SF Metro Area Ranks Highest on Average Pay

July 29, 2008 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Average pay in the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA metropolitan area was 19% above the national average in 2007, the highest among metropolitan areas studied by the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Ranking second was the New York -Newark -Bridgeport area, according to a BLS news release. Salinas, CA; Hartford-West Hartford-Willimantic; and Boston-Worcester-Manchester rounded out the top five.

The lowest ranked areas in the BLS listing are Corpus Christi, TX; Johnstown, PA; and Brownsville-Harlingen, TX, the news release said.

In the management, business, and financial occupational group, the top average pay was found in the New York-Newark-Bridgeport area (15% above the national average for this occupational group) and the Salinas, CA area (14% above the national average).

Using data from the National Compensation Survey (NCS), the BLS has made available pay relatives – a calculation of pay–wages, salaries, commissions, and production bonuses–for a given metropolitan area relative to the nation as a whole – for each of nine major occupational groups within 77 metropolitan areas. In addition, area-to-area comparisons have been calculated for all 77 metropolitan areas and will soon be available on the BLS Web site at http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/payrel.htm .

Pay relatives for major occupational groups in metropolitan areas are here .

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