Careers / Cardiovascular Technologists and Technicians

Cardiovascular Technologists and Technicians — Career Decision Dashboard

United States

Opens your browser print dialog — choose “Save as PDF”.

Median annual wage

$74,310

United States, 2025

Employment

62,960

United States, 2025

Typical education

Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree

Job Zone 3

Skills identified

35

10 related careers

Career overview

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.

O*NET code
29-2031.00
Job zone
3
Experience required
Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years

Typical tasks

  • Conduct electrocardiogram (EKG), phonocardiogram, echocardiogram, stress testing, or other cardiovascular tests to record patients' cardiac activity, using specialized electronic test equipment, recording devices, or laboratory instruments.
  • Explain testing procedures to patients to obtain cooperation and reduce anxiety.
  • Monitor patients' blood pressure and heart rate using electrocardiogram (EKG) equipment during diagnostic or therapeutic procedures to notify the physician if something appears wrong.
  • Obtain and record patient identification, medical history, or test results.
  • Monitor patients' comfort and safety during tests, alerting physicians to abnormalities or changes in patient responses.
  • Prepare and position patients for testing.
  • Attach electrodes to the patients' chests, arms, and legs, connect electrodes to leads from the electrocardiogram (EKG) machine, and operate the EKG machine to obtain a reading.
  • Adjust equipment and controls according to physicians' orders or established protocol.

Choose a location

Salary analysis — United States

$39,000
10th
$47,890
25th
$74,310
Median
$98,110
75th
$121,350
90th

10th percentile

$39,000

25th percentile

$47,890

75th percentile

$98,110

90th percentile

$121,350

Most important skills

  • Active Listening3.9
  • Monitoring3.8
  • Speaking3.8
  • Operations Monitoring3.8
  • Critical Thinking3.8
  • Reading Comprehension3.6
  • Social Perceptiveness3.6
  • Judgment and Decision Making3.3
  • Service Orientation3.3
  • Operation and Control3.1
  • Writing3.1
  • Active Learning3.1

What skills do you need?

Select the skills you already have

Skills listed are those O*NET rates at importance 3.0 or above for this occupation. Set your own level on the same 0–7 O*NET scale.

Skill coverage

0%

0 of 17 identified skills

Matched

0

Missing

17

Your selected skills cover approximately 0% of the skills identified for this occupation in O*NET. This is a coverage measure of listed skills only — it is not a qualification, hiring or interview outcome.

Skills to develop

SkillImportanceRequired levelYour levelGap
Active Listening3.93.9Not selected3.9
Reading Comprehension3.64.1Not selected4.1
Monitoring3.83.8Not selected3.8
Critical Thinking3.83.8Not selected3.8
Speaking3.83.6Not selected3.6
Social Perceptiveness3.63.3Not selected3.3
Operations Monitoring3.83.1Not selected3.1
Writing3.13.5Not selected3.5
Judgment and Decision Making3.33.3Not selected3.3
Service Orientation3.33.3Not selected3.3
Active Learning3.13.4Not selected3.4
Instructing3.03.3Not selected3.3
Complex Problem Solving3.13.1Not selected3.1
Operation and Control3.13.0Not selected3.0
Time Management3.03.0Not selected3.0
Coordination3.03.0Not selected3.0
Science3.02.9Not selected2.9

Ordered by required level gap multiplied by O*NET importance. No prediction or recommendation is implied.

Related careers

How salary varies by location

LocationMedianEmploymentYear
Salt Lake City, UT$224,2808102025
Oxnard, CA$128,530502025
UT$113,5101,2502025
HI$111,7301402025
Urban Honolulu, HI$111,7301302025
Seattle, WA$107,7106402025
Boston, MA$107,0007802025
Bakersfield, CA$106,340702025
MA$105,5801,1102025
Modesto, CA$105,400802025
Bridgeport, CT$104,0501702025
Providence, RI$104,0003302025
RI$104,0002602025
San Francisco, CA$103,0605002025
Colorado Springs, CO$102,350702025
ID$100,1002202025
Boise City, ID$100,1001402025
DC$99,3802802025
OR$99,2405502025
Worcester, MA$98,9501202025
All locations with published data

Career transition paths

Compare the skills of a career you hold today with Cardiovascular Technologists and Technicians to see shared skills, target-only skills and skill overlap.

Build a transition comparison

Career and skills data: O*NET 31.0.

Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS, 2025 (May 2025 release).

Figures are periodic published survey snapshots, not real-time market rates.