Pay data
Average Salary in the US (2026)
The average US salary is $69,770 a year ($33.54 an hour), but the typical worker earns less: the median is $50,980. Those are the Bureau of Labor Statistics figures for all 155,495,730 wage and salary workers (May 2025). Below: what each percentile earns, pay by field and by state, and where your own salary ranks.
- Average (mean) salary
- $69,770BLS OEWS, May 2025
- Median salary
- $50,980Half earn less
- Median hourly wage
- $24.51Mean $33.54
- Top 10% earn
- $128,560+Bottom 10% under $31,200
Calculator
Where does your salary rank?
Type your salary to see where it sits among all US workers, or among workers in one state, and what it is worth at national-average prices.
About the 70th percentile
You earn more than about 70% of workers in the US.
Interpolated between the 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th and 90th percentile wages BLS publishes for all occupations (OEWS, May 2025). Wage and salary workers only; excludes the self-employed. Price comparison uses BEA Regional Price Parities.
Wondering whether a specific amount is good? See where $50,000 to $200,000 rank, nationally and in every state.
The spread
What US workers earn, from the bottom 10% to the top 10%
The mean ($69,770) sits $18,790 above the median because pay is skewed: the gap between the median and the top 10% is far wider than the gap between the median and the bottom 10%. For “what does a typical worker make”, the median is the honest number.
| Percentile | Annual | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | $31,200 | 90% of workers earn more |
| 25th | $37,590 | The bottom quarter earns less |
| 50th (median) | $50,980 | The typical worker |
| 75th | $80,520 | Entry to the top quarter |
| 90th | $128,560 | Entry to the top 10% |
By field
Average salary by occupation group
All 22 SOC major groups
- Managementmean $145,260 · 11,132,700 workers$126,520
- Computer and Mathematicalmean $120,080 · 5,260,110 workers$109,280
- Legalmean $139,510 · 1,305,620 workers$102,500
- Architecture and Engineeringmean $106,830 · 2,617,130 workers$99,520
- Healthcare Practitioners and Technicalmean $108,700 · 9,823,860 workers$86,530
- Business and Financial Operationsmean $95,230 · 10,537,240 workers$82,660
- Life, Physical, and Social Sciencemean $94,600 · 1,473,260 workers$82,530
- Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Mediamean $79,790 · 2,046,290 workers$62,750
- Educational Instruction and Librarymean $67,540 · 9,100,570 workers$60,570
- Installation, Maintenance, and Repairmean $63,320 · 6,086,190 workers$59,620
- Construction and Extractionmean $65,360 · 6,425,160 workers$59,540
- Community and Social Servicemean $63,410 · 2,668,680 workers$58,300
- Protective Servicemean $60,720 · 3,776,610 workers$50,080
- Office and Administrative Supportmean $51,560 · 17,753,430 workers$47,450
- Productionmean $51,600 · 8,565,760 workers$46,990
- Transportation and Material Movingmean $49,850 · 13,677,150 workers$44,350
- Salesmean $54,960 · 13,424,300 workers$38,530
- Healthcare Supportmean $40,800 · 7,901,670 workers$38,340
- Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenancemean $40,880 · 4,548,260 workers$37,680
- Farming, Fishing, and Forestrymean $41,510 · 435,200 workers$36,630
- Personal Care and Servicemean $41,070 · 3,255,790 workers$36,410
- Food Preparation and Serving Relatedmean $37,150 · 13,680,750 workers$35,050
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Management Occupations | $126,520 |
| Computer and Mathematical Occupations | $109,280 |
| Legal Occupations | $102,500 |
| Architecture and Engineering Occupations | $99,520 |
| Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations | $86,530 |
| Business and Financial Operations Occupations | $82,660 |
| Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations | $82,530 |
| Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations | $62,750 |
| Educational Instruction and Library Occupations | $60,570 |
| Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations | $59,620 |
| Construction and Extraction Occupations | $59,540 |
| Community and Social Service Occupations | $58,300 |
| Protective Service Occupations | $50,080 |
| Office and Administrative Support Occupations | $47,450 |
| Production Occupations | $46,990 |
| Transportation and Material Moving Occupations | $44,350 |
| Sales and Related Occupations | $38,530 |
| Healthcare Support Occupations | $38,340 |
| Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Occupations | $37,680 |
| Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations | $36,630 |
| Personal Care and Service Occupations | $36,410 |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations | $35,050 |
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
For individual jobs, see the highest-paying jobs and the most common jobs in America.
