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Hartford Paychecks Heftier Than Most

Mara Lee

May 26, 2011

Hartford-area workers make more than nearly everyone else in the country - only the Silicon Valley/San Francisco area, Seattle, Greater New York, and Salinas, Calif., offer higher wages.

The release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday did not give dollar amounts, but instead, ranked metropolitan areas on an index, with the national average at 100. The data are from a July 2010 survey.

For all workers, greater San Francisco salaries were at 120, Greater New York (including Fairfield County) was at 114, Salinas was at 113, Seattle was at 112, Boston was at 111, and Hartford was also at 111.

And if that isn't enough to brighten your day, consider this - National Association of Realtors median sales price figures from the first three months of the year shows that 10 metros have higher housing prices than Hartford, and in Northern California, housing costs more than twice as much as it does here.

Those 10 metros, from high to low, are: Silicon Valley, San Francisco, San Diego, New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Seattle, Raleigh, N.C., and Denver.

For finance and management jobs, Los Angeles, Boston and Reno, Nev., along with the others who earn more overall, ranked higher than Hartford. In that category, its index is 107.

For sales, manufacturing heartland cities such as Cincinnati, Grand Rapids., Mich., and Milwaukee have more higher paying sales jobs than Hartford, as do L.A., New York, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Sacramento, Salinas and San Francisco. Harford's index is 107.

For secretarial and clerk jobs, Hartford workers are behind only New York and San Francisco, and are tied with Boston, at 114.

For construction jobs, Bloomington, Ill., Greater Chicago, Boston, Seattle, Springfield, Mass., Honolulu, Oklahoma City, Sacramento, Salinas, San Francisco, Iowa City, Milwaukee and New York pay better, but Hartford's still above average, at 112.

In manufacturing production jobs, Greenville, S.C., workers, where the new BMW factory opened in 1994, have higher wages than Greater Hartford's production workers, as do those in Detroit, Providence, Seattle, Sacramento, and Bloomington. Hartford is at 109; Detroit and Sacramento are the best-paying, at 117.