Rochester, NY

Across all occupations in the Rochester, NY metropolitan area, the median wage is $51,210 a year ($24.62 an hour) and the mean $67,420, May 2025. That median is 0% against the US median of $50,980 and −14% against New York's $59,670. BLS counts 494,280 jobs in the area. The highest-paying occupation is emergency medicine physicians; the largest is home health and personal care aides.

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

All occupations: wage percentiles, mean and employment in the Rochester, NY area, New York and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment
Rochester, NY	Hourly	$16.36	$18.27	$24.62	$37.87	$54.03	$32.41	494,280
Rochester, NY	Annual	$34,020	$38,010	$51,210	$78,760	$112,380	$67,420	494,280
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.

564 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 Rochester, NY

Rank	Occupation	Median annual	Median hourly	Employment
1	Emergency Medicine Physicians	$440,340	$211.70	180
2	Cardiologists	$415,000	$199.52	90
3	Anesthesiologists	$366,040	$175.98	200
4	Dermatologists	$336,300	$161.69	40
5	Surgeons, All Other	$321,070	$154.36	120
6	Nurse Anesthetists	$286,230	$137.61	140
7	Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric	$269,570	$129.60	40
8	Chief Executives	$237,180	$114.03	370
9	Psychiatrists	$233,620	$112.32	130
10	Family Medicine Physicians	$215,340	$103.53	190
11	Physicians, All Other	$214,550	$103.15	710
12	Obstetricians and Gynecologists	$210,250	$101.08	170
13	Models	$208,000	$100.00	50
14	Computer and Information Research Scientists	$204,340	$98.24	50
15	Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates	$174,940	$84.11	130
16	Computer and Information Systems Managers in New York	$170,000	$81.73	1,790
17	Financial Managers in New York	$167,800	$80.67	2,190
18	Dentists, General	$167,480	$80.52	430
19	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$166,550	$80.07	650
20	Sales Managers in New York	$165,140	$79.40	1,220

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 Rochester, NY

Rank	Occupation	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient	Median annual
1	Home Health and Personal Care Aides in New York	17,070	34.54	1.25	$35,600
2	Retail Salespersons in New York	12,440	25.16	1.00	$34,650
3	Registered Nurses in New York	12,340	24.98	1.15	$86,570
4	Fast Food and Counter Workers in New York	11,310	22.88	0.92	$33,430
5	Stockers and Order Fillers in New York	9,620	19.47	1.07	$37,940
6	Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in New York	9,520	19.25	1.35	$37,160
7	Customer Service Representatives in New York	9,290	18.79	1.13	$44,740
8	General and Operations Managers in New York	9,230	18.68	0.83	$103,690
9	Cashiers in New York	8,900	18.00	0.91	$33,850
10	Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary in New York	8,090	16.36	1.79	$36,240
11	Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive in New York	6,230	12.61	1.15	$46,770
12	Waiters and Waitresses in New York	6,070	12.27	0.84	$45,310
13	Maintenance and Repair Workers, General in New York	5,870	11.87	1.21	$49,990
14	Office Clerks, General in New York	5,680	11.48	0.72	$42,230
15	Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in New York	5,160	10.45	0.55	$40,050
16	Nursing Assistants in New York	5,130	10.37	1.11	$40,050
17	Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education in New York	5,100	10.31	1.15	$62,840
18	Software Developers in New York	4,650	9.42	0.87	$122,770
19	Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants in New York	4,510	9.12	1.48	$44,380
20	Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education in New York	4,430	8.96	1.31	$76,190

Most concentrated occupations in Rochester, 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	Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians	8.34	490	1.00	$45,420
2	Word Processors and Typists	5.90	660	1.33	$43,510
3	School Bus Monitors	5.19	1,290	2.62	$34,710
4	Music Directors and Composers	4.59	180	0.37	$84,130
5	Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary	4.20	130	0.27	*
6	Directors, Religious Activities and Education	3.48	240	0.50	$44,340
7	Physics Teachers, Postsecondary	3.00	120	0.25	$98,690
8	Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians	2.93	700	1.42	$59,420
9	School Psychologists	2.88	590	1.19	$73,050
10	Interpreters and Translators	2.72	450	0.91	$77,770

Occupation groups in Rochester, NY

Group	Median annual	Mean annual	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Management	$128,360	$144,520	27,810	56.27	0.79
Computer and Mathematical	$97,830	$101,200	14,340	29.02	0.86
Legal	$94,950	$127,660	3,390	6.85	0.82
Architecture and Engineering	$89,620	$94,970	9,560	19.34	1.15
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical	$83,110	$99,520	36,730	74.31	1.18
Business and Financial Operations	$80,810	$90,730	27,760	56.16	0.83
Life, Physical, and Social Science	$77,280	$84,120	4,450	9.01	0.95
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media	$64,150	$76,620	6,260	12.66	0.96
Construction and Extraction	$61,940	$67,510	18,550	37.53	0.91
Educational Instruction and Library	$60,760	$75,030	45,010	91.06	1.56
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair	$59,190	$62,110	19,210	38.88	0.99
Community and Social Service	$59,110	$59,950	11,930	24.14	1.41
Protective Service	$58,610	$63,970	11,650	23.57	0.97
Office and Administrative Support	$47,020	$51,270	59,480	120.34	1.05
Production	$46,700	$50,780	29,730	60.15	1.09
Transportation and Material Moving	$43,000	$46,500	35,370	71.56	0.81
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry	$41,480	$45,670	290	0.58	0.21
Healthcare Support	$38,420	$40,760	28,160	56.97	1.12
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance	$38,340	$42,170	15,960	32.28	1.10
Sales and Related	$37,400	$55,050	37,900	76.69	0.89
Food Preparation and Serving Related	$35,780	$40,980	40,620	82.19	0.93
Personal Care and Service	$35,250	$40,800	10,110	20.45	0.98

Every occupation in New York, and the area's place among the state's metros, is on the state profile. All 564 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 Rochester, NY estimates (area 40380).

*: 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 Rochester, 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.