Average Salary

• The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics published figures in May 2009 that put the mean annual salary for a diagnostic medical sonographer working in America at $63,640. The highest-earning 10 percent of the 51,630 practitioners surveyed earned an average of $85,950, while the lowest 10 percent received $43,990.
  
  

Salary by Employer

• The Bureau of Labor Statistics also broke down its analysis into geographical locations. While Florida employed the largest number of sonographers, its mean annual wage was $56,030. It was outstripped by several other states, including Massachusetts ($78,460), Oregon ($78,320), Washington ($76,980) and Alaska ($75,500).
  
  

Salary by Location

• A January 2011 survey by PayScale.com found that location can also influence salaries in the sonography industry. Of the states it analyzed, California and New York offered the highest average wages -- $55,329 to $77,166 and $40,695 to $70,326 -- while Georgia had the lowest figures -- $30,897 to $46,140.
  
  

Salary by Experience

• The January 2010 survey by PayScale.com also showed how an individual sonographer's experience can affect her pay expectations. It listed the average salary for a new sonographer, with under 12 months in the field, as $35,608 to $50,694, while practitioners who had accrued between five and nine years earned $46,614 to $62,262, and veterans of 20 years or more could achieve salaries of $60,594 to $82,183.
  
  

Prospects

• Estimates by the Bureau of Labor Statistics published in 2008 asserted that demand for sonograohers in America will rise by 18 percent between 2008 and 2018. One factor in this rise is an aging national population, which should keep salaries very competitive as the medical industry expands.