New Zealand’s first optometry salary report found that despite a relatively high starting point, the profession’s pay increase is slow, often failing to reach peak earning potential. Part of the recent Optometry Workforce Survey conducted by Robert Ng and Dr Renita Martis from the School of Optometry and Vision Science at Auckland University, the report is intended to create pay transparency, gauge working conditions and understand the various professional views held by the industry.

Fig 1. The national median optometry salary spans from $90,000 to $165,833

Ng said optometrists’ average starting salaries are higher than other professions. “Given this, we believed that optometrists would reach their peak earning potential sooner. However, the findings show that optometrists’ salaries do not peak and, in most cases, continue to increase with their years of experience, albeit at a lower rate.” It was also disappointing to find some new graduates are still earning $65K per annum with the corporates, he said. “Anecdotally, we recall that was the starting rate more than 10 years ago. It appears this has not increased with inflation.”

The survey also revealed an average gender pay gap of 6.9%, with men earning more than women, but lower than Statistics New Zealand's 2021 published pay gap of 9.1%. Ng urged some caution around this finding, though, since there were more responses from women than men, which may have skewed the analysis. “For future salary reports we hope to see more male responses and thus provide better reliability.”

Fig 2. Graph showing the extrapolated national median optometrist salary

Ultimately, Ng said the report was created to help both employees and employers and he and Dr Martis are planning a follow-up. “As this is the inaugural salary report, there is no historical data for comparison. But given discussion of salaries is generally taboo, its publication hopefully makes it an easier conversation topic in the future.”

The survey included responses from 190 optometrists working in private (corporate and independents) and public settings, representing approximately 23% of the industry. Locums were excluded and the survey examined gross annual salary only. The workforce views’ part of the survey will be published separately. To receive a copy of the salary report, including a regional breakdown, scan the QR code below or email Robert Ng: r.ng@auckland.ac.nz.