Determining the best state to practice as a dentist is a complex challenge. The definition of “best” depends on your preferences. Do you want the highest salary or the most affordable cost of living? Or do you prioritize a state’s quality of life rating?
Whether you’re a recent dental school grad or a veteran dentist, you have many options and factors to consider when planning your next career move. To help streamline the research and decision-making process, we’ve collected data and rankings for the best states to practice dentistry — and the worst — in several categories using metrics like these:
Let’s take a look at where in the country you might find the most satisfaction working as a dentist.
Skip to see the full state-by-state rankings for 2026
What does it mean to be the best state? Zippia, a site focused on jobs and career paths, determined “best” and “worst” states for dentists by analyzing three metrics: job availability, pay, and demand. Job opportunities were measured by the location quotient — a measure that compares the total share of an industry to that of the nation. Here’s what their data suggested:
1. Alaska
2. Wisconsin
3. Nevada
4. New Hampshire
5. Oregon
6. Connecticut
7. Ohio
8. Alabama
9. Maine
10. Rhode Island
41. California
42. Louisiana
43. Delaware
44. Tennessee
45. Pennsylvania
46. Hawaii
47. Wyoming
48. Utah
49. Kentucky
50. West Virginia
When choosing where to establish your dental practice or where to work as a licensed dentist, salary is certainly one key factor to consider. Based on the most recent (2024) data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics Query System, the following five states offer the highest average salaries for dentists. All rank above the mean annual wage of $196,100 for dental salaries as reported by the BLS.
Note that Alabama and Missouri were excluded from our report because the BLS didn’t have any salary data for those states.
State |
Salary |
|---|---|
| Vermont | $240,740 |
| Delaware | $228,740 |
| Minnesota | $224,700 |
| North Dakota | $224,300 |
| Maine | $224,080 |
*by Annual Mean Wage
Conversely, here are the five states with the lowest average dental salaries in the country, per BLS data.
State |
Salary |
|---|---|
| Utah | $148,860 |
| Nevada | $146,480 |
| Colorado | $143,450 |
| Mississippi | $143,020 |
| Hawaii | $136,200 |
*by Annual Mean Wage
Before you choose to change to another location to practice dentistry, it’s important to consider the area’s job market, specifically the potential for growth in the dental industry. Moving to an area that is already saturated with dentists or doesn’t project a lot of potential for growth might not be wise, while practicing in an area with a high job growth potential can catapult you up the career and earnings ladder.
Below, we’ve compiled the five best and worst states for job growth potential for dentists, as reported by Projections Central.
State |
Projected Growth % |
|---|---|
| New Mexico | 26.6% |
| Utah | 21.3% |
| Arizona | 20.5% |
| New York | 19.8% |
| Idaho | 18.8% |
*Based on Projected Growth Percentage from 2022–2032
State |
Projected Growth % |
|---|---|
| Hawaii | 1.2% |
| Mississippi | 0.0% |
| West Virginia | -0.8% |
| Maine | -3.0% |
| Vermont | -4.0% |
*Based on Projected Growth Percentage from 2022–2032
The cost of living in a particular area is another important factor in your career location decision. Knowing how much living expenses such as housing, food, and transportation cost in a certain state will help you better understand how far your salary will stretch, how much you’ll need for basic expenses, and how much you’ll have for discretionary purchases or investment in your dental practice.
Here are the five best and worst states for cost of living.
1. Arkansas
2. Mississippi
3. West Virginia
4. South Dakota
5. Oklahoma
46. Washington
47. Massachusetts
48. Hawaii
49. New Jersey
50. California
What factors matter the most to you when judging your quality of life? Excellent school systems, low crime rates, or plenty of outdoor activities? Considering what else you value in addition to financial security will help increase your overall life satisfaction and prevent workplace fatigue and burnout.
U.S. News & World Report considers many factors when ranking the best states to live in, including healthcare, education, economy, infrastructure, public safety, natural environment, fiscal stability, and available opportunities. According to its 2025 rankings, these states offer the best and worst quality of life:
1. Utah
2. New Hampshire
3. Idaho
4. Minnesota
5. Nebraska
46. West Virginia
47. New Mexico
48. Mississippi
49. Alaska
50. Louisiana
After weighing all of the above data, you may have an idea of where you’d like to live and work. But before making any decisions, it’s important to check the state dental licensure requirements, to make sure that you have all the licenses and certifications you need to work in your desired area.
The American Dental Association (ADA) provides state-by-state details on license requirements so that you know exactly what you need to be permitted to work in your state of choice. If applying for a dental license in the majority of U.S. licensing jurisdictions, you must meet three basic requirements:
Most states require a DDS or DMD degree from a university accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA).
All applicants must pass the Integrated National Board Dental Examination (INBDE), which replaced the earlier National Board Dental Examination (NBDE) Part I and Part II in August 2020.
The individual state board of dentistry will establish its own clinical exam requirement, but most rely on third-party testing agencies to administer the assessment. Only two states — Delaware and New York — do not use a clinical testing agency.
There may be additional licensure requirements by state, but the aforementioned three basic requirements must meet the standard passing rate in each state. Some additional requirements may include:
Find a complete list of the initial licensure requirements by state on the ADA’s website.
