Workers in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $43.09 in May 2025, compared to the nationwide average of $33.54, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Mark J. Maggi noted that higher paying major occupational groups included management ($88.02) and legal ($84.93). Lower paying occupational groups included food preparation and serving related ($20.59), healthcare support ($22.69), and personal care and service ($23.12). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment shares in the Boston area included office and administrative support (9.8 percent), management (9.4 percent), and business and financial operations (9.0 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (1.1 percent); arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (1.4 percent); and community and social service (2.0 percent).

One occupational group—business and financial operations—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Boston had 242,960 jobs in business and financial operations, accounting for 9.0 percent of local area employment, compared to the 6.8-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $54.89, compared to the national wage of $45.78.

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Hourly mean wages for selected higher paying business and financial operations occupations in the Boston metropolitan area, May 2025

Occupation	Wage
All occupations	$43.09
Business and financial operations occupations	54.89
Personal financial advisors	84.99
Management analysts	71.92
Financial risk specialists	66.22
Financial and investment analysts	63.13
Financial examiners	58.79

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the business and financial operations group included accountants and auditors (37,150), market research analysts and marketing specialists (32,310), and management analysts (26,450). Among the higher paying jobs in this group were personal financial advisors ($84.99) and management analysts ($71.92). (See chart 1.) At the lower end of the wage scale were tax preparers ($29.30) and credit counselors ($32.97). (Detailed data for business and financial operations occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0014460/2025.)

Location quotients allow us to explore the occupational make-up of a metropolitan area by comparing the composition of jobs in an area relative to the national average. (See table 1.) For example, a location quotient of 2.00 indicates that an occupation accounts for twice the share of employment in the area than it does nationally. In the Boston area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the business and financial operations group. For instance, fundraisers were employed at 2.39 times the national rate in Boston, and market research analysts and marketing specialists, at 2.07 times the U.S. average. Project management specialists had a location quotient of 1.02 in Boston, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

The statistics in this release are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support. State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data: in this case, the Massachusetts Department of Economic Research, and the New Hampshire Employment Security.

The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey is a semiannual survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. The OEWS data available from BLS include cross-industry occupational employment and wage estimates for the nation; over 530 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates at the NAICS sector, 3-digit, most 4-digit, and selected 5- and 6-digit industry levels; and national estimates by ownership across all industries and for schools and hospitals. Full OEWS data tables are available online.

Additional information about the OEWS estimates and methodology is available in the national Technical Notes. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 66.2 percent based on establishments and 67.2 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metropolitan Statistical Area included 11,735 establishments with a response rate of 53 percent.

Metropolitan area definitions

The substate area data published in this release reflect the standards and definitions established by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.

The Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Essex County, MA; Middlesex County, MA; Norfolk County, MA; Plymouth County, MA; Suffolk County, MA; Rockingham County, NH; and Strafford County, NH.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OEWS data, as well as general program documentation, are available on the OEWS website.

If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.