Gera US Sector Pay Premium Index
Which US states pay above the national average for your occupational sector? Real BLS OEWS May 2025 data across 22 sectors — no cost-of-living adjustment, just the raw employer wage premium.
Which US states pay above the national average for Management Occupations?
As of May 2025 BLS OEWS data, District of Columbia pays +34.1% above the national employment-weighted average for Management Occupations (state median: $169,990 vs national approx. $126,800). The Gera US Sector Pay Premium Index (GUPPI) ranks every US state for 22 occupational sectors. Re-dated annually from BLS OEWS.
Gera US Sector Pay Premium Index
Top sector GUPPI for Management Occupations: District of Columbia pays +34.1% above the national average (BLS OEWS May 2025).
How this is calculatedBrowse by occupational sector
Each sector page shows GUPPI for every US state where BLS publishes a median — ranked highest premium first. Data: BLS OEWS May 2025.
- Management OccupationsDistrict of Columbia +34.1%
- Business and Financial Operations OccupationsDistrict of Columbia +28.4%
- Computer and Mathematical OccupationsCalifornia +22.3%
- Architecture and Engineering OccupationsNew Mexico +27.8%
- Life, Physical, and Social Science OccupationsDistrict of Columbia +50.6%
- Community and Social Service OccupationsDistrict of Columbia +20.1%
- Legal OccupationsDistrict of Columbia +83.2%
- Educational Instruction and Library OccupationsDistrict of Columbia +30.6%
- Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media OccupationsDistrict of Columbia +57.6%
- Healthcare Practitioners and Technical OccupationsCalifornia +35.8%
- Healthcare Support OccupationsWashington +28.7%
- Protective Service OccupationsDistrict of Columbia +42.4%
- Food Preparation and Serving Related OccupationsWashington +33.1%
- Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance OccupationsHawaii +21.6%
- Personal Care and Service OccupationsWashington +32.7%
- Sales and Related OccupationsWashington +21.3%
- Office and Administrative Support OccupationsDistrict of Columbia +26.6%
- Farming, Fishing, and Forestry OccupationsDistrict of Columbia +88.3%
- Construction and Extraction OccupationsHawaii +36.9%
- Installation, Maintenance, and Repair OccupationsAlaska +26.5%
- Production OccupationsDistrict of Columbia +27.6%
- Transportation and Material Moving OccupationsWashington +15.6%
Browse by state — all sectors
Each state page shows GUPPI across all 22 sectors — ranked highest premium first.
- AL — Alabama
- AK — Alaska
- AZ — Arizona
- AR — Arkansas
- CA — California
- CO — Colorado
- CT — Connecticut
- DE — Delaware
- DC — District of Columbia
- FL — Florida
- GA — Georgia
- HI — Hawaii
- ID — Idaho
- IL — Illinois
- IN — Indiana
- IA — Iowa
- KS — Kansas
- KY — Kentucky
- LA — Louisiana
- ME — Maine
- MD — Maryland
- MA — Massachusetts
- MI — Michigan
- MN — Minnesota
- MS — Mississippi
- MO — Missouri
- MT — Montana
- NE — Nebraska
- NV — Nevada
- NH — New Hampshire
- NJ — New Jersey
- NM — New Mexico
- NY — New York
- NC — North Carolina
- ND — North Dakota
- OH — Ohio
- OK — Oklahoma
- OR — Oregon
- PA — Pennsylvania
- RI — Rhode Island
- SC — South Carolina
- SD — South Dakota
- TN — Tennessee
- TX — Texas
- UT — Utah
- VT — Vermont
- VA — Virginia
- WA — Washington
- WV — West Virginia
- WI — Wisconsin
- WY — Wyoming
Frequently asked questions
- What is the Gera US Sector Pay Premium Index (GUPPI)?
- GUPPI (sector) = (state sector median wage − employment-weighted national average) / national average × 100. A positive GUPPI means employers in that state pay above the national average for the occupational sector; negative means below. Uses real BLS OEWS May 2025 SOC major-group annual median wages — no cost-of-living adjustment.
- How is the national average calculated for GUPPI sectors?
- GeraJobs computes an employment-weighted mean of the BLS-published state medians for each SOC major group. States with higher employment contribute more to the average. Suppressed BLS cells are excluded. See the methodology page for the full formula.
- Which states consistently pay the highest sector premiums?
- It varies by sector. For Management, the District of Columbia and Connecticut typically lead. For Computer and Mathematical, Washington, California and New York rank highest. For Healthcare, Alaska and Oregon are often at the top. Check the sector or state hub pages for the current GUPPI rankings from BLS OEWS May 2025.
- How is this different from the occupation-level GUPPI?
- The sector GUPPI uses SOC major-group (XX-0000) medians — a broad sector rollup. The occupation-level GUPPI (see the US Pay Premium Index) uses individual 6-digit SOC occupation medians and covers the top 50 occupations by US employment. Both use BLS OEWS May 2025. The sector view is useful for career-sector decisions; the occupation view is useful for specific job comparisons.
- How often is the sector GUPPI data updated?
- Annually, following the BLS OEWS May release (typically published the following year). Current data is BLS OEWS May 2025, last computed 2026-06-20.
Find jobs with salary ranges by sector and state
GeraJobs lists live US vacancies with employer-stated salary ranges — filter by state and sector to see where the GUPPI translates into real offers.
Data source
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 — Major Group Rollups · May 2025 state estimates (major-group rollup) · Public domain (U.S. federal government work)
Computation by GeraJobs. Last generated: 2026-06-20. Full methodology