Cardiovascular Technologists and Technicians

Median salary

$74,310

Average salary

$76,940

Employment

62,960

Projected growth

3% growth

Annual openings

3,800

Typical entry education

Associate's degree

What Cardiovascular Technologists and Technicians Do

Conduct tests on pulmonary or cardiovascular systems of patients for diagnostic, therapeutic, or research purposes. May conduct or assist in electrocardiograms, cardiac catheterizations, pulmonary functions, lung capacity, and similar tests.

See full salary breakdown & percentiles →

Career Outlook

National employment outlook, 2024–2034.

Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: None
Self-employed: 3.7%

Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.

How Much Preparation Does This Take?

Job Zone 3 of 5

Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed

Experience: Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations.
Education: Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Job training: Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Source: O*NET Job Zones.

Key Knowledge Areas

Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.

Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 4.3/5
Medicine and Dentistryimportance 3.9/5
English Languageimportance 3.9/5
Computers and Electronicsimportance 3.3/5
Education and Trainingimportance 3.3/5
Mathematicsimportance 2.9/5
Public Safety and Securityimportance 2.8/5
Administrativeimportance 2.7/5

Work Environment

What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.

Contact With Others4.9/5
Physical Proximity4.9/5
Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams4.7/5
Importance of Being Exact or Accurate4.7/5
Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team4.6/5
Indoors, Environmentally Controlled4.6/5

Careers With Similar Skills

Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.

Nuclear Medicine Technologists96% skill match
Forest and Conservation Workers95% skill match
Firefighters94% skill match
Sound Engineering Technicians94% skill match
Parking Enforcement Workers94% skill match
Prepress Technicians and Workers94% skill match
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand94% skill match
Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators94% skill match

Transferable Skills

Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.

Operations Monitoringimportance 3.8/5
Social Perceptivenessimportance 3.6/5
Service Orientationimportance 3.3/5
Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 3.3/5
Complex Problem Solvingimportance 3.1/5
Operation and Controlimportance 3.1/5
Coordinationimportance 3.0/5
Instructingimportance 3.0/5

Software & Technologies

Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.

Hot Technologies

Other Software Used

Database software
Diagnostic image review software
Digital Imaging Communications in Medicine DICOM-compatible image acquisition and integration software products
Electronic medical record EMR software
Hypertext preprocessor PHP
Information systems integration software
Internet or intranet image distribution software
Practice management software PMS

Work Style

Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.

Attention to Detail
Dependability
Cooperation
Cautiousness
Self-Control
Stress Tolerance
Integrity

Career Interests

This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.

RealisticHigh
InvestigativeHigh
ConventionalMedium
SocialMedium
EnterprisingLow
ArtisticLow

This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.

Where This Career Is Most Concentrated

Metro areas where cardiovascular technologists and technicians make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).