Becoming an Optician in Texas

An optician is a healthcare professional working alongside optometrists and ophthalmologists to improve the quality of care and service for patients getting prescription lenses. They measure patients for frames, fill prescriptions, and guide patients in selecting frames and learning how to use their eyeglasses and contact lenses. Growth in the industry is strong everywhere, including in Texas where it doesn’t take years of school to be able to start working as an optician.[En Español]

How to become an Optician in Texas

Opticians were licensed in Texas until a new law passed in 2015 making it unnecessary. Beginning on July 1, 2015, the Texas Department of State Health Services stopped licensing opticians and no longer renewed existing licenses. To become a new optician in the state of Texas you only have to be hired for the job.

While there are now no official state requirements, employers are still likely to have minimum hiring qualifications. Without licensing there are two choices for becoming an optician: seek a job in an entry-level position and be trained by an optician, optometrist, or physician, or complete an opticianry or related degree or certificate program at a post-secondary institution.

Optician Certification Training Programs

There are a few programs in Texas that can help you launch a career as an optician and that can also give you the option of choosing a related career, such as ophthalmic medical technology or assisting. An ophthalmic medical technician works with ophthalmologists, assisting with patients, exams, and procedures.

• San Jacinto College, Pasadena. San Jacinto has two programs in eye care technology, one for a two-year associate degree and the other for a certificate, which takes less time to complete. Both are good starting points for learning how to become an optician, but the associate program is best for being prepared to pass the exams for national certification, a requirement some employers may have.
• Tyler Junior College, Tyler. The ophthalmic medical assisting certificate at Tyler prepares students to work with and assist ophthalmologists and optometrists in a clinical setting. It can also be a jumping-off point for a career as an optician. The program includes 40 credit hours of coursework over two semesters and one summer session.
• Lamson Institute, San Antonio. The San Antonio campus of the Lamson Institute includes a program in optometric assisting. Graduates of the program will be prepared to be hired by and work for optometrists or to work as a technician in a lab setting.

National Optician Certification in Texas

Texas does not require that opticians pass national certification exams, but many employers may. It may either be a requirement of hiring or something that must be achieved at a certain point in time after being hired. Either way, there are two important certification exams for opticians: the American Board of Opticians examination and the National Contact Lens Examiners (NCLE) Contact Lens Registry Examination.

Outlook and Salaries for Opticians in Texas

Growth in careers for opticians in the state is robust at over 18 percent between 2020 and 2030. This outpaces the national average for overall job growth and growth in optician careers. The statistics indicate that the 6,740 opticians working in Texas in 2020 will grow to 7,940 by 2030. This means that more than 670 new positions will need to be filled by those who are training right now to become qualified opticians.

If you are training now to become an optician, you have a rewarding and lucrative career to look forward to. In 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, opticians in Texas earned an average of $34,180 per year and $16.43 per hour. Ophthalmic medical technicians in the state earned $33,700 per year and $16.20 per hour.

Salaries in Texas by Occupation

Profession	Employment	Mean Hourly Wage	Mean Annual Wage
Opticians, Dispensing	6,100	$16.04	$33,360
Ophthalmic Medical Technicians	5,230	$16.00	$33,280
Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians	2,840	$14.98	$31,170
Optometrists	2,600	$57.19	$118,950

