Computed tomography
CT Technologist
Jobs
A CT tech operates computed tomography scanners, positioning patients and selecting the protocol that answers the clinical question in front of them. Most of the work arrives unscheduled. A CT scanner is usually the busiest machine in a hospital because it is where the emergency department sends anyone who might be bleeding.
Verified openings
Current CT technologist jobs
Computed Tomography (CT) Technologist
Casper, WY
Allied Health
View all 33 CT Technologist positions
Filter by shift, contract length, facility setting and state.
Three names, one job
CT tech, CT technologist or CAT scan tech?
Three names, one job. Hospital requisitions say CT technologist, and the formal listings often run the full title as computed tomography technologist jobs. The profession types CT tech jobs into a job board. Patients say CAT scan tech, and a fair number of employers who never updated their wording still post cat scan jobs and ct scan tech jobs, which makes those worth searching too.
CT technician turns up too. It means the same role, though the profession prefers technologist because the work involves protocol selection and radiation dose decisions rather than just running a machine.
The setting changes the work
Where CT technologists work
The scanner is the same in every building. What comes through the door is not.
Hospital and emergency
Where most CT work sits. Stroke protocols, pulmonary embolism studies and abdominal pain, arriving without warning and often needing results in minutes rather than hours.
Trauma centers
Level one and two trauma work is the fastest CT environment there is. Whole body scans against the clock, with a team waiting on the images. Facilities want proven trauma experience for these.
Outpatient imaging
Booked lists, walking patients and predictable hours. Higher volume per shift but almost none of it urgent, which suits some technologists and bores others.
PET CT and specialty
PET CT sits between CT and nuclear medicine and usually needs a second credential. Cardiac CT and CT guided biopsy work are narrower again, with correspondingly short candidate lists.
The post primary pathway
ARRT certification and how technologists get into CT
CT is a post primary certification. Almost nobody starts there. The usual route is ARRT certification in radiography first, then documented CT clinical experience, then the CT registry exam.
That matters if you are a rad tech reading this. Moving into CT is a well worn path, and departments will often train an experienced radiographer into the modality rather than wait to recruit a registered CT technologist in a market this tight. Ask about it rather than assuming the registry has to come first.
Then there is the state license, which applies whichever modality you hold. Imaging runs no compact and most states operate their own registration, so a move across a state line means applying again.
ARRT source links checked September 29, 2026.
What the numbers say
What CT technologists earn
There is no official salary figure for CT technologists, because the Bureau of Labor Statistics does not count them as a separate occupation. CT is folded into radiologic technologists and technicians, a group that recorded a median of 80,110 dollars a year in May 2025, running from under 55,980 dollars at the bottom tenth to above 118,660 dollars at the top.
Treat that as a floor rather than a target. CT is a post primary credential and it typically pays above the group median, in the same way MRI does at 95,480 dollars. There is no published figure for CT alone, and anyone quoting one precisely is estimating.
Those are staff salaries in any case. Contract rates are calculated differently, and in CT the setting moves the figure more than the state does. Trauma and overnight cover carry the largest differentials.
May 2025 wage data. Radiologic technologists and technicians: SOC 29-2034. MRI technologists: SOC 29-2035. Source checked September 29, 2026.
What CT contracts pay, and how trauma and nights change the figure.
Scanner vendors and trauma
How much experience CT contracts ask for
Beyond the years, facilities want to know which scanner vendors you have run and whether you have worked trauma, because those two things decide how quickly you are useful on a busy night.
- Your CT registry
- The scanners you have run
- Your trauma experience
Nothing here fits?
CT is one of the busiest desks we run. There are usually more open CT contracts on our books than any other imaging modality, and departments tend to call us before anything is advertised. Tell us your registry, the scanners you have run and whether you cover trauma. Ring (866) 680-2920 or send your details over.
Straight answers
Frequently asked questions
What does a CT technologist do?
A CT technologist runs computed tomography scanners, positions the patient and selects the protocol that will answer the clinical question. The role covers radiation dose management, contrast administration where licensed, and image review before a radiologist reads the study. It differs from an MRI technologist in that CT uses ionizing radiation rather than magnetic fields, and from a radiographer in that CT builds cross sectional images rather than plain film.
Is a CAT scan tech the same as a CT technologist?
CAT scan tech and CT technologist describe the same role. The original term was computerized axial tomography, and CAT scan lodged in everyday speech long after the profession settled on computed tomography. Patients still use it, a number of employers still post it, and job boards carry both.
How does a radiographer move into CT?
The standard route into CT runs through radiography first. A technologist earns ARRT certification in radiography, builds documented CT clinical experience, then sits the CT registry exam. Many departments will train an experienced radiographer into the modality rather than wait to recruit a registered CT technologist, so it is worth asking before assuming the registry has to come first.
What do CT technologists earn?
No official CT specific salary figure exists. The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts CT inside radiologic technologists and technicians, which had a median of 80,110 dollars in May 2025, ranging from under 55,980 to above 118,660 dollars. CT generally pays above that group median because it is a post primary credential, in the same way MRI does at 95,480 dollars. Treat any precisely quoted CT figure with caution, because it is an estimate rather than published data.
Do I need trauma experience?
Trauma experience is not required for most CT work but it opens the hardest posts to fill. Level one and two trauma centers want a technologist who has already worked whole body scans under time pressure, and they will usually pay for it. General hospital and outpatient CT does not ask for it.
Which states do you place CT technologists in?
Current live CT openings are listed in Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Oregon, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Availability changes as jobs are added or filled. Use the state searches below to see current openings.
Choose your next location
CT technologist jobs by state
Showing 12 of 13 states
- AlaskaSearch jobs
- CaliforniaSearch jobs
- ColoradoSearch jobs
- HawaiiSearch jobs
- IllinoisSearch jobs
- IowaSearch jobs
- MaineSearch jobs
- MassachusettsSearch jobs
- New HampshireSearch jobs
- OregonSearch jobs
- VermontSearch jobs
- WisconsinSearch jobs
States shown have current openings in the job feed. Availability changes as jobs are added or filled.
Your next step
Talk to an imaging recruiter
Send us your registry, the scanner vendors you know and whether trauma is something you want or something you avoid. A CT tech career usually starts in radiography and widens from there, and there is no wrong point on that path to talk to us.
For how a travel assignment is put together, see the travel nursing page.