Here is an aggregated list of the overall best and worst states for dentists based on all the key points and statistics we discuss above.
State |
Affordability (Overall) |
Salary (Annual Mean Wage) |
Quality of Life |
Job Demand (% Growth) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | #08 | No salary data available | #45 | 8.7% |
| Alaska | #35 | $202,250 | #49 | 8.3% |
| Arizona | #38 | $201,240 | #30 | 20.5% |
| Arkansas | #01 | $178,290 | #44 | 17.4% |
| California | #50 | $184,350 | #37 | 12% |
| Colorado | #43 | $143,450 | #11 | 10% |
| Connecticut | #40 | $214,070 | #15 | 18.8% |
| Delaware | #33 | $228,740 | #18 | 5.65% |
| Florida | #44 | $196,320 | #06 | 13.2% |
| Georgia | #27 | $203,300 | #21 | 8.3% |
| Hawaii | #48 | $136,200 | #28 | 1.2% |
| Idaho | #21 | $173,570 | #03 | 18.8% |
| Illinois | #32 | $184,490 | #36 | 4.6% |
| Indiana | #18 | $209,500 | #33 | 10.2% |
| Iowa | #07 | $216,520 | #14 | 3.5% |
| Kansas | #11 | $172,120 | #25 | 4.1% |
| Kentucky | #10 | $179,380 | #39 | 1.6% |
| Louisiana | #06 | $185,180 | #50 | -3% |
| Maine | #26 | $224,080 | #27 | 6.4% |
| Maryland | #41 | $203,500 | #20 | 5% |
| Massachusetts | #47 | No salary data available | #09 | 4% |
| Michigan | #23 | $202,390 | #43 | 3% |
| Minnesota | #29 | $224,700 | #04 | 0% |
| Mississippi | #02 | $143,020 | #48 | 1.7% |
| Missouri | #14 | No salary data available | #31 | 3.5% |
| Montana | #15 | $180,630 | #26 | 8% |
| Nebraska | #12 | $185,360 | #05 | 6.8% |
| Nevada | #34 | $146,480 | #34 | 7.1% |
| New Hampshire | #42 | $176,780 | #02 | 8.8% |
| New Jersey | #49 | $175,720 | #19 | 26.6% |
| New Mexico | #13 | $191,570 | #47 | 19.8% |
| New York | #45 | $185,590 | #22 | 11.3% |
| North Carolina | #24 | $205,990 | #13 | 4.3% |
| North Dakota | #09 | $224,300 | #12 | 2% |
| Ohio | #16 | $176,600 | #38 | 1.3% |
| Oklahoma | #05 | $201,720 | #42 | 9.1% |
| Oregon | #39 | $209,670 | #35 | 1.3% |
| Pennsylvania | #28 | $174,250 | #41 | 4.4% |
| Rhode Island | #36 | No salary data available | #24 | 17.5% |
| South Carolina | #22 | $190,670 | #40 | 10% |
| South Dakota | #04 | $166,690 | #08 | 16.5% |
| Tennessee | #19 | $191,880 | #32 | 17.1% |
| Texas | #30 | $207,300 | #29 | 21.3% |
| Utah | #31 | $148,860 | #01 | -4% |
| Vermont | #25 | $240,740 | #07 | 0% |
| Virginia | #37 | $192,880 | #16 | 14.5% |
| Washington | #46 | $203,780 | #10 | 13.8% |
| West Virginia | #03 | $171,380 | #46 | -0.8% |
| Wisconsin | #20 | $209,830 | #17 | 4.1% |
| Wyoming | #17 | $154,030 | #23 | 3.6% |
To determine the best and worst states for dentists, we pulled the latest available data from four sources: the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics Query System (2024), U.S. News Affordability and Best States rankings (2025), and the Projections Central database (2022–2032).
Here’s the data we got from each source:
The above factors should all weigh into your decision of where to live and practice. However, there are other variables that both new dentists and established professionals should also consider. For example, are you passionate about providing dental services to underserved areas? Do you want to specialize in a certain area of preventative care, oral health, or general dental wellness?
Additionally, don’t limit your work environment to a traditional dentist’s office. There are dentist jobs available in other settings, too, some of which pay, on average, very well.
For example, the BLS lists these additional top-paying industries for dentists, based on annual mean wage.
Industry |
Annual Mean Wage |
|---|---|
| Hawaii | 1.2% |
| Mississippi | 0.0% |
| West Virginia | -0.8% |
| Maine | -3.0% |
| Vermont | -4.0% |
*by Annual Mean Wage
Deciding where to make your life and career is a deeply personal decision and varies from individual to individual. But no matter where you choose to practice, or even moonlight in different states, make sure you have top-rated dental malpractice insurance protecting your career. If you’re looking for a trusted provider with a history of caring for customers, be sure to explore Berxi. Every dental malpractice policy at Berxi policy includes:
In addition, Berxi customers save an average of 15% versus industry standards because they have no commission fees, no membership costs, and no deductibles. Take a moment to get a free online quote — you might be surprised by how much you can save.
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Last updated on Dec 02, 2025.
Originally published on Nov 16, 2023.
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