Bay Area wages highest in nation

From today's Chronicle, "The Bay Area, heavy with technical and business management jobs, leads the nation in wages, with workers in the region earning 17 percent more than the national average, the U.S. Labor Department reported Wednesday."

"In the latest study, which examined the relative pay of jobs in 78 metropolitan areas in July of 2004, the Bay Area set the pace in four of nine occupational classifications, including "management, business and financial" and "professional and related" categories, which together encompass most high-tech jobs."

"The study did not specify actual wage levels. But in a separate November 2004 report, the bureau found that the mean annual salary of a worker in metropolitan San Francisco, including San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties, was $52,100, compared with $37,440 nationally. The mean annual salaries in San Jose and Oakland metropolitan areas were $57,080 and $46,990 respectively."

""It's not just the demand for hiring skilled people, you also have to look at the high cost of living here. You've got both in the Bay Area," said Sharon Turner, Northern California district director for Robert Half International, a specialized staffing service. "It's an expensive place to live.""