Certified Dispensing Optician Salaries in Texas by Region

Region	Total Employment	Mean Hourly Wage	Mean Annual Salary	10% Percentile	25% Percentile	Median	75% Percentile	90% Percentile
Abilene, TX	50	$15.73	$32,730	$25,750	$27,800	$31,340	$37,240	$43,420
Amarillo, TX	150	$14.88	$30,950	$17,790	$21,770	$28,530	$36,620	$44,830
Austin-Round Rock, TX	350	$16.32	$33,940	$22,690	$27,090	$33,200	$38,360	$47,340
Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX	100	$15.89	$33,060	$23,350	$26,280	$31,930	$39,360	$46,510
Brownsville-Harlingen, TX	**	$15.20	$31,610	$18,500	$22,820	$31,600	$39,470	$47,080
College Station-Bryan, TX	40	$16.29	$33,890	$23,970	$26,980	$30,800	$38,360	$51,470
Corpus Christi, TX	120	$14.46	$30,090	$21,240	$23,410	$28,790	$35,710	$39,740
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	1,910	$17.20	$35,770	$24,660	$28,740	$35,050	$40,570	$49,730
El Paso, TX	**	$14.59	$30,350	$24,290	$26,700	$29,290	$31,860	$38,180
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX	1,470	$15.82	$32,900	$24,670	$27,440	$31,740	$37,130	$42,390
Killeen-Temple, TX	**	$15.99	$33,250	$25,440	$27,450	$30,790	$38,380	$46,550
Longview, TX	40	$15.98	$33,250	$22,440	$25,870	$31,610	$37,080	$44,140
Lubbock, TX	**	$16.82	$34,990	$23,220	$27,300	$32,620	$42,510	$49,190
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX	120	$14.57	$30,310	$18,760	$23,640	$29,280	$37,070	$43,990
Midland, TX	30	$17.94	$37,310	$24,720	$27,190	$30,940	$41,880	$54,320
Odessa, TX	60	$15.48	$32,190	$21,500	$23,940	$28,860	$37,060	$46,990
San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX	470	$15.57	$32,390	$21,610	$25,010	$29,450	$38,020	$48,970
Sherman-Denison, TX	40	$15.30	$31,830	$22,250	$26,920	$32,140	$37,230	$40,860
Victoria, TX	70	$14.25	$29,650	$22,050	$25,210	$28,340	$31,850	$38,950
Waco, TX	40	$14.70	$30,580	$25,350	$26,630	$28,740	$31,680	$38,370
Wichita Falls, TX	30	$15.31	$31,850	$19,760	$25,070	$32,320	$37,060	$40,220

Working as an Optician in Texas

Opticians most often work in optometry practices. They assist patients with prescriptions, lenses, and frames. An optician may also be hired by any type of retail store that sells frames and fills optometry prescriptions. Less often, opticians work in doctors’ offices and other medical settings. They may also be hired by medical laboratories. The biggest number of opportunities for opticians in the state will be in and around large cities, like Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, and El Paso.

Neighbor States

Residents of Texas may also wish to review their options in New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana.

College Listings

Optician salaries in Texas

Texas employs about 6,700 dispensing opticians, making it one of the largest optician workforces in the country. That size means steady job openings across the state, from Houston and Dallas to smaller markets like Tyler and Abilene. Before you commit to a training program, it helps to know what the pay looks like at each stage of a career.

According to BLS May 2025 OEWS data, the median annual wage for dispensing opticians in Texas is $38,720. If you are just starting out, expect earnings closer to the 10th percentile: $29,970 per year. After a few years of experience, pay typically moves toward the 25th percentile at $35,290. Experienced opticians in the middle of the field earn around the median. Senior-level and specialty positions push into the 75th percentile at $47,840, and the top 10% earn $58,240 or more.

The mean wage sits at $42,650, which is higher than the median. That gap usually signals that a smaller group of higher earners is pulling the average up. In practical terms, the median is a more realistic target for most people entering the field.

How related roles compare

If you are weighing different paths in eye care, ophthalmic medical technicians (the assistants and technicians who work alongside ophthalmologists) earn somewhat more on average. BLS May 2025 OEWS data shows the median wage for that role in Texas at $43,640, with a mean of $44,080. The 10th percentile starts at $31,930 and the 90th percentile reaches $58,130.

The two occupations have similar earnings at the top end of their ranges, but ophthalmic medical technicians tend to earn more in the middle of the pay scale. The trade-off is that the ophthalmic technician path usually requires formal clinical training tied to an ophthalmology practice, while the optician path has clearer routes through community college programs and national certification exams.

Texas optician licensing: what you need to know

Texas does not require a state license to work as a dispensing optician. That puts Texas in the category of non-licensed states, which means you can start working in an optical shop without passing a state board exam. However, many employers in Texas prefer or require national certification through the American Board of Opticianry (ABO) and the National Contact Lens Examiners (NCLE). Holding those credentials signals to employers that you meet a consistent professional standard, and it can move you into higher pay brackets faster.

Completing an accredited training program before you sit for the ABO or NCLE exams improves your pass rate and shortens the time between training and your first job. The programs listed below are available to Texas students right now.

Accredited optician and ophthalmic training programs in Texas

The schools below have verified programs in Texas for students who want to enter eye care. Program details such as tuition and completion rates vary by term, so contact each school directly to confirm current figures. The institutions with linked names have verified program pages you can visit today.

