Research
Local Pay Reports: U.S. Median Pay Rises 3.2 Percent in January
Andrew Chamberlain
Andrew Chamberlain, Author at Glassdoor US | Jan 31, 2017
The latest edition of the Glassdoor Local Pay Reports show U.S. median base pay growth accelerated slightly to 3.2 percent year over year in January to $51,360 per year. That’s an increase from the 2.9 percent revised pay growth recorded last month—a sign of continued strength in today’s robust labor market.
Pay Gains by Metro
Among metros, the fastest year-over-year growth in median base pay in January was in Chicago at 4.3 percent to $56,279. That’s a slight tick up from Chicago’s strong 4.0 percent pay growth last month.
Among the five metros in our report, three enjoyed wage growth above the national average of 3.2 percent – Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco – while two metros experienced pay growth below the U.S. average: Houston and New York City.
In Los Angeles, median base pay in January was up 3.8 percent from one year ago to $58,988 (up slightly from 3.4 percent last month). Similarly, median base pay in San Francisco was up 3.8 percent YOY in January, to $66,221 (largely unchanged from 3.7 percent last month).
For the fourth month in a row, Houston had the slowest year-over-year pay growth among the metros we examined at 2.7 percent to $54,329 (up from 1.9 percent last month). Finally, median base pay growth in New York City slowed slightly in January, up 2.7 percent to $60,322 (down slightly from 2.9 percent last month).
You can view the full January 2017 Glassdoor Local Pay Reports here.
Highest and Lowest Paying Jobs
One advantage of Glassdoor salary data compared to most government sources is that we’re able to show pay growth for real-world job titles that workers can easily relate to – rather than the hard-to-understand and often outdated occupational groups used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This helps job seekers understand what job titles are paying best today, helping them search for jobs smarter.
In January, the nation’s highest median base pay was found among five key job titles in Glassdoor salary data:
- Physician: $237,868 per year;
- Attorney: $102,291 per year;
- Data Scientist: $95,908 per year;
- Tax Manager: $92,588 per year; and
- Product Manager: $91,449.
- Restaurant Cook: $30,029 per year;
- Retail Key Holder: $29,981 per year;
- Pharmacy Technician: $29,755 per year;
- Bank Teller: $28,193 per year; and
- Cashier: $27,223 per year.
- Physical Therapist: 9.7% (to $77,198 per year);
- Store Manager: 8.9% to ($50,015 per year);
- Restaurant Cook: 8.6% (to $30,029 per year;
- Attorney: 8.1% (to $102,291 per year); and
- Recruiter: 7.8% (to $52,899 per year).
- Sales Manager: -0.5% (to $61,068 per year);
- Mechanical Engineer: -0.9% (to $71,756 per year);
- Web Developer: -0.9% (to $61,436 per year);
- Paralegal: -1.0% (to $46,440 per year); and
- Producer: -6.4% (to $46,024 per year).
Andrew Chamberlain
Tags:pay-equity
