Quick answer: Most people entering MRI arrive already certified in radiography, and the MRI-specific coursework, physics, safety, cross-sectional anatomy and pulse sequences, delivers online well. Magnetic resonance imaging technologists earn a median $95,480 per year, or $45.91 per hour (BLS OEWS, May 2025). The credential runs through a JRCERT-accredited associate degree plus MRI certification.
MRI Technology at a Glance
Measure
Value
Median annual wage
$95,480
Median hourly wage
$45.91
Employed nationally
43,390
Bottom 10 percent
$68,890
Top 10 percent
$127,670
Middle half
$81,040 to $106,340
Projected change, 2024-34
7.1%
Annual openings
about 2,600
Wage and employment figures: BLS OEWS, May 2025. Growth and openings: BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34.
What Do Online Mri Technologist Programs Actually Look Like?
Most people entering MRI arrive already certified in radiography, and the MRI-specific coursework, physics, safety, cross-sectional anatomy and pulse sequences, delivers online well. The clinical competencies do not. They are logged on real scanners with real patients, which is why programs are built around a clinical site from the start.
Where This Sits on the Ladder
This is the licensed tier above credentials many readers already hold. The rungs run:
Radiologic technologist - JRCERT-accredited program, ARRT certified in radiography
Mri technologist - post-primary or primary MRI pathway, ARRT certified in MRI
For scale, radiologic technologists and technicians show a median of $80,110 against $95,480 for magnetic resonance imaging technologists (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
How Fast Is the Field Growing?
Employment is projected to change by 7.1% between 2024 and 2034, with roughly 2,600 openings a year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34). Openings come from growth and from replacing people who leave the occupation, which is why the annual figure can look large relative to the percentage.
Why JRCERT Accreditation Decides the Outcome
Programs carry accreditation from JRCERT, and certification comes from the ARRT. The common route is post-primary: certify in radiography first, then add the MRI credential through documented clinical experience and the ARRT examination in magnetic resonance imaging. A primary MRI pathway also exists.
Separately from programmatic accreditation, the institution itself should hold accreditation from a recognized institutional accreditor. Credit transfer between institutions is decided by the receiving school and genuinely varies, so get any transfer evaluation in writing before enrolling.
What Does the Job Involve Day to Day?
MRI technologists screen patients for the safety contraindications that make magnetic resonance imaging unlike any other modality, position them, select and run the pulse sequences, and judge whether the images answer the clinical question before the patient leaves. The safety responsibility is the defining feature of the job: the magnet is always on.
Where Do Magnetic resonance imaging technologists Earn the Most?
State
Median annual wage
Employment
District of Columbia
$128,710
150
California
$124,000
3,570
Washington
$122,750
960
Oregon
$121,920
510
Alaska
$120,610
100
Highest-paying states, BLS OEWS, May 2025. Cost of living is not held constant, so a higher median does not automatically mean more disposable income.
Licensing and Credentialing
The national framework is the constant: a JRCERT-accredited program, then the ARRT examination in magnetic resonance imaging administered through ARRT. What sits on top of that framework is set jurisdiction by jurisdiction, and this site does not hold a sourced dataset of per-state rules, so confirm the specifics with your state radiologic health or medical imaging board before enrolling.
What You Will Study
Coursework covers magnetic resonance physics, pulse sequence design and parameter selection, cross-sectional anatomy, contrast agents and their contraindications, image artifacts and how to correct them, and patient screening and safety. MRI safety is treated as its own discipline rather than a module, because screening failures are the mechanism behind most serious incidents in the modality and the magnet does not switch off between patients.
Cost, Time and Whether It Pays
This site does not publish tuition figures, because there is no sourced dataset behind them and the number varies enormously by institution and residency. What can be stated is the wage structure the degree leads into. The middle half of magnetic resonance imaging technologists earn between $81,040 and $106,340, with the bottom 10 percent at $68,890 and the top 10 percent at $127,670 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). The gap between the 25th and 75th percentile is the honest range to plan against - not the median alone, and not the top figure.
Against the tier below, radiologic technologists and technicians show a median of $80,110. The difference is what the additional education is buying, and it should be weighed against the years out of full-time earnings that the program requires.
How to Choose a Program
Establish first which ARRT pathway a program prepares you for - post-primary, which assumes you already hold a credential in radiography, or primary, which does not. Enrolling in the wrong one is a costly mistake. Confirm JRCERT accreditation where applicable, and ask exactly how clinical competencies are logged and at which sites, since ARRT requires documented competencies on real equipment and no coursework substitutes for them.
