Dentists, General Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $164K, rent takes 17.5% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,785/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new dentists, generals typically earn — is $97K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $5,822/month. At HUD’s $1,785/month FMR, rent would take 31% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Pay here is roughly in line with the national average — $164K locally vs. $171K nationally, a 4% difference.

Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin pays $164K median vs. the U.S. average of $171K — that’s -4%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 97.03), the purchasing-power equivalent is $169K — below the national median.

The median is $163,700 a year, that works out to about $79 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $97,030, and experienced dentists, generals can clear $286,090. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $10,220/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,785/month, which eats 17.5% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin has a Regional Price Parity of 97.03 (100 is the national average). That's below average, your money stretches further here than the raw salary number suggests. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median dentists, general salary is worth about $168,711 in national-average purchasing power.

The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.