Cincinnati Ohio Economic Development

Pay in Cincinnati averaging more than $42K, No. 2 in Ohio

Business Courier
The Cincinnati-Middletown metropolitan statistical area is No. 2 in the state for average pay, but falls short of other top-earning cities in the Midwest, according to a new analysis.

A report on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data by Business Journals, an arm of Cincinnati Business Courier parent American City Business Journals, found the typical worker in the Cincinnati area earned $42,340 in 2009, the latest data available. The only Ohio city that ranked higher was the Columbus area, with average pay of $43,070.

In a strange twist, the report found that the Midwest’s highest pay levels can be found within the region’s most troubled state. The typical worker in the Ann Arbor, Mich., metropolitan area earned $48,930 in 2009. That’s the highest annual average pay anywhere in the Midwest, despite the steep unemployment rates and population declines that beset much of Michigan.

Close behind in the Midwestern salary standings – by a margin of just $20 – is the Chicago-Naperville-Joliet metro division in Illinois at $48,910. Minneapolis-St. Paul is third regionally at $48,670 per year. Columbus fell outside the top 10 by about $1,200.

The wage data are compiled in a sortable database that allows users to view details on individual occupations and hourly pay. The data encompass 766 occupations in 92 Midwestern metropolitan areas and divisions.

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