Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY

Across all occupations in the Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY metropolitan area, the median wage is $50,790 a year ($24.42 an hour) and the mean $66,480, May 2025. That median is 0% against the US median of $50,980 and −15% against New York's $59,670. BLS counts 534,550 jobs in the area. The highest-paying occupation is anesthesiologists; the largest is home health and personal care aides.

All occupations: Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY vs New York and the United States

All occupations: wage percentiles, mean and employment in the Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY area, New York and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment
Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY	Hourly	$16.34	$18.12	$24.42	$37.76	$53.92	$31.96	534,550
Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY	Annual	$33,990	$37,680	$50,790	$78,530	$112,150	$66,480	534,550
New York	Hourly	$17.19	$19.79	$28.69	$47.51	$75.72	$39.65	9,688,000
New York	Annual	$35,760	$41,160	$59,670	$98,810	$157,500	$82,460	9,688,000
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.

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

20 highest-paying occupations in Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY

Rank	Occupation	Median annual	Median hourly	Employment
1	Anesthesiologists	$512,620	$246.45	**
2	Cardiologists	$451,790	$217.21	130
3	Neurologists	$451,510	$217.07	80
4	Surgeons, All Other	$411,410	$197.79	150
5	Radiologists	$318,300	$153.03	120
6	Physicians, Pathologists	$305,600	$146.92	40
7	Emergency Medicine Physicians	$303,190	$145.76	210
8	Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric	$269,700	$129.66	**
9	Obstetricians and Gynecologists	$258,760	$124.40	**
10	Nurse Anesthetists	$247,970	$119.22	50
11	Psychiatrists	$244,960	$117.77	70
12	Chief Executives	$239,990	$115.38	420
13	Family Medicine Physicians	$228,190	$109.71	140
14	Pediatricians, General	$214,480	$103.11	140
15	General Internal Medicine Physicians	$186,600	$89.71	360
16	Dentists, All Other Specialists	$182,480	$87.73	30
17	Dentists, General	$178,260	$85.70	270
18	Physicists	$175,060	$84.16	40
19	Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates	$174,250	$83.77	180
20	Computer and Information Systems Managers in New York	$172,650	$83.00	1,590

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 Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY

Rank	Occupation	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient	Median annual
1	Home Health and Personal Care Aides in New York	18,090	33.84	1.22	$36,570
2	Retail Salespersons in New York	15,160	28.36	1.13	$34,910
3	Fast Food and Counter Workers in New York	14,170	26.50	1.07	$34,560
4	Registered Nurses in New York	13,830	25.87	1.19	$99,060
5	General and Operations Managers in New York	11,100	20.76	0.92	$103,280
6	Cashiers in New York	10,590	19.80	1.00	$33,850
7	Stockers and Order Fillers in New York	9,990	18.69	1.03	$37,970
8	Customer Service Representatives in New York	9,850	18.44	1.10	$45,520
9	Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in New York	9,290	17.38	1.22	$37,380
10	Waiters and Waitresses in New York	7,990	14.94	1.02	$46,580
11	Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in New York	7,900	14.78	0.78	$43,130
12	Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary in New York	7,560	14.15	1.55	$35,670
13	Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive in New York	6,470	12.10	1.10	$46,780
14	Office Clerks, General in New York	6,230	11.66	0.74	$46,040
15	Maintenance and Repair Workers, General in New York	5,980	11.19	1.14	$50,620
16	Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks in New York	5,890	11.02	1.25	$51,610
17	Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education in New York	5,810	10.87	1.22	$76,490
18	Nursing Assistants in New York	5,230	9.79	1.05	$39,790
19	Accountants and Auditors in New York	4,870	9.12	0.98	$82,120
19	First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers in New York	4,870	9.11	1.16	$44,720

Most concentrated occupations in Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY

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	Word Processors and Typists	10.79	1,300	2.43	$47,040
2	Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians	4.83	1,260	2.35	$78,100
3	School Bus Monitors	4.80	1,290	2.42	$34,460
4	Bill and Account Collectors	4.64	2,540	4.74	$40,260
5	Credit Authorizers, Checkers, and Clerks	3.97	160	0.31	$48,790
6	Music Directors and Composers	3.40	150	0.27	*
7	Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators	3.07	300	0.56	$69,260
8	Clergy	3.04	600	1.12	$55,070
9	Cooks, Short Order	2.96	1,410	2.64	$34,730
10	Cargo and Freight Agents	2.93	980	1.84	$45,790

Occupation groups in Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY

Group	Median annual	Mean annual	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Management	$125,900	$142,750	29,590	55.36	0.77
Computer and Mathematical	$100,620	$105,140	13,690	25.62	0.76
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical	$88,030	$102,610	39,430	73.77	1.17
Legal	$83,390	$109,460	5,560	10.40	1.24
Architecture and Engineering	$82,140	$91,850	8,990	16.82	1.00
Business and Financial Operations	$79,520	$88,680	33,850	63.32	0.93
Life, Physical, and Social Science	$72,190	$82,660	5,260	9.84	1.04
Construction and Extraction	$62,980	$68,010	18,960	35.47	0.86
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media	$60,450	$73,910	6,080	11.38	0.86
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair	$59,380	$62,610	19,970	37.37	0.95
Protective Service	$59,300	$62,550	13,360	24.99	1.03
Educational Instruction and Library	$59,070	$68,360	38,450	71.94	1.23
Community and Social Service	$58,080	$61,060	11,090	20.74	1.21
Production	$47,890	$52,400	32,020	59.91	1.09
Office and Administrative Support	$47,800	$51,730	67,440	126.16	1.11
Transportation and Material Moving	$43,690	$46,880	40,990	76.68	0.87
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance	$38,130	$41,460	16,180	30.27	1.03
Healthcare Support	$37,590	$40,970	30,310	56.71	1.12
Sales and Related	$37,490	$53,180	43,590	81.54	0.94
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry	$36,400	$42,850	350	0.66	0.24
Food Preparation and Serving Related	$36,110	$42,130	47,980	89.75	1.02
Personal Care and Service	$35,070	$41,200	11,400	21.33	1.02

Every occupation in New York, and the area's place among the state's metros, is on the state profile. All 587 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 Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY estimates (area 15380).

*: 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 Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY 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.