Updated October 16, 2026

PERM occupation, SOC 31-9091, #525 of 1,410 by filings

DENTAL ASSISTANT

17 H-1B LCAs

Biggest sponsor: CARE DENTAL OF BOYNTON BEACH, P.A. · 29% of its filings
Busiest state: FL · 40% of its filings
Major group: Healthcare support · SOC 31

Weighing an offer for this job?

Where it falls among certified offers, and the four wage levels DOL sets for it by area.

Compare my offer DOL's wage levels for this job

This rate is level with the field

Over 35 decided filings, this rate can't be told apart from the field in either direction.

Why

The 95% interval runs up to a 22.4% denial rate, which still covers the 3.20% the field as a whole records.

Median wage

$37,000

all PERM $103,272

Filings

#525 of 1,410

Approval

91.4%

field 96.8%

Median days

381

96 faster than the field

What it pays

Where its median offer sits among every occupation, then the whole ladder of certified offers by year and by state.

Position in the field 535 occupations with 30+ decided

Median offered wage

$37,000above 20%

$18k $500k

Approval rate

91.4%ahead of 18%

49% 100%

Median days to decision

381 daysahead of 94%

323d 536d

Each bar counts occupations at that value. More

Each bar counts occupations at that value. PERM runs two labour markets through one process, which is why the wage axis is two humps rather than a bell. The line marks this one.

DOL PERM disclosure files

Who files it

The sponsors and firms with the most PERM filings under this code, the places the work sits, and who the workers were.

Sponsors filing it

CARE DENTAL OF BOYNTON BEACH, P.A. 10 filings
CARE DENTAL OF WELLINGTON, P.A. 3 filings
BTY DENTAL GROUP LLC 2 filings
Advanced dental care of fredericksburg 1 filings
AIN DENTAL CARE PLLC 1 filings
ALICIA ROBERTSON PA 1 filings

How this is counted

The employers with the most applications under this code. 18 of 35 filings, 51% of the total.

Firms filing it

Law office of Shayne Epstein, PA 10 filings
Law Office of Shayne J. Epstein, PA 4 filings
HOPE LAW GROUP PC 2 filings
Bejasa Law Office, P.C. 1 filings
Castro Legal Group 1 filings
Cisneros Immigration Law Firm 1 filings

How this is counted

The law firms named on the most applications under this code. 19 of 35 filings, 54% of the total.

Where the jobs are

Florida 14
Virginia 6
Alaska 2
Massachusetts 2
Minnesota 2
California 1

How this is counted

The worksite state on the application, which is where the job is and not where the company is headquartered. Volume by state across everyone is on the state map. These 6 states cover 27 of 35 filings.

Where the work is

Boynton Beach, FL 10
Wellington, FL 3
Anchorage, AK 2
Lorton, VA 2
Burlington, MA 1
Franklin, MA 1

How this is counted

The worksite city on the application, which is where the job is. These 6 cities cover 19 of 35 filings.

Who filled these jobs, FY2016 to FY2023

From DOL's old form; the form in use since mid-2023 doesn't carry them. Top six of each.

Country of citizenship

Brazil 101
South Korea 45
Venezuela 38
Mexico 20
Philippines 9
Colombia 8

Worker's education

High School 126
Bachelor's 53
None 48
Associate's 34
Other 19
Doctorate 13

Visa held when filed

F-1 49
B-2 43
EWI 14
NOT IN USA 12
F-2 10
B-1 7

Schools

NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR LIFELONG EDUCATION 4
BERGEN COMMUNITY COLLEGE 3
CENTRO ESCOLAR UNIVERSITY 3
COLEGIO SALESIANO SAO GONCALO 3
UNIDAD EDUCATIVA COLEGIO LOS CEDROS 3
UNIVERSIDADE MUNICIPAL DE SAO CAETANO DO SUL 3

Fields of study

HIGH SCHOOL DEGREE 45
HIGH SCHOOL 31
DENTAL HYGIENE 19
DENTISTRY 19
DENTAL MEDICINE 6
HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION 6

The job itself

What O*NET says the work is, what the market pays it by BLS's survey, its outlook, and DOL's wage levels year by year.

