Dalton, GA

Across all occupations in the Dalton, GA metropolitan area, the median wage is $42,210 a year ($20.29 an hour) and the mean $53,820, May 2025. That median is −17% against the US median of $50,980 and −12% against Georgia's $48,170. BLS counts 65,300 jobs in the area. The highest-paying occupation is family medicine physicians; the largest is textile winding, twisting, and drawing out machine setters, operators, and tenders.

All occupations: Dalton, GA vs Georgia and the United States

All occupations: wage percentiles, mean and employment in the Dalton, GA area, Georgia and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment
Dalton, GA	Hourly	$13.12	$16.53	$20.29	$29.23	$43.83	$25.87	65,300
Dalton, GA	Annual	$27,280	$34,390	$42,210	$60,790	$91,170	$53,820	65,300
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.

225 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 Dalton, GA

Rank	Occupation	Median annual	Median hourly	Employment
1	Family Medicine Physicians	$326,210	$156.83	90
2	Physicians, All Other	$287,800	$138.37	50
3	Chief Executives	$242,760	$116.71	40
4	Dentists, General	$202,690	$97.45	40
5	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$163,550	$78.63	40
6	Marketing Managers	$162,010	$77.89	80
7	Computer and Information Systems Managers in Georgia	$161,140	$77.47	90
8	Sales Managers in Georgia	$139,960	$67.29	180
9	Financial Managers in Georgia	$133,000	$63.94	200
10	Human Resources Managers	$130,700	$62.84	70
11	Pharmacists	$130,050	$62.53	120
12	Training and Development Managers	$129,730	$62.37	30
13	Medical and Health Services Managers	$118,720	$57.08	70
14	Nurse Practitioners	$118,330	$56.89	160
15	Industrial Production Managers	$116,720	$56.12	220
16	Software Developers in Georgia	$115,480	$55.52	280
17	Occupational Therapists	$111,580	$53.64	30
18	Physical Therapists	$109,710	$52.75	50
19	Administrative Services Managers	$107,200	$51.54	110
20	Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers	$105,800	$50.86	120

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 Dalton, GA

Rank	Occupation	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient	Median annual
1	Textile Winding, Twisting, and Drawing Out Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	3,370	51.62	364.53	$38,670
2	Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in Georgia	2,470	37.78	1.99	$37,040
3	Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators in Georgia	2,000	30.63	6.15	$37,930
4	Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Georgia	1,540	23.57	1.78	$53,760
5	Fast Food and Counter Workers in Georgia	1,530	23.38	0.94	$23,400
6	Retail Salespersons in Georgia	1,360	20.82	0.83	$29,140
7	Cashiers in Georgia	1,350	20.61	1.04	$27,260
8	Textile Knitting and Weaving Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	1,220	18.63	222.31	$39,840
9	General and Operations Managers in Georgia	1,170	17.86	0.79	$94,050
10	Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education in Georgia	1,120	17.18	1.92	$63,340
10	First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers in Georgia	1,120	17.19	3.97	$59,370
12	Customer Service Representatives in Georgia	1,080	16.61	1.00	$39,730
13	Stockers and Order Fillers in Georgia	1,040	15.96	0.88	$33,370
14	Office Clerks, General in Georgia	1,030	15.75	0.99	$39,310
15	Maintenance and Repair Workers, General in Georgia	1,010	15.51	1.58	$47,220
16	Registered Nurses in Georgia	1,000	15.36	0.71	$83,290
17	Industrial Machinery Mechanics	910	13.93	4.93	$55,050
18	Textile, Apparel, and Furnishings Workers, All Other	890	13.61	156.47	$32,220
19	Extruding and Forming Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Synthetic and Glass Fibers	860	13.13	158.87	$45,610
20	Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers	830	12.66	3.29	$43,010

Most concentrated occupations in Dalton, 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	Textile Winding, Twisting, and Drawing Out Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	364.53	3,370	51.62	$38,670
2	Textile Knitting and Weaving Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	222.31	1,220	18.63	$39,840
3	Extruding and Forming Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Synthetic and Glass Fibers	158.87	860	13.13	$45,610
4	Textile, Apparel, and Furnishings Workers, All Other	156.47	890	13.61	$32,220
5	Textile Cutting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	152.10	570	8.80	$37,820
6	Textile Bleaching and Dyeing Machine Operators and Tenders	68.89	150	2.35	$44,940
7	Sewing Machine Operators	10.05	440	6.78	$34,180
8	Production Workers, All Other	6.44	680	10.43	$38,240
9	Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators in Georgia	6.15	2,000	30.63	$37,930
10	Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	5.54	100	1.60	$33,210

Occupation groups in Dalton, GA

Group	Median annual	Mean annual	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Management	$105,030	$123,760	3,160	48.43	0.68
Computer and Mathematical	$91,550	$93,990	1,060	16.30	0.48
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical	$81,400	$101,280	3,080	47.21	0.75
Architecture and Engineering	$79,990	$89,530	1,060	16.17	0.96
Life, Physical, and Social Science	$74,090	$76,710	340	5.14	0.54
Legal	$73,310	$95,110	240	3.66	0.44
Business and Financial Operations	$72,220	$80,210	3,050	46.64	0.69
Educational Instruction and Library	$61,180	$58,070	3,400	52.12	0.89
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media	$58,610	$66,520	450	6.86	0.52
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair	$53,530	$55,550	3,820	58.49	1.49
Community and Social Service	$49,670	$52,930	530	8.16	0.48
Protective Service	$48,140	$51,810	1,050	16.04	0.66
Construction and Extraction	$45,220	$50,090	1,540	23.64	0.57
Office and Administrative Support	$40,700	$44,070	7,300	111.72	0.98
Production	$39,260	$41,350	13,900	212.92	3.87
Transportation and Material Moving	$37,990	$41,340	8,740	133.78	1.52
Healthcare Support	$36,410	$37,260	1,420	21.67	0.43
Sales and Related	$34,000	$46,610	4,870	74.55	0.86
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance	$31,580	$33,820	1,140	17.49	0.60
Food Preparation and Serving Related	$27,210	$28,430	4,440	67.96	0.77
Personal Care and Service	$25,510	$30,120	690	10.64	0.51
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry	–	–	–	–	–

Every occupation in Georgia, and the area's place among the state's metros, is on the state profile. All 225 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 Dalton, GA estimates (area 19140).

*: Wage 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 Dalton, 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.