1997 Annual Pay Levels in Metropolitan Areas — 1999-08-25

Average annual pay of employees within the nation's 315 metropolitan areas increased by 4.9 percent from 1996 to 1997, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. The over- the-year gain was the largest since 1992, when average annual pay increased by 5.4 percent. (See chart 1.) Annual pay in metropolitan areas averaged $31,717 in 1997, up from $30,238 in 1996. Average annual pay for the entire nation, metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas combined, was $30,336 in 1997, a 4.8 percent increase from 1996. (Average annual pay by state and industry for 1997 was issued on June 23,1999, in USDL 99-171.) Average annual pay data are compiled from reports submitted by employers subject to state and federal unemployment insurance (UI) laws covering 121.1 million full- and part-time workers.