Workers in the Rochester, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $32.41 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 ($69.48) and legal ($61.37). Lower paying occupational groups included healthcare support ($19.60), personal care and service ($19.62), and food preparation and serving related ($19.70). (See table A.)

Office and administrative support occupations accounted for 12.0 percent of Rochester area employment, followed by educational instruction and library occupations (9.1 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.7 percent); life, physical, and social science (0.9 percent); and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (1.3 percent).

One occupational group—healthcare practitioners and technical—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Rochester had 36,730 jobs in healthcare practitioners and technical, accounting for 7.4 percent of local area employment, compared to the 6.3-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $47.85, compared to the national wage of $52.26.

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Hourly mean wages for selected higher paying healthcare practitioners and technical occupations in the Rochester metropolitan area, May 2025

Occupation	Wage
All occupations	$32.41
Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations	47.85
Cardiologists	172.54
Emergency medicine physicians	168.23
Surgeons, all other	150.05
Dermatologists	136.33
Orthopedic surgeons, except pediatric	130.17

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group included registered nurses (12,340) and licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses (3,330). Among the higher paying jobs in this group were cardiologists ($172.54) and emergency medicine physicians ($168.23). (See chart 1.) At the lower end of the wage scale were pharmacy technicians ($20.81) and emergency medical technicians ($20.83). (Detailed data for the healthcare practitioners and technical occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0040380/2025.)

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 Rochester area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group. For instance, physician assistants were employed at 2.38 times the national rate in Rochester, and nurse practitioners, at 1.84 times the U.S. average. Pharmacists had a location quotient of 1.04 in Rochester, 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 New York State Department of Labor.

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 Rochester, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area included 3,257 establishments with a response rate of 77 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 Rochester, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Livingston County, Monroe County, Ontario County, Orleans County, and Wayne 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.

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