Healthcare practitioners
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.
Median pay
$47,260
Growth to 2035
+4%
about as fast as average
Openings a year
5,600
Time to qualify*
12 months
* From a bachelor's degree in an unrelated field.
Pay
Opticians, dispensing
Getting in
- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Long-term on-the-job training
- Prior experience
- None
What the work is like
Dealing with the public
Unpleasant or angry people
Time pressure
Cost of a mistake
Freedom to make decisions
Repeating the same tasks
Time sitting
Time standing
Exposure to disease
Opticians, dispensing: 4% usually work over 40 hours a week
Core tasks
- 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.
Also called: Certified Optician · Contact Lens Technician · Dispensing Optician · Licensed Dispensing Optician (LDO) · Licensed Optician · Ophthalmic Dispenser · Optical Technician · Optician
Outlook and AI
Opticians, dispensing held 74,300 jobs in 2025. BLS projects 77,400 by 2035 (+4%, about as fast as average; all jobs: +3.5%).
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