Athens-Clarke County, GA

Across all occupations in the Athens-Clarke County, GA metropolitan area, the median wage is $41,220 a year ($19.82 an hour) and the mean $53,670, May 2025. That median is −19% against the US median of $50,980 and −14% against Georgia's $48,170. BLS counts 95,800 jobs in the area. The highest-paying occupation is emergency medicine physicians; the largest is fast food and counter workers.

All occupations: Athens-Clarke County, GA vs Georgia and the United States

All occupations: wage percentiles, mean and employment in the Athens-Clarke County, GA area, Georgia and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment
Athens-Clarke County, GA	Hourly	$11.13	$14.76	$19.82	$30.04	$45.37	$25.80	95,800
Athens-Clarke County, GA	Annual	$23,150	$30,700	$41,220	$62,480	$94,370	$53,670	95,800
Georgia	Hourly	$13.43	$17.16	$23.16	$37.29	$58.88	$31.69	4,889,170
Georgia	Annual	$27,930	$35,700	$48,170	$77,570	$122,470	$65,920	4,889,170
United States	Hourly	$15.00	$18.07	$24.51	$38.71	$61.81	$33.54	155,495,730
United States	Annual	$31,200	$37,590	$50,980	$80,520	$128,560	$69,770	155,495,730

Annual wage at the 10th, 25th, 50th (median), 75th and 90th percentiles across all occupations in the metro; the line marks the US median. The same numbers are in the table above.

303 detailed occupations publish a median in this area. State profile: Georgia. Compare any occupation across every area in the wage explorer.

20 highest-paying occupations in Athens-Clarke County, GA

Rank	Occupation	Median annual	Median hourly	Employment
1	Emergency Medicine Physicians	$388,370	$186.72	**
2	General Internal Medicine Physicians	$281,100	$135.14	110
3	Physicians, All Other	$235,360	$113.15	190
4	Family Medicine Physicians	$217,050	$104.35	90
5	Dentists, General	$166,440	$80.02	40
6	Chief Executives	$164,460	$79.07	50
7	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$157,340	$75.64	40
8	Computer and Information Systems Managers in Georgia	$137,570	$66.14	110
9	Financial Managers in Georgia	$137,130	$65.93	210
10	Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary	$134,370	*	60
11	Purchasing Managers	$133,630	$64.25	30
12	Pharmacists	$132,230	$63.57	330
13	Marketing Managers	$131,280	$63.12	50
14	Industrial Production Managers	$131,200	$63.08	100
15	Human Resources Managers	$129,490	$62.25	60
16	Nurse Practitioners	$128,140	$61.61	240
17	Medical and Health Services Managers	$126,420	$60.78	240
18	Physician Assistants	$125,460	$60.32	160
19	Veterinarians	$123,320	$59.29	120
20	Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers	$122,180	$58.74	50

Ranked by median; an occupation whose median BLS withholds or top-codes in this area cannot appear here, however well it pays.

20 largest occupations in Athens-Clarke County, GA

Rank	Occupation	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient	Median annual
1	Fast Food and Counter Workers in Georgia	3,490	36.40	1.47	$24,220
2	Retail Salespersons in Georgia	2,810	29.34	1.17	$29,240
3	Registered Nurses in Georgia	2,400	25.01	1.15	$82,200
4	Cashiers in Georgia	2,120	22.11	1.11	$28,130
5	Waiters and Waitresses in Georgia	2,030	21.14	1.45	$21,090
6	Office Clerks, General in Georgia	1,880	19.65	1.24	$41,220
7	General and Operations Managers in Georgia	1,830	19.12	0.85	$81,830
7	Maintenance and Repair Workers, General in Georgia	1,830	19.10	1.94	$39,150
9	Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in Georgia	1,800	18.84	0.99	$38,210
10	Stockers and Order Fillers in Georgia	1,570	16.40	0.90	$34,600
11	Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education in Georgia	1,360	14.20	1.59	$76,600
12	Customer Service Representatives in Georgia	1,180	12.27	0.74	$36,320
13	Home Health and Personal Care Aides in Georgia	1,150	12.00	0.43	$27,900
14	First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers in Georgia	1,140	11.90	1.51	$37,060
15	Cooks, Restaurant in Georgia	1,120	11.70	1.29	$33,540
16	Nursing Assistants in Georgia	1,110	11.60	1.25	$36,330
17	Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in Georgia	1,090	11.34	0.80	$32,170
18	Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants in Georgia	980	10.25	1.66	$37,800
19	Business Operations Specialists, All Other in Georgia	970	10.16	1.45	$60,950
20	Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary in Georgia	940	9.80	1.07	$27,310

