Meter Readers, Utilities salary

SOC 43-5041 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$48,150

per year, nationally

Middle half

$39,410–$65,750

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

19,430

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-12.0%

1,300 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.

$34,720$85,930

10th: $34,720
25th: $39,410
Median: $48,150
75th: $65,750
90th: $85,930

Getting in

Typical education to enter: High school diploma or equivalent
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Short-term on-the-job training

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

Where meter readers, utilities 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	California	$79,040	110.7	810	0.35×
2	Pennsylvania	$78,450	97.6	860	1.13×
3	Nevada	$76,120	100.0	160	0.84×
4	Minnesota	$73,930	98.6	120	0.33×
5	Colorado	$66,550	103.1	150	0.43×
6	Washington	$65,900	107.0	390	0.88×
7	Connecticut	$64,180	103.6	140	0.64×
8	Oregon	$63,660	103.4	120	0.50×
9	New Jersey	$63,030	108.8	870	1.62×
10	Alaska	$62,690	102.4	40	0.91×
11	Wyoming	$61,470	92.7	50	1.41×
12	Iowa	$60,940	87.8	120	0.63×
13	Michigan	$60,870	96.2	270	0.50×
14	Illinois	$60,690	100.0	570	0.75×
15	West Virginia	$59,430	89.5	280	3.17×
16	Delaware	$58,240	99.8	30	0.56×
17	New York	$56,960	107.9	930	0.76×
18	Rhode Island	$56,830	102.3	40	0.62×
19	Massachusetts	$54,150	105.8	300	0.66×
20	Hawaii	$51,910	110.0	50	0.62×
21	Kansas	$49,870	90.1	80	0.43×
22	Indiana	$49,200	93.3	330	0.83×
23	Missouri	$49,150	90.8	330	0.90×
24	New Mexico	$48,530	92.2	350	3.18×
25	South Carolina	$47,850	93.7	410	1.43×
26	Ohio	$47,780	92.8	1,070	1.55×
27	Alabama	$45,710	88.8	470	1.77×
28	Tennessee	$45,210	91.9	860	2.09×
29	Arizona	$44,760	100.7	360	0.90×
30	Kentucky	$44,450	90.2	690	2.76×
31	Virginia	$44,020	101.1	630	1.22×
32	Georgia	$43,140	96.3	670	1.10×
33	Texas	$43,030	97.1	1,360	0.77×
34	North Carolina	$41,830	94.3	640	1.04×
35	Florida	$40,610	103.4	—	—
36	Oklahoma	$39,480	87.8	390	1.84×
37	Louisiana	$37,570	88.2	500	2.07×
38	Arkansas	$37,340	86.9	230	1.41×
39	Mississippi	$37,120	87.0	600	4.10×

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 meter readers, utilities wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for meter readers, utilities

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	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$100,480	115.6	140	0.49×
2	Reno, NV	$89,460	101.0	40	1.29×
3	Omaha, NE-IA	$87,320	91.9	60	1.02×
4	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$83,350	102.6	400	1.10×
5	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$82,420	106.7	60	0.44×
6	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$80,180	103.6	250	0.45×
7	Pittsburgh, PA	$78,290	94.7	250	1.83×
8	Cleveland, OH	$77,660	93.9	90	0.73×
9	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$75,830	106.4	130	0.59×
10	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$75,140	113.6	210	0.26×
11	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$75,020	104.8	60	0.24×
12	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$74,030	111.1	180	0.70×
13	Green Bay, WI	$69,070	93.1	40	1.62×
14	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$67,130	102.7	50	0.66×
15	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$67,090	105.8	60	0.28×
16	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	$66,930	100.2	80	0.56×
17	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$66,870	111.9	60	0.30×
18	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$65,600	105.4	60	0.42×
19	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$63,040	112.6	1,110	0.93×
20	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$61,910	100.3	140	0.59×
21	Kansas City, MO-KS	$61,830	92.5	100	0.73×
22	Morgantown, WV	$60,530	93.3	30	3.99×
23	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$58,500	99.6	30	0.62×
24	Ogden, UT	$58,180	100.3	50	1.37×
25	Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY	$56,860	95.8	50	0.76×
26	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$56,830	101.8	50	0.61×
27	Jacksonville, FL	$55,180	99.5	140	1.46×
28	St. Louis, MO-IL	$54,310	95.1	100	0.59×
29	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$54,160	108.3	210	0.61×
30	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$51,220	95.4	100	0.75×
31	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$50,810	108.9	300	0.77×
32	Vineland, NJ	$50,750	96.0	30	3.91×
33	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$50,700	95.7	70	0.49×
34	Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT	$50,610	98.2	50	1.31×
35	Charleston-North Charleston, SC	$50,570	101.0	50	0.95×
36	Columbus, GA-AL	$50,050	89.3	30	2.21×
37	Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL	$49,660	94.7	30	2.79×
38	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$49,410	103.3	140	0.47×
39	Birmingham, AL	$49,110	91.6	70	1.15×
40	Columbia, MO	$49,020	89.4	30	2.52×

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 meter readers, utilities wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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

Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks$45,260
Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks$59,650
Postal Service Mail Carriers$60,550
Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance$50,340
Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators$58,470
Public Safety Telecommunicators$53,040
Cargo and Freight Agents$52,260
Postal Service Clerks$62,130