It is important to remember that the areas with the lowest salaries for sonographers often have significantly lower costs of living than other areas. Additionally, facilities in rural areas will often pay less than facilities in metropolitan areas do. Of course, sonographers who are just entering the workforce will have starting salaries less than the wages experienced sonographers earn.
The U.S. state with the lowest sonographer salary is Alabama, with an average annual salary of $50,700. The states that are in the lowest paying tier for ultrasound technicians in the country include:
Alabama
Arkansas
Mississippi
South Dakota
West Virginia
It is important to note that all of these states are predominantly rural, thus the reason for the low wages. The average annual salaries for sonographers in these states range from $50,700 to $55,740, which is significantly more than the average annual salaries for all of the jobs in the state.
According to BLS Hourly mean wage and Yearly mean of a sonographer in these states is:
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Data extracted on February 11, 2016