Ultrasound Technician (Sonographer) job description
297 verified openings in Allied Health & Therapy
Deciding which images a physician gets to see falls to the sonographer: watching the screen mid-scan, telling healthy tissue from the pathological kind, and judging whether the exam should be extended past what was ordered. BLS calls the occupation diagnostic medical sonographer and puts 58 percent of its 92,200 jobs in hospitals, 21 percent in physicians' offices, most of them full time. Sonographers earned a median of $96,590 in May 2025, from under $67,820 at the tenth percentile to above $129,370 at the ninetieth.
Core Duties and Responsibilities
Ahead of the scan there is a history to take, a procedure to explain, a transfer to the table, and skin to scrub and gel. During it, settings and patient angles get adjusted until the picture is usable. Afterward the sonographer hands the physician the images plus an oral or written summary of the technical findings, archives what was kept, and cleans and checks the machine, filing maintenance requests or making small repairs. Assisting during invasive procedures and scheduling exams are on the list too.
Common Skills and Technologies
The conversational skills carry real weight in O*NET's ratings, active listening and social perceptiveness in particular, alongside the critical thinking and monitoring that keep a tech's eyes on the screen. Named software is short: MEDITECH and eClinicalWorks EHR for records, Microsoft Excel and Office for the rest. The instrument is the ultrasound machine and the camera unit that records images off it, and the day runs standing in dimly lit exam rooms, sometimes lifting or turning patients who cannot move themselves.
Education, Training, and Career Path
An associate degree or a postsecondary certificate in sonography is the usual way in, which is what O*NET Job Zone Three describes; 47 percent of respondents named the two-year degree and 19 percent the certificate, with bachelor's and first professional degrees taking about 17 percent each, which between them make up the remaining third, so some sonographers arrive from other clinical fields. Some states and many employers ask for professional certification, and basic life support or CPR certification often comes attached to the offer. BLS puts growth at 14 percent from 2025 to 2035, roughly 6,000 openings a year, much of that turnover from retirements and career changes in a field that is also expanding.
Sources: O*NET 30.0, 29-2032.00 Diagnostic Medical Sonographers, https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/29-2032.00. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, 29-2032, https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes292032.htm.