Salary
Average Salary: $59,000
Expected Lifetime Earnings: $2,463,132
Entry-level cytogenetic techs earn an average salary of just under $50,000 per year (source). If you work in a large city, you're likely to make more due to the higher cost of living, and the reverse is true if you work in a small community.
But, that's just the basics. If you work as a cytogenetic tech at a hospital and work evenings or overnights, you'll get an average salary plus a two- to five-dollar-per-hour shift differential. That could put an extra $7,000 dollars in your pocket per year, so make sure you find pants with extra-large pockets next time you're out shopping. Or just, you know, open a bank account.
Other benefits to being a cytogenetic technologist include, well, benefits. You can count on having medical insurance for when you're sick and accrued time off if you want to hop on a cruise ship. Plus, you'll get all the free Band-Aids you'll ever need. Don't laugh. If you have kids, the amount of barely visible boo-boos that can be cured with that little strip is staggering.
After a few years on the job as a cytogenetic technologist, you'll be earning an average base salary in the upper $60,000 to upper $70,000 per year range (source), not including extra money for working a second or third shift, if you choose to do that.
That's the kind of money that can provide a reasonably comfortable lifestyle. You won't be able to shell out twenty million for a mansion in Bel Air, but so what? Those humongous, fancy homes are a total pain to clean. At least they are in our dreams...