Optometrists by US metro, 2022

The US had 22,781 optometrists with paid staff in 2022, employing 148,762 people at an average of $46,533 a year. 81% have fewer than 10 staff and the average has 6.5 people. New York has the most of the big metros listed here, with 1,150.

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Optometrists in the biggest US metros

Metro	Businesses	Employees	Avg pay	Under 10 staff	Rank of 387
New York	1,150	6,114	$49,092	85%	1st
Los Angeles	1,095	7,059	$37,745	83%	2nd
Dallas	681	4,232	$50,290	83%	3rd
Chicago	664	4,059	$46,201	83%	4th
Houston	631	3,708	$47,384	87%	5th
Miami	537	2,537	$50,535	91%	6th
Atlanta	460	2,512	$48,455	82%	7th
Washington	386	2,720	$57,578	78%	8th
Philadelphia	350	2,161	$53,643	83%	11th
Boston	288	1,630	$58,161	83%	13th

Each metro page adds the size mix, a calculator for what your team's admin hours cost at local pay, and the jobs optometrists hand to AI first.

Where these numbers come from

The U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2022 (released 2024), NAICS 621320 (Offices of optometrists). Businesses with paid employees only. More metros are added as each set is checked. Page checked 2026-11-12.

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A free 30-minute call. You leave knowing which part of your optometry practice to hand to AI first, what we would build, and roughly how long it takes.

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