Community college and technical programs

San Jacinto Community College in Pasadena offers an Eye Care Technology Associate of Applied Science degree. This is a two-year program designed to prepare you for both the optical dispensing and ophthalmic assisting sides of eye care. San Jacinto’s program is one of the longer-running community college eye care programs in the Houston area, and its Pasadena campus puts you close to a dense network of optical and ophthalmology employers.

St. Philip’s College in San Antonio has a Vision Care program through its Health Sciences division. San Antonio is a large and growing medical market, and completing a program there puts you near a wide range of clinical and retail optical settings from day one.

Tarrant County College District in Fort Worth has an ophthalmic program listed in its current catalog. Fort Worth sits within the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the United States, which translates directly into demand for eye care workers.

Tyler Junior College in Tyler serves students in East Texas who want to stay closer to home. Tyler is a regional hub for health care in that part of the state, and a credential from a local school can help you build connections with nearby employers during training.

Allied health and certificate programs

The College of Health Care Professions in Fort Worth has an Ophthalmic Assistant Certificate program available on campus. Certificate programs like this one are typically shorter than associate degree programs and focus tightly on the clinical tasks you will perform as an ophthalmic assistant. If you want to enter the workforce quickly, a certificate program is worth comparing against a two-year degree.

Southwest University at El Paso has an ophthalmic technician program through its College of Allied Health. El Paso is a border city with a distinct patient population and a growing health care sector. Training there can give you experience working with a bilingual, bicultural patient base, which is a practical advantage in many Texas markets.

Doctor of optometry programs in Texas

If your goal is to become a licensed optometrist rather than a dispensing optician or ophthalmic technician, two Texas schools offer the Doctor of Optometry degree. These are graduate-level programs that require a bachelor’s degree and admission testing before you can enroll. They are a different category from the programs above, but knowing they exist helps you see the full career ladder in Texas eye care.

University of Houston College of Optometry is in the Texas Medical Center area, one of the largest medical complexes in the world. That location gives students access to clinical training sites that most optometry schools cannot match.

University of the Incarnate Word Rosenberg School of Optometry in San Antonio is a newer optometry school with a strong clinical curriculum and ties to the South Texas health care community.

Choosing the right program for your situation

The right program depends on three things: how quickly you want to work, how much you can invest in tuition and time, and where in Texas you plan to live after graduation.

If you want to start in a retail optical role fast, a certificate program like the one at The College of Health Care Professions can get you there in less than a year. You will still need to prepare for and pass the ABO exam to make yourself competitive for better-paying positions, but you can do that while working.

If you want more clinical depth and a credential that opens doors in ophthalmology offices or surgical centers, an associate degree from San Jacinto, St. Philip’s, or Tarrant County College gives you a broader foundation. That path takes closer to two years but tends to produce stronger candidates for ophthalmic technician roles, where the median wage is higher than for dispensing opticians alone.

Geography matters too. Texas is a large state. A program in Pasadena or Houston makes sense if you plan to stay in the Gulf Coast region. A program in Fort Worth, El Paso, or San Antonio puts you in a different labor market with its own mix of employers. Pick a school in the city where you intend to build your career, because clinical externships and employer connections formed during training are often your first job leads.

What to look for in a program

Check whether the program is accredited by the Commission on Opticianry Accreditation (COA) or the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP). Accreditation means the curriculum meets national standards and that your credential will be recognized by employers and certifying bodies like the ABO and NCLE.

Ask each school these specific questions before you apply:

• Is the program COA or CAAHEP accredited?
• What is the current tuition and what financial aid is available?
• Does the program include a clinical externship, and where are the externship sites?
• What percentage of recent graduates passed the ABO or NCLE exam on their first attempt?
• What is the job placement rate for graduates?

Schools that cannot answer those questions directly are worth approaching with caution. Good programs track outcomes and share them openly with prospective students.

Next steps

Texas has real demand for trained eye care workers. BLS May 2025 OEWS data puts 6,700 dispensing opticians currently employed in the state, and the median wage of $38,720 gives you a concrete earnings target to work toward. The programs listed on this page are your starting point.

Visit the program pages linked above, request information directly from admissions offices, and ask each school the questions in the checklist above. Comparing two or three programs side by side, on tuition, accreditation, and externship sites, is the most practical way to make a decision you will be confident in.