Where the Jobs Are
State
Employment
Median annual wage
California
3,570
$124,000
New York
3,240
$113,270
Texas
2,930
$96,780
Florida
2,860
$84,330
Illinois
2,760
$95,380
Largest employing states, BLS OEWS, May 2025. Employment concentration and pay do not track each other, which is why the highest-paying states above are not the same list. State and metro pages linked below carry the full distribution.
What to Weigh Before Committing
The realistic caution is scale. This is a small occupation, so annual openings are modest and positions cluster in hospitals and dedicated imaging centers rather than being spread evenly. Anyone not already working in imaging is looking at a longer route through a radiography credential first. The offsetting argument is pay: the median sits well above general radiologic technology, the safety responsibility makes the role difficult to casualise, and demand for advanced imaging has been durable.
Questions to Ask an Admissions Office
Ask these before an application fee, and get the answers in writing rather than over the phone:
Is the program currently with accreditation from JRCERT, and has its status changed in the last three years? Verify the answer against JRCERT directly rather than the program’s own page.
Who arranges the required in-person hours, the program or the student, and what happens if no site is available in my cohort year?
What is the published first-time pass rate for the ARRT examination in magnetic resonance imaging, and for which graduating class?
Which prior coursework or credentials transfer in, and will you evaluate my transcript in writing before I enroll? Transfer is decided by the receiving institution and genuinely varies.
What is the total time to completion for someone in my situation, including prerequisites, and how many students in the last cohort finished on that schedule?
Colleges Offering This Degree
How we rank schools – graduation rate, graduate earnings, cost and retention.
Advertising plays no part.
This page lists 10 schools, closest group first, then ordered by
BOC Score with the highest at the top.
10 of them carry a score.
LOCAL RANK
Location / proximity to this page
Defines the local group
Graduation rate how often students finish
30%
Median earnings, 10 years after entry whether it paid off
25%
Average net price what students actually pay after aid; lower ranks higher
20%
Retention rate how many come back for year two
15%
Fully online availability whether you can study while working
10%
Scores come from IPEDS (2024) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.
Earnings are for all graduates of a school, not one program, so treat them as a signal
about the institution rather than about this subject.
Sponsored listings are paid placements and are labelled as such; they are separate from
this ranking and never change it. Read the full methodology.
The coursework yes, the clinical competencies no. MRI physics, safety and cross-sectional anatomy are taught online routinely, but ARRT requires documented clinical competencies performed on real equipment. Programs that do not tell you clearly how clinical hours are arranged are worth questioning.
How much do MRI technologists make?
The national median annual wage is $95,480, or $45.91 per hour (BLS OEWS, May 2025). The bottom 10 percent earn $68,890 or less and the top 10 percent earn $127,670 or more, across 43,390 MRI technologists nationally.
Is MRI a step up from radiologic technology?
In pay, generally yes. MRI technologists show a median of $95,480 against $80,110 for radiologic technologists and technicians (BLS OEWS, May 2025). It is also a smaller field, so openings are fewer and more concentrated in hospitals and imaging centers.
Do I need to be a radiologic technologist first?
It is the most common route but not the only one. The post-primary pathway builds MRI certification on top of an existing ARRT credential in radiography. A primary pathway into MRI also exists. Which route a given program prepares you for is worth confirming before enrolling.
Is MRI technology a growing field?
Employment of MRI technologists is projected to change by 7.1% from 2024 to 2034, with about 2,600 openings per year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34). The field is small, so the annual openings number is correspondingly modest.
How long does MRI training take?
For someone already ARRT certified in radiography, the MRI credential is typically added through a structured program plus documented clinical competencies rather than a full second degree. Someone starting without an imaging background is looking at an associate degree first. Timelines depend on the pathway and on how quickly clinical competencies can be logged at the available site.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025, SOC 29-2035 Magnetic Resonance Imaging Technologists.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections program, 2024-34.
About this guide: Researched and written by the TradeCareerPath Editorial Team. Our editorial team researches and sources every trade school and career guide using federal labor and education data, including BLS OEWS and Employment Projections, DOL apprenticeship records, IPEDS, College Scorecard, and state licensing boards. We follow the editorial standards documented at /editorial-policy/.
