Workers in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $48.15 in May 2024, compared to the nationwide average of $32.66, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that higher paying major occupational groups included legal ($99.50), management ($93.40), and computer and mathematical ($78.40). Lower paying occupations included healthcare support ($21.70), food preparation and serving related ($22.30), and personal care and service ($24.29). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the San Francisco area included office and administrative support (9.7 percent), management (9.7 percent), and business and financial operations (9.0 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (1.1 percent); life, physical, and social science (1.8 percent); and community and social service (1.9 percent).

One occupational group—management—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. San Francisco had 233,270 jobs in management, accounting for 9.7 percent of local area employment, compared to the 7.1-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $93.40, compared to the national wage of $68.15.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the management group included general and operations managers (42,330), computer and information systems managers (26,640), and financial managers (18,380). Among the higher paying jobs in this group were chief executives ($153.82) and natural sciences managers ($119.48). At the lower end of the wage scale were education and childcare administrators, preschool and daycare ($40.61) and food service managers ($41.03). (Detailed data for the management occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0041860.)

Location quotients allow us to explore the occupational make-up of a metropolitan area by comparing the composition of jobs in an area relative to the national average. (See table 1.) For example, a location quotient of 2.00 indicates that an occupation accounts for twice the share of employment in the area than it does nationally. In the San Francisco area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the management group. For instance, natural sciences managers were employed at 3.28 times the national rate in San Francisco, and computer and information systems managers, at 2.64 times the U.S. average. Construction managers had a location quotient of 1.04 in San Francisco, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

The statistics in this release are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support. State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data: in this case, the California Employment Development Department.

Technical Note

The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey is a semiannual survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. The OEWS data available from BLS include cross-industry occupational employment and wage estimates for the nation; over 530 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates at the NAICS sector, 3-digit, most 4-digit, and selected 5- and 6-digit industry levels; and national estimates by ownership across all industries and for schools and hospitals. Full OEWS data tables are available online.

Additional information about the OEWS estimates and methodology is available in the national Technical Notes. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 65.7 percent based on establishments and 65.9 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area included 8,372 establishments with a response rate of 59 percent.

Metropolitan area definitions

The substate area data published in this release reflect the standards and definitions established by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.

The San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Alameda County, Contra Costa County, Marin County, San Francisco County, and San Mateo County.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OEWS data, as well as general program documentation, are available on the OEWS website.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Employment and wage data for management occupations, San Francisco metropolitan area, May 2024

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Management occupations	233,270	1.36	93.40	194,270
Chief executives	6,170	1.87	153.82	319,950
General and operations managers	42,330	0.76	85.95	178,780
Legislators	270	0.65	(5)	100,830
Advertising and promotions managers	460	1.41	91.32	189,950
Marketing managers	12,820	2.13	109.71	228,200
Sales managers	17,890	1.90	94.10	195,730
Public relations managers	2,040	1.72	95.84	199,350
Fundraising managers	1,230	2.13	83.39	173,440
Administrative services managers	5,380	1.36	73.22	152,290
Facilities managers	3,180	1.44	71.13	147,940
Computer and information systems managers	26,640	2.64	114.45	238,050
Financial managers	18,380	1.44	117.20	243,770
Industrial production managers	3,190	0.87	80.53	167,500
Purchasing managers	1,190	0.94	83.81	174,320
Transportation, storage, and distribution managers	4,070	1.22	72.48	150,750
Compensation and benefits managers	610	1.93	91.56	190,440
Human resources managers	5,890	1.75	103.18	214,610
Training and development managers	1,090	1.56	88.87	184,850
Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers	40	0.47	56.94	118,430
Construction managers	5,660	1.04	77.70	161,620
Education and childcare administrators, preschool and daycare	1,490	1.34	40.61	84,470
Education administrators, kindergarten through secondary	4,060	0.81	(5)	153,140
Education administrators, postsecondary	1,790	0.65	74.22	154,370
Education administrators, all other	1,740	2.10	54.97	114,340
Architectural and engineering managers	6,380	1.95	103.99	216,300
Food service managers	5,480	1.44	41.03	85,330
Gambling managers	30	0.47	77.54	161,280
Entertainment and recreation managers, except gambling	1,270	2.22	53.18	110,610
Lodging managers	540	0.83	50.31	104,640
Medical and health services managers	11,210	1.27	86.75	180,440
Natural sciences managers	5,160	3.28	119.48	248,510
Postmasters and mail superintendents	80	0.35	49.70	103,370
Property, real estate, and community association managers	7,120	1.54	50.25	104,510
Social and community service managers	4,860	1.59	49.59	103,150
Emergency management directors	150	0.77	78.50	163,280
Funeral home managers	60	0.31	52.08	108,320
Personal service managers, all other	310	1.88	39.09	81,300
Managers, all other	22,980	2.33	99.44	206,840
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area, see https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0041860. (2) Estimates for detailed occupations may not sum to the totals due to rounding, and because the totals may include occupations that are not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers. (3) The location quotient is the ratio of the area concentration of occupational employment to the national average concentration. A location quotient greater than one indicates the occupation has a higher share of employment than average, and a location quotient less than one indicates the occupation is less prevalent in the area than average. (4) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a 'year-round, full-time' hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly mean wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data. (5) Wages for some occupations that do not generally work year-round, full time, are reported either as hourly wages or annual salaries depending on how they are typically paid.