Most concentrated occupations in Athens-Clarke County, GA

The 10 occupations with the highest location quotient among those employing at least 100 people in the area. A quotient of 2.00 means the occupation's share of local jobs is twice its national share.

Rank	Occupation	Location quotient	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Median annual
1	Miscellaneous Construction and Related Workers	17.36	300	3.17	$51,740
2	Social Science Research Assistants	16.21	310	3.19	$52,890
3	Athletic Trainers	6.71	130	1.32	$64,590
4	Teachers and Instructors, All Other	5.86	410	4.29	$59,000
5	Mathematical Science Teachers, Postsecondary	3.37	100	1.03	$64,580
6	Helpers--Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Workers	3.16	190	1.95	$29,560
7	Animal Caretakers	3.13	520	5.38	$33,610
8	Production Workers, All Other	2.88	450	4.67	$48,360
9	Office and Administrative Support Workers, All Other	2.80	330	3.47	$33,950
10	General Internal Medicine Physicians	2.66	110	1.15	$281,100

Occupation groups in Athens-Clarke County, GA

Group	Median annual	Mean annual	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Management	$96,870	$113,500	4,890	51.08	0.71
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical	$78,990	$98,300	7,460	77.87	1.23
Architecture and Engineering	$76,180	$80,850	820	8.58	0.51
Legal	$72,920	$89,100	510	5.29	0.63
Life, Physical, and Social Science	$67,290	$80,430	1,390	14.47	1.53
Business and Financial Operations	$65,440	$75,250	4,600	48.06	0.71
Computer and Mathematical	$62,380	$73,250	1,460	15.28	0.45
Protective Service	$49,450	$50,930	1,930	20.12	0.83
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media	$48,340	$53,970	890	9.29	0.71
Construction and Extraction	$47,840	$52,130	2,660	27.72	0.67
Community and Social Service	$47,010	$52,310	1,350	14.10	0.82
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair	$45,800	$50,780	4,330	45.17	1.15
Production	$42,850	$46,350	5,610	58.59	1.06
Office and Administrative Support	$41,080	$43,730	10,110	105.54	0.92
Transportation and Material Moving	$38,290	$42,410	7,250	75.72	0.86
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry	$35,890	$41,720	150	1.59	0.57
Healthcare Support	$35,470	$36,520	4,040	42.14	0.83
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance	$34,050	$36,120	2,510	26.15	0.89
Educational Instruction and Library	$33,020	$46,880	12,800	133.61	2.28
Personal Care and Service	$32,150	$37,710	2,300	23.96	1.14
Sales and Related	$30,960	$42,950	8,290	86.48	1.00
Food Preparation and Serving Related	$27,350	$29,080	10,460	109.19	1.24

Every occupation in Georgia, and the area's place among the state's metros, is on the state profile. All 303 published occupations for this area are in the wage explorer; other metros are on the metros hub.

Source and notes

Data: BLS OEWS May 2025, released 2026-05-15. Cross-industry estimates, all ownerships. BLS page: OEWS Athens-Clarke County, GA estimates (area 12020).

*: Wage estimate not available.
**: Employment estimate not available.

Annual wages assume 2,080 hours a year at the hourly rate; occupations BLS publishes on one basis only show an en dash (–) on the other.
Employment is rounded to the nearest 10 by BLS. Where BLS withholds a cell, nothing is estimated in its place.
Jobs per 1,000 is the occupation's employment per 1,000 jobs in the Athens-Clarke County, GA area; the location quotient is that share divided by the national share.
The concentration table keeps only occupations with employment of 100 or more in the area, so a quotient built on a handful of rounded jobs cannot top it.