What the job pays outside PERM BLS May 2025, DOL wage year 2026-27

United States
387,790 jobs
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL
Boynton Beach, Wellington
Anchorage, AK
Anchorage
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
Lorton
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
Burlington, Franklin

$40k$50k$60k$70k

middle half of pay (BLS)
median
10th to 90th percentile
DOL's Levels I to IV, left to right
median PERM offer

Market pay and DOL wage levels, by area
Area	BLS median	Level I	Level II	Level III	Level IV
United States	$48,070
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	$47,860	$41,101	$44,845	$48,589	$52,333
Anchorage, AK	$57,710	$43,202	$48,838	$54,496	$60,133
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$47,540	$39,603	$44,990	$50,398	$55,786
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$58,160	$47,798	$52,645	$57,470	$62,317

How these figures fit together

BLS surveys employers on what they pay everyone in a job; DOL builds its four levels from the same survey a year later (the July 2026 wage year uses BLS's May 2025 estimates). DOL publishes levels by area, not nationally, so the United States line has none. Levels are hourly in DOL's tables; here they're shown a year at 2,080 hours, as DOL computes them. The metros are the ones holding the most of this job's PERM filings, placed by Census's county files.

The block is the middle half of what employers report paying everyone in this job, citizen or not; the ticks under it are DOL's four prevailing wage levels for that metro, the floors a PERM or H-1B offer is held to. More

BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics; DOL OFLC wage tables

DOL's levels for this job in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL, year by year

Each July DOL resets the four levels from BLS's newest survey. A determination keeps the figures of the year it was issued in.

DOL wage levels by wage year, Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL
Wage year	Level I	Level II	Level III	Level IV
2026-27	$41,101	$44,845	$48,589	$52,333
2025-26	$38,875	$42,827	$46,758	$50,710
2024-25	$36,462	$41,038	$45,635	$50,211
2023-24	$34,424	$37,710	$40,976	$44,262
2022-23	$31,782	$35,651	$39,541	$43,410
2021-22	$28,725	$34,486	$40,248	$46,010

Every area and both wage tables in the wage-level tool.

What the job is

Perform limited clinical duties under the direction of a dentist. Clinical duties may include equipment preparation and sterilization, preparing patients for treatment, assisting the dentist during treatment, and providing patients with instructions for oral healthcare procedures. May perform administrative duties such as scheduling appointments, maintaining medical records, billing, and coding information for insurance purposes.

Preparation: Medium Preparation Needed; O*NET Job Zone 3
DOL's education basis: High school diploma or equivalent; Wage year 2026-27
Jobs, 2025 to 2035: +7.4%; About 53,000 openings a year (BLS)
Typical entry: Postsecondary nondegree award; BLS

Bright Outlook O*NET OnLine lists this job for rapid growth.

The work, most important first

Prepare patient, sterilize or disinfect instruments, set up instrument trays, prepare materials, or assist dentist during dental procedures.
Record treatment information in patient records.
Assist dentist in management of medical or dental emergencies.
Order and monitor dental supplies and equipment inventory.
Expose dental diagnostic x-rays.
Provide postoperative instructions prescribed by dentist.

The education workers in it report

High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)

29%
Post-Secondary Certificate

46%
Some College Courses

17%
Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree

8%

Titles people use for it

Certified Dental Assistant (CDA), Dental Assistant (DA), Expanded Duty Dental Assistant (EDDA), Registered Dental Assistant (RDA), Certified Registered Dental Assistant, Expanded Dental Assistant, Expanded Functions Dental Assistant (EFDA), Oral Surgery Assistant.

This section includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database and O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. PERM Tracker has modified some of this information (the shares are rounded and only the top tasks are shown); what changed. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

Against other jobs

Where this sits in the ranking

Ranked 525 of 1,410 by volume: 524 filed at least as many filings, and 885 filed no more.

