Worcester, MA

Across all occupations in the Worcester, MA metropolitan area, the median wage is $57,830 a year ($27.80 an hour) and the mean $73,600, May 2025. That median is +13% against the US median of $50,980 and −9% against Massachusetts's $63,590. BLS counts 349,880 jobs in the area. The highest-paying occupation is surgeons, all other; the largest is home health and personal care aides.

All occupations: Worcester, MA vs Massachusetts and the United States

All occupations: wage percentiles, mean and employment in the Worcester, MA area, Massachusetts and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment
Worcester, MA	Hourly	$16.96	$19.71	$27.80	$42.25	$61.25	$35.39	349,880
Worcester, MA	Annual	$35,270	$41,000	$57,830	$87,870	$127,400	$73,600	349,880
Massachusetts	Hourly	$17.47	$21.51	$30.57	$49.32	$78.37	$41.16	3,637,650
Massachusetts	Annual	$36,330	$44,730	$63,590	$102,580	$163,010	$85,610	3,637,650
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.

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

20 highest-paying occupations in Worcester, MA

Rank	Occupation	Median annual	Median hourly	Employment
1	Surgeons, All Other	$517,150	$248.63	150
2	Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric	$391,930	$188.43	60
3	Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric	$387,810	$186.45	30
4	General Internal Medicine Physicians	$369,930	$177.85	180
5	Obstetricians and Gynecologists	$336,350	$161.71	60
6	Emergency Medicine Physicians	$319,420	$153.57	170
7	Physicians, All Other	$304,380	$146.34	**
8	Psychiatrists	$244,190	$117.40	110
9	Family Medicine Physicians	$229,710	$110.44	230
10	Pediatricians, General	$213,200	$102.50	200
11	Natural Sciences Managers	$212,600	$102.21	490
12	Dentists, General	$202,110	$97.17	320
13	Marketing Managers	$199,280	$95.81	590
14	Computer and Information Systems Managers in Massachusetts	$193,890	$93.22	1,150
15	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$179,150	$86.13	630
16	Financial Managers in Massachusetts	$170,940	$82.18	1,560
17	Managers, All Other in Massachusetts	$164,730	$79.20	570
18	Sales Managers in Massachusetts	$162,810	$78.27	950
19	Compensation and Benefits Managers	$160,990	$77.40	40
20	Human Resources Managers	$160,470	$77.15	460

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 Worcester, MA

Rank	Occupation	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient	Median annual
1	Home Health and Personal Care Aides in Massachusetts	14,720	42.06	1.52	$40,870
2	Registered Nurses in Massachusetts	10,070	28.77	1.32	$100,240
3	Retail Salespersons in Massachusetts	8,830	25.23	1.01	$36,220
4	Fast Food and Counter Workers in Massachusetts	8,800	25.15	1.01	$34,610
5	General and Operations Managers in Massachusetts	7,910	22.61	1.00	$111,900
6	Cashiers in Massachusetts	6,930	19.80	1.00	$34,770
7	Stockers and Order Fillers in Massachusetts	6,360	18.16	1.00	$37,250
8	Nursing Assistants in Massachusetts	5,250	15.01	1.61	$45,710
9	Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary in Massachusetts	5,050	14.43	1.58	$39,240
10	Office Clerks, General in Massachusetts	4,920	14.06	0.89	$46,940
11	Customer Service Representatives in Massachusetts	4,740	13.55	0.81	$47,540
12	Waiters and Waitresses in Massachusetts	4,610	13.17	0.90	$36,840
12	Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in Massachusetts	4,610	13.17	0.93	$41,030
14	Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Massachusetts	4,470	12.77	0.96	$61,610
15	Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in Massachusetts	3,950	11.28	0.59	$44,080
16	Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education in Massachusetts	3,850	11.00	1.23	$82,810
17	Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education in Massachusetts	3,640	10.41	1.52	$87,050
18	Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive in Massachusetts	3,550	10.16	0.93	$52,450
19	First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers in Massachusetts	3,380	9.67	1.05	$73,130
20	Accountants and Auditors in Massachusetts	3,090	8.82	0.95	$94,070

Most concentrated occupations in Worcester, MA

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	Biochemists and Biophysicists	13.90	1,060	3.02	$125,420
2	Power Distributors and Dispatchers	7.59	150	0.42	$102,330
3	Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers	6.43	340	0.97	$104,060
4	Insurance Appraisers, Auto Damage	6.02	160	0.45	$81,880
5	Chemical Engineers	5.50	260	0.75	$104,060
6	Biological Technicians	4.71	740	2.11	$69,730
7	Materials Engineers	4.27	220	0.63	$114,100
8	Rehabilitation Counselors	3.97	850	2.42	$54,270
9	Residential Advisors	3.69	700	2.01	$47,010
10	Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary	3.40	1,690	4.84	$106,520

Occupation groups in Worcester, MA

Group	Median annual	Mean annual	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Management	$128,750	$149,540	24,440	69.85	0.98
Computer and Mathematical	$107,970	$115,200	7,360	21.05	0.62
Legal	$101,850	$128,790	1,880	5.37	0.64
Architecture and Engineering	$100,210	$106,080	6,560	18.75	1.11
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical	$97,330	$118,810	28,620	81.79	1.29
Life, Physical, and Social Science	$91,740	$102,560	5,900	16.85	1.78
Business and Financial Operations	$86,650	$96,110	18,820	53.79	0.79
Construction and Extraction	$74,830	$76,760	13,730	39.24	0.95
Educational Instruction and Library	$72,630	$76,180	29,500	84.32	1.44
Protective Service	$66,790	$68,610	7,990	22.84	0.94
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media	$62,800	$73,490	3,200	9.15	0.70
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair	$61,770	$67,290	11,330	32.39	0.83
Community and Social Service	$60,250	$66,440	9,560	27.33	1.59
Office and Administrative Support	$50,850	$55,170	36,840	105.30	0.92
Production	$47,750	$53,430	20,280	57.95	1.05
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance	$45,410	$46,220	9,320	26.64	0.91
Transportation and Material Moving	$44,620	$48,060	27,010	77.20	0.88
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry	$43,980	$48,380	420	1.20	0.43
Healthcare Support	$42,640	$45,400	24,770	70.81	1.39
Personal Care and Service	$40,080	$45,590	7,100	20.29	0.97
Sales and Related	$39,030	$57,110	28,110	80.35	0.93
Food Preparation and Serving Related	$36,240	$40,370	27,130	77.54	0.88

Every occupation in Massachusetts, and the area's place among the state's metros, is on the state profile. All 481 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 Worcester, MA estimates (area 49340).

*: 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 Worcester, MA 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.