Whatever career you choose to pursue, it’s only natural to want to earn a good income. As an eye doctor or optometrist, you have a good opportunity to make a living while helping provide a vital service to your patients to maintain and improve their quality of life. Working as an optometrist has the potential for earning a solid income, but there are important factors to consider when making the most out of your chosen profession and field of practice. Here, we’ll look at how much eye doctors make, things that affect their income, and how you can maximize your earning capacity as a practicing optometrist, including by opening your own independent practice or optometry franchise, like a Pearle Vision location.
Eyes on The Prize
So how much do eye doctors make? Well, it depends on a few different variables. One of the biggest factors in your potential income as an eye doctor is your location. According to recruitment platform ZipRecruiter’s website, the highest average salary for employed optometrists is in New York, with an average optometrist salary of $147,550. On the other end of the spectrum, the state with the lowest average optometrist salary is Arkansas, at $96,032. Sources differ on this range, however.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that as of May 2023, the states with the highest average optometrist salaries had a range of $147,280-$171,170, while the states with the lowest average salaries had a range of $51,410-$122,970. Keep in mind, a more urbanized area will tend to have a denser population, which means more patients. However, a more rural location will often have less direct competition.
An optometrist’s salary also depends on their working arrangement. The Review of Optometry reported in December 2023 the yearly national average for eye doctors employed by others was $154,963. However, self-employed optometrists, i.e. those who owned their own practice, had an average salary of about $232,997. How much an eye doctor makes is also affected by their experience; expertise and proven skill in patient care are important factors in how much a company, practice, academic institute, or research facility will offer.
Getting the Most for Your Work
With everything that goes into determining how much eye doctors earn, there are a few ways you can maximize your income potential in this field.
Since location makes such a difference in an optometrist’s income, choosing where you wish to live and work is crucial. It’s a decision you should make with your family, as it will affect them too.
Choosing an employer with a high salary potential is another way to get the most for your efforts. Corporate optometry practices and subleased practices are known for offering higher compensation than independent practices employing one or more optometrists. Positions in academia and research also tend to be lower-paying, so take that into consideration when looking for a high-paying position.
Another way to make more is to take on additional work or diversify the kind of work you perform. Patient care may be many optometrists’ bread-and-butter, but additional money-making opportunities are also available, such as:
- Fill-in work for other optometrists
- Public speaking on optometry and related subjects
- Consulting
- Writing optometry content for publications and websites
- Taking part in optometry research studies
You can also try to leverage your experience for a higher-paying position or a raise. The longer you work in optometry, the more of an expert you’ll become on how to provide good patient care and quality eye care for your patients. If you’re already employed, you can try to use this to apply for a higher-paying position, taking on more patients in return for more pay, or use it to seek positions at different practices that may offer better compensation than your current employer.
Practice Makes Profit
Finally, if you’re looking for one of the best ways to maximize your earning potential, you can start your own practice. Practice ownership means all the profits are yours. You have the professional autonomy to hire your own staff, set your own hours of operation and patient schedule, sell eyewear, and pursue any other revenue streams you see fit.
However, starting an independent practice is no simple task. You need either the professional experience to know how to run a practice or to hire someone to handle the various duties. You also need to build the capital or secure the finances necessary for a location and equipment. You’ll also have regular expenses to budget, such as license fees, employee pay, business taxes, business supplies, and more.
Owning your own practice means you’re responsible for handling these duties. The potential for profit as a practice owner is more than that of an employee, but you need to be sure you’re ready to handle all the responsibilities of ownership.
You can mitigate a lot of those challenges by purchasing an optometry franchise like Pearle Vision. A franchise allows you to own your own business while receiving important guidance and support services from your franchisor.
Pearle Vision provides you with all the training you need to operate under our brand name. We provide services like high-level advertising and market research to help you bring in customers. We’ve got brand recognition and a network of fellow franchisees, many of them eye doctors like you, who can provide advice and support.
Get a Good Look at Pearle Vision’s Profit Potential
We’re happy to offer ambitious professionals like you the opportunity to find an alternative to corporate optometry. We’ve been growing as a franchise since 1981 and now have over 550 eyecare centers throughout the U.S. and Canada.
We provide franchisees like you with all the resources you need for success, from training to site selection assistance to marketing service and more. Get started today by filling out a form to learn more about your franchising opportunity with Pearle Vision.
