Workers in the Amherst Town-Northampton, MA Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $34.01 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 ($63.50), healthcare practitioners and technical ($53.11), and legal ($52.70). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($19.82) and healthcare support ($21.57). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment shares in the Amherst Town area included educational instruction and library (13.9 percent), office and administrative support (11.3 percent), and food preparation and serving related (10.5 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.5 percent); architecture and engineering (1.2 percent); and life, physical, and social science (1.3 percent).

One occupational group—educational instruction and library—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Amherst Town had 9,130 jobs in educational instruction and library, accounting for 13.9 percent of local area employment, compared to the 5.9-percent share nationally. The average annual wage for this occupational group locally was $85,240, compared to the national wage of $67,540.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the educational instruction and library group included teaching assistants, except postsecondary (930); secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education (650); and elementary school teachers, except special education (640). Among the higher paying jobs in this group were postsecondary computer science teachers ($154,280) and postsecondary economics teachers ($151,710). At the lower end of the wage scale were short-term substitute teachers ($41,880) and teaching assistants, except postsecondary ($42,500). (Detailed data for the educational instruction and library occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0011200/2025.)

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 Amherst Town area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the educational instruction and library group. For instance, postsecondary psychology teachers were employed at 17.26 times the national rate in Amherst Town, and postsecondary art, drama, and music teachers, at 11.93 times the U.S. average. Elementary school teachers, except special education, had a location quotient of 1.09 in Amherst Town, 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.

Technical Note

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 Amherst Town-Northampton, MA Metropolitan Statistical Area included 695 establishments with a response rate of 54 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 Amherst Town-Northampton, MA Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Hampshire County.

 

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.

Table 1. Employment and wage data for educational instruction and library occupations, Amherst Town metropolitan area, May 2025

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Educational instruction and library occupations	9,130	2.37	40.98	85,240
Computer science teachers, postsecondary	170	11.09	(6)	154,280
Mathematical science teachers, postsecondary	160	8.01	(6)	102,820
Engineering teachers, postsecondary	(5)	(5)	(6)	145,820
Biological science teachers, postsecondary	140	6.82	(6)	120,440
Atmospheric, earth, marine, and space sciences teachers, postsecondary	(5)	(5)	(6)	140,440
Chemistry teachers, postsecondary	100	11.28	(6)	127,720
Environmental science teachers, postsecondary	60	21.41	(6)	108,720
Physics teachers, postsecondary	60	10.91	(6)	127,380
Anthropology and archeology teachers, postsecondary	(5)	(5)	(6)	126,320
Area, ethnic, and cultural studies teachers, postsecondary	(5)	(5)	(6)	120,060
Economics teachers, postsecondary	110	22.37	(6)	151,710
Political science teachers, postsecondary	100	14.00	(6)	112,620
Psychology teachers, postsecondary	300	17.26	(6)	94,020
Sociology teachers, postsecondary	70	13.41	(6)	127,010
Health specialties teachers, postsecondary	250	2.70	(6)	138,170
Nursing instructors and teachers, postsecondary	100	2.89	(6)	105,660
Education teachers, postsecondary	180	7.04	(6)	88,100
Art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary	470	11.93	(6)	95,530
English language and literature teachers, postsecondary	200	8.15	(6)	104,880
Foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary	(5)	(5)	(6)	99,470
History teachers, postsecondary	90	11.11	(6)	119,180
Philosophy and religion teachers, postsecondary	60	6.51	(6)	112,730
Recreation and fitness studies teachers, postsecondary	60	10.42	(6)	91,470
Career/technical education teachers, postsecondary	170	3.59	29.63	61,640
Postsecondary teachers, all other	230	3.59	(6)	98,940
Preschool teachers, except special education	340	1.67	24.54	51,050
Kindergarten teachers, except special education	40	0.91	(6)	75,850
Elementary school teachers, except special education	640	1.09	(6)	77,170
Middle school teachers, except special and career/technical education	310	1.20	(6)	76,710
Secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education	650	1.45	(6)	76,720
Career/technical education teachers, secondary school	60	1.36	(6)	90,680
Special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school	90	0.83	(6)	79,980
Special education teachers, middle school	60	1.51	(6)	75,760
Special education teachers, secondary school	120	1.70	(6)	75,550
Self-enrichment teachers	330	2.36	30.94	64,360
Substitute teachers, short-term	280	1.27	20.13	41,880
Tutors	70	0.96	34.54	71,850
Teachers and instructors, all other	70	1.39	(6)	72,510
Curators	(5)	(5)	38.49	80,060
Librarians and media collections specialists	250	4.41	36.89	76,730
Library technicians	80	2.81	22.67	47,150
Instructional coordinators	200	2.03	39.01	81,150
Teaching assistants, postsecondary	(5)	(5)	(6)	56,980
Teaching assistants, except postsecondary	930	1.54	(6)	42,500
Educational instruction and library workers, all other	(5)	(5)	26.34	54,790
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Amherst Town-Northampton, MA Metropolitan Statistical Area, see https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0011200/2025. (2) Estimates for detailed occupations do not sum to the totals because the totals include occupations not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers. (3) The location quotient is the ratio of the area concentration of occupational employment to the national average concentration. A location quotient greater than one indicates the occupation has a higher share of employment than average, and a location quotient less than one indicates the occupation is less prevalent in the area than average. (4) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a 'year-round, full-time' hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly mean wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data. (5) Estimate not released. (6) Wages for some occupations that do not generally work year-round, full time, are reported either as hourly wages or annual salaries depending on how they are typically paid.