The Dental Assisting National Board, Inc. (DANB) has conducted the DANB Salary Survey every two years since 2004. This year, for the first time, DANB’s Salary Survey includes salary and benefit information as reported by:

• Dental assistants who hold DANB’s Certified Dental Assistant^TM (CDA^®)
• Dental assistants who do not hold DANB certification
• Certified and non-certified dental assistants who hold state-specific expanded functions credentials

The 2016 DANB Salary Survey was conducted in November 2016. The findings in this report are based on an 11% response rate from a stratified random sample of 6,000 CDA certificants, and an 11% response rate from a stratified random sample of 4,500 non-certified assistants who have taken at least one DANB exam. Survey researchers consider an 11% response rate sufficient to generalize the results to the population surveyed.

DANB has conducted the Salary Survey every two years since 2004. The consistency of data over these years supports the conclusion that these results are representative of the population.

Salary figures are reported as the median response (the median is the point in a data set at which 50% of responses fall above and 50% fall below). Salary figures are reported as hourly wages, without including the dollar value of any employee benefits.

Research services were provided by the DALE Foundation, the official DANB affiliate.