Ithaca, NY

Across all occupations in the Ithaca, NY metropolitan area, the median wage is $58,130 a year ($27.95 an hour) and the mean $76,980, May 2025. That median is +14% against the US median of $50,980 and −3% against New York's $59,670. BLS counts 47,980 jobs in the area. The highest-paying occupation is general internal medicine physicians; the largest is retail salespersons.

All occupations: Ithaca, NY vs New York and the United States

All occupations: wage percentiles, mean and employment in the Ithaca, NY area, New York and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment
Ithaca, NY	Hourly	$16.95	$19.40	$27.95	$40.29	$62.96	$37.01	47,980
Ithaca, NY	Annual	$35,260	$40,340	$58,130	$83,800	$130,960	$76,980	47,980
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.

237 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 Ithaca, NY

Rank	Occupation	Median annual	Median hourly	Employment
1	General Internal Medicine Physicians	$370,320	$178.04	120
2	Psychiatrists	$280,210	$134.72	40
3	Family Medicine Physicians	$268,170	$128.93	40
4	Computer and Information Systems Managers in New York	$168,410	$80.97	190
5	Marketing Managers	$167,480	$80.52	70
6	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$166,530	$80.06	50
7	Human Resources Managers	$164,420	$79.05	50
8	Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary	$159,720	*	1,140
9	Sales Managers in New York	$156,140	$75.07	70
10	Financial Managers in New York	$152,410	$73.27	210
11	Pharmacists	$151,780	$72.97	40
12	Industrial Production Managers	$146,500	$70.44	30
13	Physician Assistants	$138,920	$66.79	230
14	Nurse Practitioners	$136,980	$65.86	270
15	Lawyers in New York	$135,610	$65.20	130
16	Education Administrators, Postsecondary	$132,470	$63.69	230
17	Veterinarians	$131,870	$63.40	60
18	Personal Financial Advisors	$130,940	$62.95	40
19	Public Relations Managers	$128,400	$61.73	30
20	Medical and Health Services Managers	$128,050	$61.56	**

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 Ithaca, NY

Rank	Occupation	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient	Median annual
1	Retail Salespersons in New York	1,170	24.41	0.97	$35,510
2	Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary	1,140	23.75	16.69	$159,720
3	Registered Nurses in New York	940	19.61	0.90	$100,320
4	Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive in New York	900	18.68	1.70	$47,990
5	Fast Food and Counter Workers in New York	870	18.12	0.73	$34,800
6	Office Clerks, General in New York	860	18.01	1.14	$37,380
7	Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in New York	840	17.44	1.23	$38,060
8	Cashiers in New York	810	16.81	0.85	$35,470
9	Home Health and Personal Care Aides in New York	780	16.35	0.59	$39,220
10	General and Operations Managers in New York	770	16.01	0.71	$103,220
11	Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary in New York	690	14.39	1.57	$37,420
12	Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary	670	13.99	23.26	$102,910
12	Stockers and Order Fillers in New York	670	13.98	0.77	$38,810
14	Customer Service Representatives in New York	650	13.48	0.81	$45,390
15	Waiters and Waitresses in New York	620	13.00	0.89	$46,090
16	Maintenance and Repair Workers, General in New York	600	12.46	1.27	$48,870
17	Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants	590	12.21	4.13	$69,310
18	First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers in New York	550	11.44	1.24	$73,640
19	Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks in New York	490	10.22	1.16	$51,610
20	Nursing Assistants in New York	470	9.75	1.05	$45,640

Most concentrated occupations in Ithaca, 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	Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary	23.26	670	13.99	$102,910
2	Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary	16.69	1,140	23.75	$159,720
3	Business Teachers, Postsecondary	14.80	380	7.82	$91,400
4	Communications Teachers, Postsecondary	12.00	110	2.27	$83,890
5	Education Teachers, Postsecondary	10.18	190	3.98	$92,870
6	English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary	9.51	170	3.53	$78,440
7	Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary	9.07	140	2.93	$100,880
8	Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary	8.34	110	2.23	$93,500
9	Life, Physical, and Social Science Technicians, All Other	7.20	160	3.42	$46,640
10	Mathematical Science Teachers, Postsecondary	6.64	100	2.04	$93,970

Occupation groups in Ithaca, NY

Group	Median annual	Mean annual	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Management	$122,460	$139,210	2,790	58.17	0.81
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical	$104,450	$150,730	4,090	85.26	1.35
Legal	$94,590	$121,160	270	5.59	0.67
Architecture and Engineering	$93,640	$99,020	570	11.97	0.71
Computer and Mathematical	$90,730	$101,770	1,280	26.60	0.79
Business and Financial Operations	$77,970	$87,120	2,380	49.63	0.73
Educational Instruction and Library	$77,820	$97,720	7,650	159.53	2.73
Life, Physical, and Social Science	$71,720	$76,150	1,130	23.65	2.50
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media	$62,510	$68,270	770	16.10	1.22
Community and Social Service	$62,100	$65,300	1,410	29.36	1.71
Construction and Extraction	$60,140	$62,800	1,040	21.65	0.52
Protective Service	$58,530	$62,410	810	16.81	0.69
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair	$57,000	$61,950	1,560	32.50	0.83
Production	$53,680	$55,470	1,510	31.41	0.57
Office and Administrative Support	$48,430	$52,590	6,670	138.95	1.22
Healthcare Support	$45,640	$46,000	2,090	43.67	0.86
Transportation and Material Moving	$43,580	$46,760	2,420	50.41	0.57
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance	$39,130	$43,200	1,460	30.51	1.04
Personal Care and Service	$37,400	$43,420	1,210	25.13	1.20
Sales and Related	$37,250	$48,140	2,920	60.90	0.71
Food Preparation and Serving Related	$37,170	$43,150	3,910	81.59	0.93
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry	–	–	–	–	–

Every occupation in New York, and the area's place among the state's metros, is on the state profile. All 237 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 Ithaca, NY estimates (area 27060).

*: 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 Ithaca, 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.