# Metro pay spread: how much the same job's pay differs across U.S. metro areas

## Findings
- Across 318 occupations with reliable estimates in at least 20 metro areas, the typical occupation's median wage in a high-paying metro (90th percentile of metros) is 36% above its median in a low-paying metro (10th percentile): a metro pay spread of 1.36. For the middle half of occupations the spread runs from 1.29 to 1.50 (BLS OEWS May 2025; nominal wages, not adjusted for cost of living).
- Firefighters show the widest metro pay spread of the 318 occupations: the 90th-percentile metro median annual wage ($81,488) is 2.17 times the 10th-percentile metro median ($37,552), across 117 metro areas (BLS OEWS May 2025; nominal wages, not adjusted for cost of living). Caveat: OEWS turns firefighters' hourly rates into annual pay at 2,080 hours, while firefighter shift schedules and the way departments set hourly rates differ, so part of this spread may reflect how pay is recorded rather than pay levels.

## Method
318 occupations with reliable estimates in 20+ metros. Spread = 90th ÷ 10th percentile metro median annual wage. 'All Other' groups excluded; tipped jobs flagged. Nominal wages, no cost-of-living adjustment. Pattern only.

Data and method: https://tryhired.co/careers/data/metro-pay-spread/

Free to reuse with attribution to TryHired and BLS.