By state
Average salary by state
Median and mean wages for every state (BLS OEWS, May 2025), and the median at national-average prices: the state median divided by its BEA Regional Price Parity (2024). High-wage states are mostly high-price states, so the price-adjusted ranking looks quite different.
| # | State | Median | Mean | Price level | Median at US prices |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | $91,540 | $111,010 | 109.9 | $83,290 · #1 |
| 2 | Massachusetts | $63,590 | $85,610 | 105.8 | $60,130 · #2 |
| 3 | Washington | $62,990 | $83,330 | 107.0 | $58,860 · #5 |
| 4 | Alaska | $61,000 | $74,720 | 102.4 | $59,590 · #3 |
| 5 | Colorado | $59,800 | $77,190 | 103.1 | $58,030 · #6 |
| 6 | Connecticut | $59,690 | $77,420 | 103.6 | $57,610 · #8 |
| 7 | New York | $59,670 | $82,460 | 107.9 | $55,290 · #13 |
| 8 | Maryland | $59,510 | $77,580 | 105.0 | $56,700 · #10 |
| 9 | New Jersey | $58,570 | $78,040 | 108.8 | $53,830 · #18 |
| 10 | California | $58,240 | $80,690 | 110.7 | $52,600 · #26 |
| 11 | Oregon | $57,000 | $72,460 | 103.4 | $55,150 · #14 |
| 12 | Minnesota | $56,920 | $71,160 | 98.6 | $57,720 · #7 |
| 13 | Rhode Island | $56,780 | $71,900 | 102.3 | $55,510 · #11 |
| 14 | Vermont | $56,390 | $69,050 | 98.0 | $57,570 · #9 |
| 15 | Hawaii | $56,320 | $70,270 | 110.0 | $51,220 · #36 |
| 16 | New Hampshire | $55,880 | $71,360 | 104.2 | $53,650 · #19 |
| 17 | Virginia | $55,690 | $74,040 | 101.1 | $55,080 · #15 |
| 18 | North Dakota | $52,480 | $64,050 | 89.0 | $58,990 · #4 |
| 19 | Delaware | $52,190 | $69,880 | 99.8 | $52,290 · #27 |
| 20 | Illinois | $51,960 | $71,130 | 100.0 | $51,980 · #29 |
| 21 | Maine | $51,430 | $65,780 | 97.0 | $52,990 · #24 |
| 22 | Wisconsin | $50,270 | $64,270 | 94.1 | $53,420 · #20 |
| 23 | Wyoming | $50,270 | $61,560 | 92.7 | $54,230 · #17 |
| 24 | Utah | $50,110 | $66,290 | 98.9 | $50,690 · #41 |
| 25 | Arizona | $50,060 | $67,620 | 100.7 | $49,720 · #47 |
| 26 | Pennsylvania | $49,690 | $65,730 | 97.6 | $50,930 · #39 |
| 27 | Ohio | $49,380 | $64,390 | 92.8 | $53,230 · #22 |
| 28 | Michigan | $49,270 | $64,920 | 96.2 | $51,210 · #37 |
| 29 | Nebraska | $48,980 | $62,400 | 90.1 | $54,360 · #16 |
| 30 | Montana | $48,740 | $60,880 | 94.6 | $51,500 · #33 |
| 31 | Texas | $48,620 | $65,750 | 97.1 | $50,090 · #45 |
| 32 | Iowa | $48,540 | $59,830 | 87.8 | $55,310 · #12 |
| 33 | Georgia | $48,170 | $65,920 | 96.3 | $50,020 · #46 |
| 34 | Kansas | $48,010 | $60,640 | 90.1 | $53,300 · #21 |
| 35 | Idaho | $47,970 | $61,170 | 95.5 | $50,230 · #43 |
| 36 | North Carolina | $47,970 | $64,290 | 94.3 | $50,860 · #40 |
| 37 | Florida | $47,880 | $64,670 | 103.4 | $46,300 · #50 |
| 38 | Indiana | $47,860 | $60,840 | 93.3 | $51,280 · #35 |
| 39 | Missouri | $47,800 | $62,160 | 90.8 | $52,630 · #25 |
| 40 | Nevada | $47,660 | $62,050 | 100.0 | $47,670 · #49 |
| 41 | Tennessee | $47,380 | $60,800 | 91.9 | $51,570 · #32 |
| 42 | New Mexico | $47,210 | $62,330 | 92.2 | $51,200 · #38 |
| 43 | South Dakota | $47,080 | $57,610 | 88.6 | $53,150 · #23 |
| 44 | Kentucky | $46,920 | $58,990 | 90.2 | $52,040 · #28 |
