Nearly 364,000 dental assistants were employed in the United States as of May 2022 per the latest available occupational employment data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).  Over 17,200 dental assistants at work in May 2022 lived in the six-state New England region of the country.  BLS data reveals New England to be one of the better regions of the country for dental assistant pay.  Every state in New England, except Rhode Island, recorded an annual mean wage level for dental assistants that was above the national average for the profession, with two states in the region, Massachusetts and Vermont, ranked among the top ten states nationally for that pay metric.  A deeper dive into May 2022 BLS data details the following about dental assistant pay in New England:

Dental Assistant Pay in New England

State	# Employed	Annual Mean Wages	Wage Rank*
CT	3,560	$48,260	12th
MA	9,650	$52,200	5th
ME	1,230	$46,560	15th
NH	1,360	$50,220	10th
RI	800	$44,340	24th
VT	610	$51,460	7th
U.S.	363,880	$44,710	-------

(*) annual mean wage ranking among the 50 states and the District of Columbia

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OES. Data extracted on September 30, 2023