Which state has the highest median wage?

District of Columbia has the highest median wage for all occupations at $91,540 a year, and Puerto Rico has the lowest at $28,680 a year (BLS, May 2025).

What is the difference between the median and mean wage?

The median is the middle wage: half of workers earn more and half earn less. The mean is the average, which is pulled up by a small number of very high earners, so it is usually higher than the median.

Wages by State and Metro Area

Median pay for all occupations from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (May 2025). Select a state or metro area for wages in about 800 occupations.

Median annual wage by state

All occupations. Darker states pay more

States ranked by median wage

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#	State	Median wage	Mean wage	Employment
1	District of Columbia	$91,540	$111,010	701,920
2	Massachusetts	$63,590	$85,610	3,637,650
3	Washington	$62,990	$83,330	3,550,970
4	Alaska	$61,000	$74,720	325,570
5	Colorado	$59,800	$77,190	2,873,900
6	Connecticut	$59,690	$77,420	1,696,170
7	New York	$59,670	$82,460	9,688,000
8	Maryland	$59,510	$77,580	2,763,030
9	New Jersey	$58,570	$78,040	4,285,720
10	California	$58,240	$80,690	18,213,700
11	Oregon	$57,000	$72,460	1,967,130
12	Minnesota	$56,920	$71,160	2,949,820
13	Rhode Island	$56,780	$71,900	501,340
14	Vermont	$56,390	$69,050	303,890
15	Hawaii	$56,320	$70,270	627,530
16	New Hampshire	$55,880	$71,360	683,290
17	Virginia	$55,690	$74,040	4,109,320
18	North Dakota	$52,480	$64,050	429,430
19	Delaware	$52,190	$69,880	484,790
20	Illinois	$51,960	$71,130	6,098,130
21	Maine	$51,430	$65,780	640,610
22	Wisconsin	$50,270	$64,270	2,941,540
23	Wyoming	$50,270	$61,560	280,740
24	Utah	$50,110	$66,290	1,735,590
25	Arizona	$50,060	$67,620	3,239,430
26	Pennsylvania	$49,690	$65,730	6,064,600
27	Ohio	$49,380	$64,390	5,550,180
28	Michigan	$49,270	$64,920	4,403,730
29	Nebraska	$48,980	$62,400	1,024,370
30	Montana	$48,740	$60,880	511,580
31	Texas	$48,620	$65,750	14,071,160
32	Iowa	$48,540	$59,830	1,559,240
33	Georgia	$48,170	$65,920	4,889,170
34	Kansas	$48,010	$60,640	1,437,520
35	Idaho	$47,970	$61,170	857,440
36	North Carolina	$47,970	$64,290	4,941,820
37	Florida	$47,880	$64,670	9,929,860
38	Indiana	$47,860	$60,840	3,201,220
39	Missouri	$47,800	$62,160	2,936,050
40	Nevada	$47,660	$62,050	1,551,540
41	Tennessee	$47,380	$60,800	3,278,760
42	New Mexico	$47,210	$62,330	870,970
43	South Dakota	$47,080	$57,610	457,380
44	Kentucky	$46,920	$58,990	2,000,360
45	South Carolina	$46,490	$59,280	2,305,080
46	Alabama	$45,670	$57,500	2,113,660
47	Oklahoma	$45,600	$56,950	1,707,680
48	Louisiana	$45,520	$56,600	1,934,900
49	West Virginia	$45,300	$56,470	701,610
50	Arkansas	$43,630	$54,890	1,303,630
51	U.S. Virgin Islands	$42,870	$52,730	32,090
52	Mississippi	$40,120	$50,810	1,163,030
53	Guam	$36,650	$46,210	66,600
54	Puerto Rico	$28,680	$38,840	938,710

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Highest paying metro areas

Median wage for all occupations

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#	Metro area	Median wage	Employment
1	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$84,050	1,134,970
2	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$74,260	2,373,920
3	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$72,610	2,086,210
4	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$71,060	3,136,190
5	Boulder, CO	$69,580	192,390
6	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$66,620	2,703,890
7	Lexington Park, MD	$63,990	70,650
8	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$63,490	240,190
9	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$63,200	93,740
10	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$62,320	1,609,350
11	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$61,960	130,300
12	Fairbanks-College, AK	$61,810	36,430
13	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$61,470	404,180
14	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$61,430	9,492,000
15	Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	$60,720	344,020

Largest metro areas

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Metro area	Employment	Median wage
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	9,492,000	$61,430
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	6,271,560	$55,850
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	4,513,280	$54,720
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	4,049,800	$51,440
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	3,289,720	$49,410
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	3,136,190	$71,060
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	2,897,830	$54,310
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	2,889,670	$51,170
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	2,819,940	$48,640
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	2,703,890	$66,620
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	2,375,760	$51,380
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	2,373,920	$74,260
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	2,086,210	$72,610
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	1,951,650	$59,320
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	1,904,530	$52,080

Median wage by occupation group

U.S., all 22 major groups

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Occupation	Employment	Median wage	Mean wage
Management Occupations	11,132,700	$126,520	$145,260
Computer and Mathematical Occupations	5,260,110	$109,280	$120,080
Legal Occupations	1,305,620	$102,500	$139,510
Architecture and Engineering Occupations	2,617,130	$99,520	$106,830
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	9,823,860	$86,530	$108,700
Business and Financial Operations Occupations	10,537,240	$82,660	$95,230
Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	1,473,260	$82,530	$94,600
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations	2,046,290	$62,750	$79,790
Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	9,100,570	$60,570	$67,540
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations	6,086,190	$59,620	$63,320
Construction and Extraction Occupations	6,425,160	$59,540	$65,360
Community and Social Service Occupations	2,668,680	$58,300	$63,410
Protective Service Occupations	3,776,610	$50,080	$60,720
Office and Administrative Support Occupations	17,753,430	$47,450	$51,560
Production Occupations	8,565,760	$46,990	$51,600
Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	13,677,150	$44,350	$49,850
Sales and Related Occupations	13,424,300	$38,530	$54,960
Healthcare Support Occupations	7,901,670	$38,340	$40,800
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Occupations	4,548,260	$37,680	$40,880
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations	435,200	$36,630	$41,510
Personal Care and Service Occupations	3,255,790	$36,410	$41,070
Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations	13,680,750	$35,050	$37,150

Frequently asked questions

Which state has the highest median wage?: District of Columbia has the highest median wage for all occupations at $91,540 a year, and Puerto Rico has the lowest at $28,680 a year (BLS, May 2025).
What is the difference between the median and mean wage?: The median is the middle wage: half of workers earn more and half earn less. The mean is the average, which is pulled up by a small number of very high earners, so it is usually higher than the median.

Data sources

Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

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