Just above: SelfEnrichment Education Teachers 35 filings
Just below: Blockchain Engineers 34 filings

Other healthcare support roles

Occupations sharing this one's SOC major group, which is carried in the first two digits of the code. More

Occupations sharing this one's SOC major group, which is carried in the first two digits of the code. Wages inside a group still swing hard, because the group holds every seniority level and every metro.

The same job on H-1B

17 certified H-1B labor condition applications for this occupation since FY2020, offering a median of $43,500 a year; the middle half ran $35,360 to $52,000. By state and year in the salary explorer.

Notes on these numbers

Reading the wage

A floor, not a salary survey: every level and metro mixed. DOL's four wage levels for this job, by area.

What the median is

The median wage employers committed to in federal filings for this occupation. It mixes every experience level and every metro, and it's a floor: the employer must offer at least the prevailing wage DOL determines for the occupation, level and county. Across all PERM filings the middle half of offered wages runs $45,178 to $141,357, so a figure inside that band is unremarkable whichever occupation it belongs to. The levels page reads DOL's OFLC wage search live.

What these numbers don't say

4 notes

The code is the identity: This one is SOC 31-9091. Two SOC codes can carry the same job title, so a title that looks duplicated on the ranking is two different occupations. Match on the code when you're checking a specific filing.
A median isn’t an offer: It's the middle of all 35 wages committed to for this occupation across the country, entry level and principal alike. The same role's medians swing hard by worksite, which the state map shows directly.
Approval isn’t about the occupation: The denial rate moves with what happened in the filing rather than with the job title, so nothing here is a property of DENTAL ASSISTANT. The measured factors are on the denial risk page, published as separate rates.
Nothing here is pending: All 35 counted here carry a decision date, because every case in DOL's disclosure files does, so a case still waiting is in none of them. The largest filer of this occupation is CARE DENTAL OF BOYNTON BEACH, P.A.. Where the queue stands today is on the processing times page.

The window these figures cover: DOL's PERM disclosure files for fiscal years 2024 to 2026, through the third quarter of 2026, 373,939 decided cases. Nothing pending is counted here. How each figure is built

Weighing an offer?

Compare it against this median, then check the state map, where the same occupation's medians swing hard by worksite.

Setting one?

All 1,410 occupations sort together on the wages page, and denial rates show how outcome moves with the offered wage.

Filings newer than DOL's last published file can't be attributed to this occupation until DOL publishes them. The live list on the case search page carries them by employer.

Case data: DOL quarterly disclosure files (flag.dol.gov) · data through Jun 30, 2026 · quarterly

Employers and firms: Derived from DOL's disclosure files · data through Jun 30, 2026 · rebuilt with each quarterly load

O*NET occupation data: O*NET Database, USDOL/ETA (onetcenter.org) · data through Aug 16, 2026 · twice a year

BLS market pay: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (bls.gov) · data through May 31, 2025 · yearly, each spring

BLS employment projections: BLS Employment Projections (bls.gov) · data through Dec 31, 2025 · yearly, each autumn

DOL wage tables: DOL OFLC wage data downloads (flag.dol.gov) · data through Jul 1, 2026 · yearly, each july

What each source includes

Case data: Decided PERM cases only. A case still waiting isn't in here, so counts and durations describe finished cases.

Employers and firms: Employers, law firms and occupations ranked from decided cases only.

O*NET occupation data: What O*NET says each occupation is and takes: its description, tasks, Job Zone and the education workers report. A description of the job everywhere, not of any one employer's opening.

BLS market pay: What employers report paying everyone in each job, nationally, by state and by metro, from BLS's yearly survey (May of the year named). Citizens and immigrants alike; not PERM offers.

BLS employment projections: BLS's ten-year projection of each job's employment and yearly openings, and the entry education it calls typical. A projection, not a count.

DOL wage tables: The four prevailing wage levels DOL publishes for every job in every area, each wage year from 2021-22, as DOL's own tables print them. The floors an offer is held to, not what anyone was paid.

Cite this page

Waiting on a PERM case?

When it'll likely be decided
An email when DOL moves it