MRI Tech Salary 2026
MRI techs earn a median of $95,480 (BLS, May 2025), $15,370 above radiography. See why the modality pays more and how contract rates compare.
MRI Tech Salary: Why the Modality Pays More
An MRI technologist salary tops out at a $95,480 median in BLS data for May 2025. Set against $50,980 covering all US occupations, that is 87 percent more.
The comparison that matters more sits closer to home. Radiologic technologists earn $80,110, so MRI pays $15,370 more for what starts as the same registration.
The Range
- Bottom 10 percent
- Under $68,890
- Newly registered, rural, outpatient
- 25th percentile
- $81,040
- Established in the modality
- Median
- $95,480
- The MRI tech salary most quoted
- 75th percentile
- $106,340
- A second modality, or a high cost market
- Top 10 percent
- Over $127,670
- Multiple modalities, lead roles, contract work
Look at where the floor sits. Someone in the lowest paid tenth of MRI still out earns the median radiographer, the median respiratory therapist and the median practical nurse. That is an unusually high bottom end.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics gives MRI its own occupation code, 29-2035, so every figure above comes straight from the OEWS table rather than a survey or an estimate.
The gap
What the $15,370 Gap Actually Buys
- Radiologic technologist
- $80,110
- The same base registration, general radiography
- MRI technologist
- $95,480
- Same registration plus one post primary credential
- The gap
- $15,370
- Two occupation codes, one career path between them
- All US occupations
- $50,980
- The MRI median runs 87 percent ahead of it
Because the Bureau of Labor Statistics counts MRI technologists apart from radiographers, this is among the cleanest pay comparisons anywhere in healthcare. Two occupation codes, two medians, and a single career path running between them.
Getting across takes a credential, not a qualification. An ARRT registered radiographer builds documented MRI clinical hours then sits the registry exam, which is a year or two of work rather than a decade of waiting for incremental raises.
To put $15,370 in context, climbing from the radiography median to its 75th percentile is worth $18,640 — the rad tech pay page has the full spread. A modality covers most of that ground and it travels with you, because it widens which jobs you can apply for rather than nudging you up one employer's scale.
That is also the honest answer to questions about the highest paying radiology tech jobs. The answer is not a particular employer or state. It is holding more than one modality — CT technologist jobs follow the same logic.
How Contract Rates Work in MRI
Contract work obeys different rules. Its weekly figure bundles taxed hourly pay with untaxed housing and meal stipends, and the untaxed half holds only where a genuine home exists elsewhere.
MRI carries one variable worth checking that general radiography does not. Whether the assignment expects you to cover CT as well. A contract written for two modalities prices differently from one written for MRI alone, and the difference is frequently larger than the gap between two competing agencies.
Establish the hourly rate on its own, confirm which modalities are in scope, and compare after that.
What would an MRI contract pay?
Send through your registries, the scanners you have run and the states you are licensed in. A real figure follows.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much do MRI techs make?
BLS put the MRI technologist median at $95,480 for May 2025. A tenth of technologists come in below $68,890 and a tenth above $127,670. Measured against $50,980 across all US occupations, MRI runs 87 percent ahead.
What is the MRI and rad tech pay difference?
Roughly $15,370 separates them at the median, $95,480 for MRI against $80,110 for radiography in the May 2025 BLS release. Because BLS treats the two as distinct occupations, this is one of the few clean pay comparisons in healthcare. Crossing between them means an added registry, not another degree.
Which radiology jobs pay the most?
Holding more than one modality raises imaging pay further than any employer or location does. MRI sits above general radiography by $15,370, and technologists covering two modalities fill two rota gaps with one person, which is what departments price for. There is no single highest paying employer.
Figures: BLS OEWS May 2025, code 29-2035, with radiography from 29-2034 and the Occupational Outlook Handbook. All linked above. Last reviewed October 2026.