Opticians, Dispensing

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State of Alaska > Department of Labor > Research & Analysis Home > Alaska Occupations

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Opticians, Dispensing (29-2081)

Occupation description: 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.

For an explanation of the data, click on the question mark next to the heading.

Career Ladder/Lattice

The Alaska Career Ladder/Lattice is a tool to help job seekers identify upward career paths and lateral opportunities.
Click here to see the career ladder/lattice for Opticians, Dispensing.

Employment and Job Openings

	Average employment			Average annual openings
	2010 estimate	2020 projection	Percent change	Growth	Replacement	Total
Alaska	162	216	33.3	5	4	9
United States	62,600	80,700	28.9	1,810	1,250	3,060

Job outlook

Alaska: Alaska’s employment growth is robust with moderate employment opportunities. Read more.

2012 Wages

	Mean Wage and 95% Confidence Interval			Wage by Percentile
	Low	Mean	High	10th	Median	90th
United States	n/a	16.83	n/a	10.11	16.03	25.35
Alaska	17.25	19.60	21.95	12.21	19.84	27.71
Anchorage/Mat-Su Area (MSA)	18.25	20.55	22.85	12.64	23.34	28.19
Balance of State	15.55	20.09	24.63	10.57	21.25	27.35

Labor Force Indicators

2011 Worker Characteristics
Total workers	Nonresident workers	Percent nonresident	Percent age 45 plus	Percent age 50 plus
178	30	16.9	43.6	33.1

2011 Potential Supply

Qualified but working in another occupation	30
Currently employed in a lower paid occupation	8
UI claimants previously working in occupation	24

2011 ALEXsys Employment Data

Number of registrants	92
Number of job position postings	23
Ratio of registrants to job position postings	4.0

2011 Alaska Licensing Information

Optician: 377 licensed View licensing requirements

Typical Entry-level Education, Experience, and/or On-the-job Training

Education: High school diploma or equivalent

Work experience: None

On-the-job training: Long-term on-the-job training

Department of Labor and Workforce Development
Research & Analysis Section

1111 W. 8th St., Juneau, AK 99801
P.O. Box 115501, Juneau, AK 99811-5501

Phone: 907.465.4500 Fax: 907.465.4506

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