Salaries by occupation and metro area

What the largest occupations actually pay in the largest US metro areas — official BLS OEWS May 2025 wages, and the take-home pay on each median.

About this data

These pages publish the official wage estimates of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 estimates (released May 15, 2026), retrieved October 27, 2026 for the 30 largest detailed occupations in the 25 largest US metro areas — 749 occupation × metro pages. A page exists only where BLS publishes both the annual and the hourly median for the pair.

Every page also runs its median wage through this site's paycheck engine, so the official gross figure is paired with an estimated take-home pay under 2026 federal and state rules — the combination the official tables alone do not give. Method: the paycheck methodology guide. OEWS figures are survey estimates, not job offers.

Occupations

Occupation	US median	US mean	US employment	Metro areas
Home Health and Personal Care Aides	$35,800	$36,120	4,305,810	25
Retail Salespersons	$35,410	$37,310	3,897,860	25
Fast Food and Counter Workers	$31,200	$32,150	3,854,050	25
General and Operations Managers	$105,770	$134,940	3,503,020	25
Registered Nurses	$97,550	$101,420	3,379,720	25
Cashiers	$32,880	$33,180	3,089,410	25
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand	$40,240	$42,260	2,950,280	25
Stockers and Order Fillers	$37,330	$39,540	2,833,810	25
Customer Service Representatives	$44,770	$46,590	2,595,750	25
Office Clerks, General	$45,010	$46,420	2,464,940	25
Waiters and Waitresses	$35,230	$40,060	2,270,910	25
Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners	$36,840	$38,760	2,209,760	25
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers	$58,640	$59,710	2,062,040	25
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive	$47,540	$49,350	1,706,790	24
Software Developers	$135,980	$148,100	1,687,890	25
Maintenance and Repair Workers, General	$49,590	$53,780	1,529,700	25
Accountants and Auditors	$83,680	$94,750	1,449,500	25
Nursing Assistants	$42,260	$42,700	1,448,910	25
First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers	$69,500	$73,490	1,436,680	25
Cooks, Restaurant	$37,390	$38,730	1,409,890	25
Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators	$44,650	$46,660	1,405,030	25
Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks	$50,670	$53,560	1,373,680	25
Security Guards	$38,020	$42,470	1,283,470	25
Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel	$69,990	$82,430	1,256,010	25
Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products	$72,080	$82,530	1,238,190	25
First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers	$44,080	$46,180	1,223,240	25
First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers	$48,520	$53,380	1,121,800	25
Construction Laborers	$47,120	$52,030	1,096,780	25
Business Operations Specialists, All Other	$83,050	$93,970	1,087,090	25
Project Management Specialists	$102,320	$110,740	1,066,670	25

Metro areas covered

Metro area	Primary state	Total employment	Occupations	Largest covered occupation
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	New York	9,492,000	30	Home Health and Personal Care Aides
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	California	6,271,560	30	Home Health and Personal Care Aides
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	Illinois	4,513,280	30	Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	Texas	4,049,800	30	Fast Food and Counter Workers
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	Texas	3,289,720	30	Fast Food and Counter Workers
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	District of Columbia	3,136,190	30	General and Operations Managers
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	Pennsylvania	2,897,830	30	Home Health and Personal Care Aides
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	Georgia	2,889,670	30	Retail Salespersons
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	Florida	2,819,940	30	Retail Salespersons
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	Massachusetts	2,703,890	30	Home Health and Personal Care Aides
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	Arizona	2,375,760	30	General and Operations Managers
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	California	2,373,920	30	Home Health and Personal Care Aides
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	Washington	2,086,210	30	Software Developers
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	Minnesota	1,951,650	30	Home Health and Personal Care Aides
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	Michigan	1,904,530	30	Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	California	1,716,760	30	Home Health and Personal Care Aides
Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	Colorado	1,609,350	30	Fast Food and Counter Workers
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	California	1,538,060	30	Home Health and Personal Care Aides
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL	Florida	1,447,120	29	Retail Salespersons
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL	Florida	1,411,730	30	Retail Salespersons
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	North Carolina	1,358,370	30	Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	Maryland	1,356,680	30	General and Operations Managers
St. Louis, MO-IL	Missouri	1,341,320	30	General and Operations Managers
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	Texas	1,293,690	30	General and Operations Managers
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	Oregon	1,208,410	30	Fast Food and Counter Workers