Surgical Technologist Salary in Georgia (2026): $57,240/yr
Georgia employs the eleventh-largest surgical technologist workforce in the United States and is anchored by the rapidly growing Atlanta metro hospital market. State pay sits 9 percent below the national mean (BLS OEWS May 2024, 29-2055), with Atlanta concentrating most of the state's high-pay opportunities and rural Georgia trailing meaningfully.
The Georgia surgical tech market
Atlanta dominates Georgia surgical technologist employment. The Atlanta metro hospital landscape includes Emory Healthcare (the largest health system in Georgia, with Emory University Hospital, Emory University Hospital Midtown, Emory Saint Joseph's, and a substantial network of community hospitals), Piedmont Healthcare (the second-largest system, with Piedmont Atlanta Hospital and a fast-growing network), WellStar Health System (covering northwest Atlanta and northwest Georgia), and Northside Hospital (with Northside Atlanta and a substantial obstetric and oncology specialty footprint). The Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) network covers pediatric care across three campuses and is one of the larger pediatric hospital systems in the southeastern United States.
Grady Memorial Hospital in downtown Atlanta serves as the regional Level I trauma center for the southeastern United States and as Atlanta's safety-net hospital. Grady's trauma volume is among the highest in the country and the facility offers exceptional case-mix breadth for trauma-focused surgical technologists. The Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center serves the substantial veteran population in the region with federal pay grade structures that often exceed local private-sector benchmarks.
Beyond Atlanta, Georgia surgical tech employment is concentrated at Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah, Augusta University Medical Center (AU Health) in Augusta, the Medical College of Georgia, the Medical Center Navicent Health in Macon, and Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany. The Columbus and Athens metros have smaller but established surgical services. Rural Georgia hospital networks (Houston Healthcare, Tift Regional, others) round out the state's surgical employment, with pay scales typically below the Atlanta and Savannah metros.
Georgia's regulatory environment is light for surgical technologists: the state does not require state surgical tech licensure as of 2026, and the NBSTSA CST credential is required by most major Georgia hospital systems at hire. Georgia has been one of the faster-growing states for healthcare employment over the past decade, with population growth concentrated in the Atlanta metro driving sustained demand for surgical tech roles across the metro hospital network.
Georgia metro pay
| Metro | Mean Annual | vs State Mean |
|---|---|---|
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell | $60,800 | +6 percent |
| Savannah | $56,900 | -1 percent |
| Augusta-Richmond County | $55,200 | -4 percent |
| Athens-Clarke County | $54,300 | -5 percent |
| Macon-Bibb County | $52,400 | -8 percent |
| Columbus | $50,800 | -11 percent |
| Albany | $50,100 | -12 percent |
Metro figures approximate; precise values from BLS Metropolitan Area OEWS tables.
Atlanta and the academic medical center concentration
Emory Healthcare anchors the Atlanta academic medical center market. Emory University Hospital and Emory University Hospital Midtown both operate substantial surgical service lines including cardiac, neurosurgery, transplant, and complex specialty work. Emory's cardiac and transplant programs are nationally recognized and create demand for specialty-trained surgical techs at the top of the state pay range. The Emory Saint Joseph's campus and Emory Decatur Hospital extend the system into the broader Atlanta metro with additional surgical service capacity.
Piedmont Healthcare has grown rapidly over the past decade to become the second-largest Georgia health system. Piedmont Atlanta Hospital anchors the system with substantial cardiac and complex specialty work, and the system network now extends through Piedmont Newnan, Piedmont Fayette, Piedmont Henry, Piedmont Mountainside, and other suburban Atlanta locations. WellStar Health System operates a substantial northwest Atlanta and northwest Georgia hospital network with WellStar Kennestone, WellStar Atlanta Medical Center, and WellStar North Fulton among its larger facilities.
For surgical technologists in the Atlanta metro, the labor market offers strong competition among the major systems, structured pay scales, internal career runways, and a fast-growing case-mix volume driven by metro population growth. Pay at the strongest hospitals (Emory, Piedmont, Northside, CHOA for pediatric) typically reaches $65,000 to $72,000 for experienced surgical techs with specialty credentials, with shift differentials and call adding meaningfully on top. The Atlanta market also has a substantial ambulatory surgical center footprint, with both physician-owned single-specialty ASCs and multi-specialty ASC chains creating additional employment opportunity.