2000 Annual Pay Levels in Metropolitan Areas — 2001-09-28

Average annual pay of employees in the nation's 318 metropolitan areas increased by 6.0 percent from 1999 to 2000, according to preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. The over-the-year gain was larger than last year's rise of 4.4 percent. Annual pay in metropolitan areas averaged $36,986 in 2000, up from $34,890 in 1999. Average annual pay for the entire nation, metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas combined, was $35,296 in 2000, a 5.9 percent increase from 1999. (Average Annual Pay by State and Industry, 2000, was issued on Sept. 11, 2001, in USDL 01-295.) Average annual pay data are compiled from reports submitted by employers subject to state and federal unemployment insurance (UI) laws covering 129.9 million full- and part-time jobs. Average annual pay is computed by dividing the total annual payrolls of employees covered by UI programs by the average monthly number of these employees.