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Kraena Pre-Health
Career Library

Technical & Diagnostic

Histotechnologist (HTL)

Turns tissue into the slide a pathologist reads — the last step before a cancer diagnosis.

Years after high school

2-4

Degree

Associate's or bachelor's degree

Entrance exam

Program entrance testing varies

Median pay

$62,930 is the national median for clinical laboratory technologists and technicians combined (BLS, May 2025). BLS does not publish a standalone histotechnologist median.

What the job is actually like

Embedding tissue in paraffin, cutting sections only microns thick, mounting and staining them, and checking each slide is clean enough to diagnose from. It is quiet, exacting, craft-like work with chemical handling throughout.

The path

  1. 01Associate's or bachelor's degree with required science coursework
  2. 02Accredited histotechnology program or documented lab experience
  3. 03ASCP HT or HTL certification

Good fit if

  • You have steady hands and high patience for detail
  • You want to matter to diagnosis without patient contact
  • You prefer a calm, predictable environment

Think twice if

  • You need patient interaction to feel connected to the work
  • You want a large, well-known field with openings everywhere
  • Routine chemical exposure concerns you

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All salary figures here are median annual wages from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook, May 2025 — the most recent full national dataset. 'Median' means half of workers earn more and half earn less. Three things to keep in mind: (1) pay varies enormously by state, city, setting, and experience — a nurse in California and a nurse in rural Alabama earn very different salaries; (2) training lengths are typical, not guaranteed, and programs differ; (3) these numbers change every year. Always verify current figures at bls.gov/ooh before making a decision. For context, the BLS median wage for all U.S. occupations was $50,980, while healthcare practitioner and technical occupations had a median of $86,530 — one of the reasons health care is such a stable field.