US Wages Growing 2.9% per Year

By Glassdoor, Special for USABR

According to job site Glassdoor, the annual median base pay in the United States grew 2.9 percent year over year in February 2017 to $51,272. The Glassdoor Local Pay Reports showed stable pay growth over the past several months despite a slight decrease from last month’s revised 3.1 percent wage growth pace in the U.S. In addition to Glassdoor’s salary tool Know Your Worth™, which helps people understand their current earning potential in today’s labor market, the Glassdoor Local Pay Reports provide a unique view into the country’s wage picture with salary estimates for more than 60 job titles across multiple industries and year-over-year pay growth trends in the United States and five major metros: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City and San Francisco.¹

“The wage growth picture across the United States reflects our overall economy, which has now reached 92 consecutive months of economic expansion; wages are stable and steadily growing. The Glassdoor Local Pay Reports show continued pay growth across the country, up 2.9 percent compared to last year,” said Dr. Andrew Chamberlain, chief economist of Glassdoor.

San Francisco Wage Growth Falls Below National Average

Despite steady growth across the U.S., for the first time since November 2014, San Francisco’s wage growth rate has fallen below the national average. The tech-heavy metro area saw 2.5 percent year-over-year median base pay growth to $65,818 in February, a pace that is down more than 1 percentage point from a revised 3.6 percent growth rate last month. Wage growth in San Francisco has fallen steadily in the past five months, down from a high of 4.2 percent in September 2016.

“This month’s report shows wage growth beginning to slow in the tech-heavy San Francisco area, which comes as a surprise. It could be an early indication of softening in the Bay Area labor market,” said Chamberlain. “We’ll be monitoring that pattern closely in coming months, both in the Bay Area and other tech-heavy metros around the nation.”

Both Los Angeles and Chicago saw 4.0 percent pay growth year over year in February to $59,068 and $56,277, respectively. Compared to last month, Los Angeles saw a slight rise in year-over-year pay growth (up from 3.9 percent), while Chicago saw a slight decline (down from 4.2 percent). New York City’s pay growth pace remained close to the national average, growing 2.8 percent year over year to $60,346. Houston’s wages continue to see a sluggish growth well below the national average at a pace of 2.4 percent year over year growth to $54,278. Thanks to continued weakness in the energy sector, Houston has had below average wage growth for each of the past 15 consecutive months.

Tech Wages Level Off, Retail Jobs See Strong Pay Gains

In addition to a slowdown in tech-heavy San Francisco, the Glassdoor Local Pay Reports show a leveling off of pay growth for several technology jobs across the country. For example, data scientists saw a sluggish 1.1 percent pay growth to $95,829 compared to last year, while web developers saw a 1.2 percent decline in wages to $61,846. Other tech jobs seeing below average growth include java developers (2.4 percent growth $74,344) and software engineers (2.6 percent growth to  <spanclass=”xn-money”>$85,888).

Chamberlain suggests these tech jobs may be seeing lackluster growth due to the supply of workers catching up with the high demand that has become the norm over the past few years. Many workers are gaining the skills and training needed to become data scientists or web developers, for example, and switching jobs to earn higher pay, filling gaps in the labor market. In addition, he added, workers in these jobs see big paychecks and are simply topping out – continued growth is tough when the U.S. average median base pay for data scientists is more than $95,000 per year.

In the retail sector in February, jobs like store manager, cashier and retail key holder continue to see strong gains compared to one year ago. Pay for store managers and cashiers grew 5.5 percent year over year, respectively, while retail key holders saw 5.1 percent pay growth.

To see the five jobs with the biggest gains and declines, visit the Glassdoor Economic Research  blog.

Highest and Lowest Paying Jobs

In addition to the biggest gains and largest declines in wage growth, the Glassdoor Local Pay Reports track the highest and lowest paying jobs each month. In February, the jobs with the nation’s highest median base pay included physician ($242,438 per year), attorney ($96,663 per year), and data scientist ($95,829 per year).

The jobs with the lowest U.S. median base pay in February included cashier ($27,204 per year), bank teller ($28,188 per year) and restaurant cook ($28,846 per year).

For a list of the top and bottom five, visit the Glassdoor Economic Research  blog.

The full data sets for the Glassdoor Local Pay Reports can be found on the Glassdoor Economic Research site, along with report methodology and Frequently Asked Questions.

To read more trends and insights from Chamberlain on this month’s report or his predictions regarding the January BLS Employment Situation Report, visit the Glassdoor Economic Research blog.

Any individual can also keep tabs on their personal worth in their local job market through Know Your Worth by Glassdoor. Visit Glassdoor or download the Glassdoor Job Search apps for iPhone or Android. Know Your Worth also includes Salary Explorer™, a tool that allows people to explore how different titles, cities, companies and years of experience could impact their pay. For employers, see the Employer’s Guide to Know Your Worth, with input from human resource executives at Glassdoor and other employers.

To speak with Dr. Chamberlain regarding the Glassdoor Local Pay Reports or his predictions for this month’s jobs report:  pr@glassdoor.com.

About  Glassdoor
Glassdoor is the world’s most transparent job and recruiting marketplace that is changing how people search for jobs and how companies recruit top talent. Glassdoor combines job listings with anonymous reviews, ratings and salary data to help people find a job and company they love. This level of transparency, in turn, helps employers attract the right candidates for their company and culture at a fraction of the cost of other channels. Glassdoor offers employers job advertising, job posting and employer branding solutions in addition to robust talent analytics. Launched in 2008, Glassdoor has job listings and data for more than 640,000 employers in 190 countries and is available on iOS and Android platforms. For labor market trends and analysis, visit Glassdoor Economic Research. For career advice and job-related news and tips, visit the Glassdoor  Blog.

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Know Your Worth™ and Salary Explorer™ are trademarks of Glassdoor,  Inc.

¹ For full methodology of the Glassdoor Local Pay Reports and how salary estimates are compiled, visit:  https://research-content.glassdoor.com/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/12/LocalPayReports_Methodology.pdf.

SOURCE Glassdoor