Optometrists Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $158K, rent takes 17.2% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,700/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new optometrists typically earn — is $59K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $3,552/month. At HUD’s $1,700/month FMR, rent would take 48% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Local pay is 16% above the national median — $158K here vs. $137K nationally.

Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach pays $158K median vs. the U.S. average of $137K — that’s +16%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 99.37), the purchasing-power equivalent is $159K — still ahead of the national median.

The median is $157,970 a year, that works out to about $76 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $59,200, and experienced optometrists can clear $181,130. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $9,894/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,700/month, which eats 17.2% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach has a Regional Price Parity of 99.37 (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 optometrists salary is worth about $158,972 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.