Economists salary

SOC 19-3011 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$124,720

per year, nationally

Middle half

$89,330–$174,720

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

17,790

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+1.2%

900 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$67,360$238,060

10th: $67,360
25th: $89,330
Median: $124,720
75th: $174,720
90th: $238,060

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Master's degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: None

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where economists earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	District of Columbia	$167,590	109.9	3,000	37.34×
2	New Jersey	$167,550	108.8	280	0.57×
3	Delaware	$159,120	99.8	70	1.22×
4	Maryland	$144,680	105.0	1,130	3.56×
5	Kansas	$138,790	90.1	80	0.50×
6	Virginia	$137,590	101.1	950	2.01×
7	New York	$136,660	107.9	910	0.82×
8	North Carolina	$136,150	94.3	290	0.52×
9	Idaho	$131,270	95.5	130	1.31×
10	Alabama	$129,960	88.8	40	0.15×
11	Georgia	$122,570	96.3	260	0.46×
12	Oregon	$122,120	103.4	320	1.43×
13	Texas	$121,420	97.1	560	0.34×
14	Colorado	$121,410	103.1	240	0.74×
15	Ohio	$120,000	92.8	140	0.22×
16	California	$119,410	110.7	860	0.41×
17	Tennessee	$117,650	91.9	80	0.21×
18	Missouri	$117,010	90.8	280	0.84×
19	Pennsylvania	$115,000	97.6	560	0.81×
20	Alaska	$111,040	102.4	80	2.18×
21	Washington	$109,300	107.0	450	1.10×
22	Massachusetts	$106,380	105.8	1,030	2.48×
23	Michigan	$106,350	96.2	320	0.63×
24	Minnesota	$105,120	98.6	500	1.48×
25	Florida	$102,430	103.4	500	0.44×
26	Connecticut	$101,400	103.6	210	1.09×
27	Iowa	$96,310	87.8	70	0.40×
28	Arkansas	$91,560	86.9	50	0.31×
29	Maine	$91,480	97.0	70	0.90×
30	Nevada	$91,340	100.0	70	0.42×
31	Oklahoma	$89,980	87.8	80	0.40×
32	Montana	$89,340	94.6	90	1.58×
33	New Hampshire	$86,130	104.2	50	0.69×
34	Wisconsin	$84,000	94.1	280	0.83×
35	Hawaii	$83,050	110.0	50	0.71×
36	Indiana	$80,750	93.3	80	0.21×
37	Arizona	$79,610	100.7	340	0.90×
38	Nebraska	$75,880	90.1	90	0.74×
39	Louisiana	$73,050	88.2	140	0.64×
40	Kentucky	$71,400	90.2	100	0.42×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where economists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for economists

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$176,090	112.6	850	0.78×
2	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$156,750	108.9	4,570	12.74×
3	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$152,730	104.5	110	0.71×
4	Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	$152,130	97.6	120	3.02×
5	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$151,510	113.6	200	0.28×
6	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$142,400	115.6	200	0.74×
7	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$139,530	102.6	220	0.67×
8	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$138,260	95.7	30	0.26×
9	Jacksonville, FL	$136,990	99.5	30	0.35×
10	St. Louis, MO-IL	$132,630	95.1	90	0.59×
11	Ann Arbor, MI	$128,960	100.9	50	1.91×
12	Kansas City, MO-KS	$128,520	92.5	150	1.23×
13	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$126,420	111.1	200	0.82×
14	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$125,160	103.3	130	0.47×
15	Salem, OR	$124,190	103.6	60	2.56×
16	Pittsburgh, PA	$122,980	94.7	90	0.70×
17	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$122,750	111.9	50	0.27×
18	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$122,570	100.1	220	0.66×
19	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$122,170	103.1	210	0.46×
20	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$122,120	105.4	—	—
21	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$121,410	105.8	150	0.80×
22	Fort Collins-Loveland, CO	$121,410	101.1	40	1.94×
23	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$120,740	95.4	40	0.31×
24	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	$118,030	114.2	110	0.35×
25	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$117,920	106.4	40	0.19×
26	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	$117,600	97.3	80	0.49×
27	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN	$116,990	96.3	40	0.34×
28	Richmond, VA	$112,330	97.9	120	1.59×
29	Anchorage, AK	$109,480	105.4	30	1.64×
30	Oklahoma City, OK	$108,620	90.4	30	0.43×
31	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$108,140	108.3	820	2.65×
32	Boulder, CO	$107,870	105.2	40	1.86×
33	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX	$107,450	94.7	50	0.42×
34	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$107,030	104.8	—	—
35	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$106,350	100.3	110	0.49×
36	Cleveland, OH	$105,340	93.9	50	0.45×
37	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL	$103,690	100.9	80	0.50×
38	Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC	$103,600	97.9	50	0.62×
39	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$103,000	103.7	160	10.93×
40	Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL	$102,430	101.4	—	—

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where economists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Clinical and Counseling Psychologists$100,580
School Psychologists$95,990
Urban and Regional Planners$89,320
Social Scientists and Related Workers, All Other$101,110
Psychologists, All Other$110,840
Anthropologists and Archeologists$70,770
Survey Researchers$69,460
Political Scientists$142,080