| 45 | South Carolina | $46,490 | $59,280 | 93.7 | $49,590 · #48 |
| 46 | Alabama | $45,670 | $57,500 | 88.8 | $51,420 · #34 |
| 47 | Oklahoma | $45,600 | $56,950 | 87.8 | $51,910 · #30 |
| 48 | Louisiana | $45,520 | $56,600 | 88.2 | $51,610 · #31 |
| 49 | West Virginia | $45,300 | $56,470 | 89.5 | $50,620 · #42 |
| 50 | Arkansas | $43,630 | $54,890 | 86.9 | $50,190 · #44 |
| 51 | Mississippi | $40,120 | $50,810 | 87.0 | $46,140 · #51 |
Price level: BEA Regional Price Parity, all items, US = 100. Puerto Rico has a page of its own but no BEA price parity, so it is not ranked.
Method
About these numbers
- Wages are BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics estimates for May 2025, all occupations combined (code 00-0000). They cover wage and salary workers and exclude the self-employed, owners of unincorporated businesses and household workers.
- OEWS wages are straight-time pay before tax, including commissions and tips but excluding overtime premiums, bonuses and employer benefits.
- A salary is not household income. Census household income figures add every earner and non-wage income, so they are not comparable with these.
- Price-adjusted wages are a NueCareer calculation: the state figure divided by its BEA Regional Price Parity (2024) over 100.
Questions
Average US salary: FAQ
What is the average salary in the US?
The average (mean) annual wage across all US occupations is $69,770, and the median is $50,980 (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025). Half of the 155,495,730 wage and salary workers earn less than the median. The mean is higher because a minority of very high earners pull it up.
What is the average hourly wage in the US?
$33.54 an hour on average, and $24.51 at the median (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
What is a good salary in the US?
Anything above the $50,980 median out-earns half of all workers. The top 25% start at $80,520 and the top 10% at $128,560; the bottom 10% earn under $31,200 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). What counts as good also depends on where you live: prices in the most expensive state run 11% above the national average.
Is $100,000 a good salary?
Yes, by national standards: $100,000 sits at roughly the 81st percentile of US workers, between the $80,520 that marks the top quarter and the $128,560 that marks the top tenth (interpolated from BLS OEWS May 2025). In the highest-cost states it buys noticeably less: use the calculator on this page to see it at local prices.
Which state has the highest average salary?
District of Columbia has the highest median wage, $91,540 (mean $111,010); Mississippi has the lowest, $40,120. After adjusting for local prices with BEA Regional Price Parities, District of Columbia comes out on top at $83,290 in national-average dollars.
Which jobs pay the most on average?
By occupation group, management ($126,520 median), computer and mathematical ($109,280 median), legal ($102,500 median) pay the most; personal care and service ($36,410) and food preparation and serving related ($35,050) the least (BLS OEWS, May 2025).