Healthcare Practitioners and Technical · Holland code CRE

Opticians, Dispensing

Design, measure, fit, and adapt lenses and frames for client according to written optical prescription or specification. Assist client with inserting, removing, and caring for contact lenses. Assist client with selecting frames. Measure customer for size of eyeglasses and coordinate frames with facial and eye measurements and optical prescription. Prepare work order for optical laboratory containing instructions for grinding and mounting lenses in frames. Verify exactness of finished lens spectacles. Adjust frame and lens position to fit client. May shape or reshape frames. Includes contact lens opticians.

Also called: Dispensing Optician, Licensed Dispensing Optician (LDO), Licensed Optician, Optician, Certified Optician, Contact Lens Technician, Ophthalmic Dispenser, Optical Technician.

O*NET 29-2081.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $47,260; Middle half earn $38,820 to $61,700. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED); 46% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 3 of 5; Medium preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034: +3% · As fast as average; 79,900 jobs in 2024, projected 82,200. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Opticians".

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Measure clients' bridge and eye size, temple length, vertex distance, pupillary distance, and optical centers of eyes, using measuring devices.
Verify that finished lenses are ground to specifications.
Evaluate prescriptions in conjunction with clients' vocational and avocational visual requirements.
Recommend specific lenses, lens coatings, and frames to suit client needs.
Assist clients in selecting frames according to style and color, and ensure that frames are coordinated with facial and eye measurements and optical prescriptions.
Maintain records of customer prescriptions, work orders, and payments.
Heat, shape, or bend plastic or metal frames to adjust eyeglasses to fit clients, using pliers and hands.
Show customers how to insert, remove, and care for their contact lenses.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Speaking4.0 / 5
Active Listening3.9 / 5
Reading Comprehension3.8 / 5
Critical Thinking3.5 / 5
Writing3.3 / 5
Active Learning3.0 / 5

Knowledge areas

Customer and Personal Service4.9 / 5
Sales and Marketing4.3 / 5
Mathematics3.9 / 5
Production and Processing3.8 / 5
Administrative3.8 / 5
English Language3.7 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic56
Investigative21
Artistic7
Social34
Enterprising39
Conventional74

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

eyewear and optical equipment shop manager · DE Leiter eines Optikergeschäftes/Leiterin eines Optikergeschäftes · FR gérant de magasin d'optique et lunetterie/gérante de magasin d'optique et lunetterie
optical engineer · DE Optikingenieur/Optikingenieurin · FR ingénieur opticien/ingénieure opticienne
optometrist · DE Optometrist/Optometristin · FR optométriste
optoelectronic engineering technician · DE Optoelektroniker/Optoelektronikerin · FR technicien en génie optoélectronique/technicienne en génie optoélectronique
optical instrument production supervisor · DE Produktionsleiter optische Instrumente/Produktionsleiterin optische Instrumente · FR superviseur en production d’instruments optiques/superviseuse en production d’instruments optiques
optician · DE Augenoptiker/Augenoptikerin · FR opticien/opticienne

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Dispensing opticians (3211)9,200 employed
Precision instrument makers and repairers (5224)15,800 employed
Optometrists (2252)18,900 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Technicians and associate professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Technicians and associate professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€50,992
Austria	€46,986
Germany	€44,473
Netherlands	€42,448
Ireland	€41,613
Sweden	€41,155
Italy	€34,882
France	€34,816
Spain	€29,757
Portugal	€18,080
Poland	€12,108

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +0.10. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (29-2081).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

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