Mississippi posts one of the lowest surgical tech mean wages in the country at $43,070, and one of the lowest costs of living to go with it. The University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson runs academic-level ORs that techs in higher-paying states often cannot get near this early in a career. Browse live scrub tech and OR technician openings across Mississippi below.
Written by Matthew Sorensen, 15+ years in executive recruiting with 500+ skilled trades and healthcare placements, including OR and perioperative roles. Author of four books on hiring and interviewing.
Where Surgical Techs Work in Mississippi
This is a one-academic-center state, which shapes the whole hiring pattern. A tech who wants complex case volume has essentially one destination, while everyone else is placing into community and regional systems where the interview is shorter and the case mix is narrower.
UMMCJackson
The state's only academic medical center and its most complex surgical employer. The single best place in Mississippi to build a specialty case log early.
Baptist Memorial Health CareNorth MS
Serves northern Mississippi and the Southaven market, with ties to the Memphis metro just across the state line. Worth watching if you are open to commuting across the border.
Singing River Health SystemGulf Coast
Covers the Gulf Coast corridor between Gulfport and Biloxi.
Merit HealthStatewide
Operates community hospitals across multiple Mississippi markets, giving the broadest geographic footprint in the state.
Hattiesburg Clinic & Forrest GeneralSoutheast MS
Anchor the southeast Mississippi market and its primary OR staffing.
Mississippi Surgical Tech Salary
01$42,630 median annual
Below the national median for surgical technologists. Mississippi sits at the low end of the national wage range in gross dollars.
02$43,070 mean annual
The mean sitting just above the median means there is no large cluster of high-paying outlier roles pulling the average up. This is a compressed market.
03Employer tier drives the spread
UMMC and larger Jackson facilities pay above the median. Smaller community hospitals and outpatient centers fall below it. Model your own offer with the surgical tech salary estimator.
Mississippi has the lowest cost of living in the country, so the purchasing power behind that $43,000 mean is meaningfully better than the gross figure reads. It is also why travel surgical tech contracts are worth pricing out here: a traveler based in Mississippi keeps more of a national-rate paycheck than one based almost anywhere else.
Certification & Training
Mississippi has no mandatory licensure requirement for surgical technologists, but that does not make the credential optional in practice. UMMC and Baptist Memorial both expect the CST credential, and smaller regional employers use it as a screening shortcut even when they are flexible on paper. CAAHEP and ABHES accredited programs run 12 to 24 months through community colleges statewide, including Hinds Community College near Jackson. Confirm the current rules on the state requirements page.
Mississippi Surgical Tech FAQ
Do I need CST certification to work in Mississippi?
Not by law. But the state's two largest OR employers expect it, and an uncertified resume gets sorted out before a hiring manager reads it. Treat it as required.
Is the low wage a reason to skip Mississippi?
Not on its own. Compare take-home against housing cost, not against another state's gross number. The gap between Mississippi and a $55,000 market closes fast once rent is priced in.
Where should a new grad apply first?
Apply broadly, but understand the tradeoff. UMMC gives the deepest case exposure and the strongest resume line. Community systems typically move faster and are more willing to onboard a tech straight out of clinicals.
Can I use a Mississippi base for travel contracts?
It is one of the better states to try it. Travel pay is set nationally while your housing costs stay local, and that spread is wider in Mississippi than in most of the country.
