In plain English
Optometry is a four-year doctoral profession with its own schools, licensing examinations and state boards. The core work is the comprehensive eye examination, refraction and the prescription of glasses and contact lenses, together with the diagnosis and medical management of eye disease.
The line between optometry and ophthalmology is surgery, and exactly where it falls is set by each state. Optometrists prescribe medication for the eye everywhere; some states also permit defined laser or minor surgical procedures and the rest do not. Ophthalmologists are physicians and surgeons.
Optometry is also retail. A large share of optometrists practise in or beside an optical dispensary, and corporate or chain affiliation is common, so the practice on a record often matters as much as the clinician on it.
Training and credentials
A bachelor's degree, four years of optometry school for the Doctor of Optometry, then national board examinations and a state licence; residencies are optional.
| Letters | What they mean |
|---|---|
| OD | Doctor of Optometry. |
Where they practise
Independent optometric practice, optical chains and retail locations, ophthalmology practices, community health centres, veterans' facilities.
Optometrists on the public record
Counted from what providers file about themselves, with suppression applied before anything is counted, refreshed 2026-10-05. Names, specialties and practice locations are public; work email and phone are for signed-in customers.
| State | On record | With work email | With practice phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 12,040 | 8,528 71% | 12,040 |
| Texas | 8,308 | 5,085 61% | 8,306 |
| Florida | 6,260 | 3,655 58% | 6,259 |
| New York | 5,679 | 3,656 64% | 5,679 |
| Illinois | 4,251 | 2,728 64% | 4,249 |
| Pennsylvania | 4,055 | 2,699 67% | 4,054 |
| Ohio | 3,853 | 2,503 65% | 3,853 |
| Michigan | 3,271 | 1,993 61% | 3,271 |
Closely related, and where to find them.
Closely related
- Ophthalmologist The surgical eye profession, and how it works alongside optometry.
Find them
- Optometrists list counts by state, the fields a record carries, a sample record.
- Eye care optometrists and ophthalmologists, the two halves of eye care in one search.
- Optometrists in New York, NY
- Optometrists in Los Angeles, CA
- Optometrists in Houston, TX
- Optometrists in Miami, FL
- Optometrists in Chicago, IL
- Optometrists in Philadelphia, PA
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