Optometrist job description

Six in ten optometrists work in an optometry office, according to the Handbook, with smaller shares in physicians' offices, retail stores, and practices of their own. Which of those settings a doctor chooses shows up in the pay. BLS put the median for optometrists at $136,570 in May 2025. The bottom tenth of earners made less than $74,870, and the top tenth more than $202,180. In offices of optometrists the median was $129,250, and in offices of physicians it was $145,630. Employment is projected to grow 10 percent from 2025 to 2035, much faster than average, with about 2,000 openings a year.

Core Duties and Responsibilities

O*NET rates the eye exam itself highest: using observation, instruments, and drops to judge acuity, focus, and coordination, and to find disease such as glaucoma. From the results the optometrist builds a treatment plan. Prescribing and fitting glasses, contact lenses, and other vision aids rates as high as prescribing medication, which depends on what state law allows. Optometrists counsel patients on lens care, lighting, and eye safety, pull foreign bodies out of the eye, and see cataract and laser vision correction patients before and after surgery. Cases that need more medical treatment go to an ophthalmologist or another practitioner. Vision therapy and low-vision rehabilitation round out the list.

Common Skills and Technologies

Reading comprehension, active listening, and critical thinking share the top of the skills list, with science close behind. The software employers name is the business of a practice: Intuit QuickBooks, Microsoft Access, Excel, SQL Server, and Word, plus scheduling and medical software as categories.

Education, Training, and Career Path

The job is Job Zone Five, and nearly everyone O*NET surveyed, about 95 percent, answered that it requires a doctoral degree. That degree is the Doctor of Optometry, a four-year program most applicants start after a bachelor's. Every state licenses optometrists, and candidates take the three-part exam from the National Board of Examiners in Optometry, the last part a four-station clinical skills test. Scope differs by state. Two sources in 2026 counted 16 and 17 states that let optometrists perform some laser procedures. After the degree, an optional year of advanced clinical training in areas such as ocular disease or contact lenses is open to those who want to specialize.

Sources: O*NET 30.0, 29-1041.00 Optometrists, https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/29-1041.00. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, 29-1041, https://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, Optometrists, https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/optometrists.htm. National Board of Examiners in Optometry, https://www.optometry.org/faqs.