What this is: annual median wage by metro, from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS, May 2024), for the largest metros where this job is employed. Median, not average, so a few high earners don't skew it. Each city is compared against the median of the metros shown here (same BLS source and year) — not a separate national figure. Cost of living isn't subtracted — a higher number isn't automatically a richer life. For a few very high-paying jobs (some physicians), BLS caps metro medians at $239,200, so the true top can be higher than shown. It's where the paycheck is biggest, not where you'll feel richest.
