| 75th percentile | $113,710 | $54.67 |
| 90th percentile | $126,890 | $61.00 |
A percentile marks a point in this occupation's pay distribution: the worker one quarter of the way up the Nuclear Technicians ladder earns the 25th percentile wage, $83,330. BLS top-codes very high wages ($239,200+ a year, $115.00+ an hour) and marks estimates it cannot publish as n/p.
Employment and concentration
The occupation employed 5,990 people in May 2024, 0.00% of every job BLS counted. Illinois is the largest employer at 870 jobs, and the leading three states between them hold 34.4% of the workforce. Concentration peaks in South Carolina, whose location quotient of 8.58 says this work is 8.58 times as dense there as it is nationwide.
The spread matters as much as the center. Earners at the 90th percentile make $126,890, which is 2.0 times the $64,370 at the 10th, a difference of $62,520 annually. Because the mean wage ($100,730) sits close to the median ($104,240), a typical offer should be judged against the median and the 25th to 75th percentile band, not the mean.
Pay by state
The state spread for Nuclear Technicians runs from the $121,460 median in New York down through every other publishing state. Employment concentrates in Illinois (870 jobs). The complete table:
| State | Employment | Jobs per 1,000 | Location quotient | Mean annual | Median annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois | 870 | 0.1 | 3.71 | $95,780 | $102,810 |
| South Carolina | 760 | 0.3 | 8.58 | $96,940 | $105,300 |
| North Carolina | 430 | 0.1 | 2.25 | $103,850 | $104,240 |
| Pennsylvania | 330 | 0.1 | 1.40 | $107,700 | $104,650 |
| Virginia | 320 | 0.1 | 2.06 | $103,960 | $106,270 |
| New York | 200 | 0.0 | 0.53 | $119,750 | $121,460 |
| Missouri | 180 | 0.1 | 1.60 | $93,630 | $96,930 |
| Alabama | 170 | 0.1 | 2.08 | $111,210 | $107,680 |
| Texas | 170 | 0.0 | 0.32 | $102,420 | $97,160 |
| Michigan | 160 | 0.0 | 0.95 | $112,750 | $104,450 |
| Washington | 90 | 0.0 | 0.66 | $104,350 | $100,080 |
| Tennessee | 70 | 0.0 | 0.56 | $97,560 | $94,620 |
| Florida | 60 | 0.0 | 0.16 | $113,090 | $118,340 |
| New Mexico | n/p | n/p | n/p | $101,200 | $105,350 |
The occupation in context
Ranked against all 826 published occupations, Nuclear Technicians stands number 739 by employment and number 99 by median pay. Inside its own major group, Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations, the group median wage is $84,150 across 48 detailed occupations, so this occupation pays 24% more than its group median, and it supplies 0.4% of the group's 1,446,780 jobs. In 8 of the 14 states with a published median, the state median beats the national median of $104,240, which is the single best quick test of whether this occupation's pay is set nationally or locally: a high count means local markets regularly outbid the national figure.
Metropolitan areas: where the jobs and the pay sit
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN is the largest metro employer with 480 jobs, 8.0% of the national total. Two rankings follow across the 5 metros BLS publishes for this occupation: where the jobs are, then where the money is, with the pay ranking restricted to metros employing at least 500 people in this occupation to keep small samples out of the lead.
Largest metro employers
| Metropolitan area | Employment | Mean annual | Median annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | 480 | $89,810 | $78,780 |
| Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC | 240 | $103,520 | $103,120 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | 120 | $111,070 | $117,630 |
| Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC | 90 | $99,270 | $108,690 |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | 30 | $106,830 | $108,670 |
What the median pay looks like as a budget
The median Nuclear Technicians paycheck, gross, is $4,009 every two weeks on an annual $104,240, which is $8,687 a month and $2,005 a week. Moving from the 25th percentile ($83,330) to the 75th ($113,710) is worth $30,380 a year, which is the realistic size of the experience and specialization premium inside this occupation. Gross is a starting point, not a budget: the paycheck calculator nets it down by state, an offer comparison lives in the salary calculator, and the raise vs inflation calculator separates a real raise from a nominal one.
To place a real offer: a salary of $114,664 would sit between the median ($104,240) and the 75th percentile ($113,710), inside the top half but outside the top quarter of this occupation's ladder. An offer at the 25th percentile, $83,330, is $20,910 under the median, the typical size of the discount attached to entry-level or low-cost-market postings in this field.
Related occupations in Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations
Compare the ladder above with the closest relatives in the survey: Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health, Chemists, Biological Technicians, Clinical and Counseling Psychologists, Life, Physical, and Social Science Technicians, All Other, School Psychologists. The Careers hub carries the whole branch, group by group.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average salary for Nuclear Technicians?
BLS publishes both centers: the mean annual wage is $100,730 and the median is $104,240 (May 2024). The median is usually the better answer to what a typical worker makes, because the mean is pulled by the highest earners.
Where do Nuclear Technicians earn the most?
At state level, New York posts the highest median at $121,460. At metro level, BLS publishes no metro estimates for this occupation.
How many Nuclear Technicians jobs are there?
5,990 nationally in May 2024. The biggest metro employer is Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN with 480 jobs.
Is $104,240 a good salary for Nuclear Technicians?
It is the exact middle of the occupation: half of the 5,990 counted workers earn more, half earn less. Against the occupation's own ladder, an offer above $113,710 is a top-quartile offer and one below $83,330 is a bottom-quartile one.