US states by average hourly earnings, private employees, August 2026

District of Columbia had the highest average hourly earnings, private employees of 51 states in August 2026, at $58.7. Mississippi had the lowest, at $29.52. The median was $34.61 and the figure for the United States was $37.79. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Highest58.7District of Columbia

Lowest29.52Mississippi

Median34.6151 states

United States37.79History

All states, August 2026

USD. Source: BLS, Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: average hourly earnings of all employees, total private, statewide, not seasonally adjusted (SMU, state, 000000500000003). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	States	August 2026 USD	Change on August 2025
1	District of Columbia Provisional	58.7	+8%
2	Washington Provisional	43.93	+3.4%
3	Massachusetts Provisional	43.38	+3.7%
4	California Provisional	42.54	+3.1%
5	Hawaii Provisional	40.76	+9.3%
6	Colorado Provisional	40.31	+3%
7	New York Provisional	40.13	+2.7%
8	Connecticut Provisional	39.75	+2%
9	Minnesota Provisional	39.67	+0.4%
10	New Jersey Provisional	39.47	+4%
11	Virginia Provisional	38.94	+6.7%
12	Oregon Provisional	38.68	+4%
13	Maryland Provisional	38.5	+6.5%
14	Alaska Provisional	38.17	+1.1%
15	Rhode Island Provisional	37.97	+4.2%
16	Illinois Provisional	36.93	+4.8%
17	Arizona Provisional	36.54	+4.6%
18	Florida Provisional	36.37	+5.3%
18	Texas Provisional	36.37	+5.9%
20	New Hampshire Provisional	36.22	+2.1%
21	Georgia Provisional	36.1	+3.7%
22	North Dakota Provisional	35.93	+3.5%
23	Utah Provisional	35.89	+2.4%
24	Vermont Provisional	35.77	+2.3%
25	Idaho Provisional	35.62	+4%
26	North Carolina Provisional	34.61	+1.6%
27	Ohio Provisional	34.44	+4.3%
28	Michigan Provisional	34.43	+4.2%
28	Missouri Provisional	34.43	+6.2%
30	Wisconsin Provisional	34.21	+0.4%
31	Delaware Provisional	34.07	+3.5%
32	Pennsylvania Provisional	33.88	+4%
33	Nevada Provisional	33.83	+3.8%
34	Maine Provisional	33.77	+4.2%
35	Wyoming Provisional	33.41	+5.2%
36	Montana Provisional	33.39	+3.2%
37	Indiana Provisional	33.38	+3.8%
38	Kansas Provisional	33.13	+5%
38	South Carolina Provisional	33.13	+2.4%
40	Nebraska Provisional	32.79	+0.3%
41	Alabama Provisional	32.54	+3.3%
42	Oklahoma Provisional	32.3	+3.8%
43	South Dakota Provisional	32.13	+4%
44	Tennessee Provisional	32.07	+3.3%
45	New Mexico Provisional	31.32	+7.8%
46	Louisiana Provisional	31.19	+5.8%
47	Iowa Provisional	30.81	+1.2%
48	Kentucky Provisional	30.79	+2.4%
49	West Virginia Provisional	30.33	+1.5%
50	Arkansas Provisional	30.05	+0.9%
51	Mississippi Provisional	29.52	+5.1%

Other periods

About this ranking

Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm payrolls, in US dollars, not seasonally adjusted, from the Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Gross pay before deductions divided by hours paid, including overtime and shift premiums but not irregular bonuses or benefits. Government employees are excluded. BLS publishes state earnings only without seasonal adjustment, so the national value here is the unadjusted series too (CEU0500000003), which differs slightly from the adjusted headline figure. A shift in the mix of jobs moves the average even when no one's pay changes.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the states are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: average hourly earnings of all employees, total private, statewide, not seasonally adjusted (SMU, state, 000000500000003). https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.data.56.TotalPrivate.Current. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: average hourly earnings of all employees, total private, statewide, not seasonally adjusted (SMU, state, 000000500000003) (US states by average hourly earnings, private employees, 2026-08) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.data.56.TotalPrivate.Current

MLA 9

Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: average hourly earnings of all employees, total private, statewide, not seasonally adjusted (SMU, state, 000000500000003), US states by average hourly earnings, private employees, 2026-08. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 18 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.data.56.TotalPrivate.Current. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/average-hourly-earnings/us-states. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: average hourly earnings of all employees, total private, statewide, not seasonally adjusted (SMU, state, 000000500000003). US states by average hourly earnings, private employees, 2026-08. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.data.56.TotalPrivate.Current. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/average-hourly-earnings/us-states.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: average hourly earnings of all employees, total private, statewide, not seasonally adjusted (SMU, state, 000000500000003), US states by average hourly earnings, private employees, 2026-08 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.data.56.TotalPrivate.Current, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/average-hourly-earnings/us-states (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{bureau_us_states_by_average_2026,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: average hourly earnings of all employees, total private, statewide, not seasonally adjusted (SMU, state, 000000500000003): US states by average hourly earnings, private employees, 2026-08}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.data.56.TotalPrivate.Current},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/average-hourly-earnings/us-states. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: average hourly earnings of all employees, total private, statewide, not seasonally adjusted (SMU, state, 000000500000003). https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.data.56.TotalPrivate.Current. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
TI  - Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: average hourly earnings of all employees, total private, statewide, not seasonally adjusted (SMU, state, 000000500000003): US states by average hourly earnings, private employees, 2026-08
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/18
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.data.56.TotalPrivate.Current
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/average-hourly-earnings/us-states
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/average-hourly-earnings/us-states.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: average hourly earnings of all employees, total private, statewide, not seasonally adjusted (SMU, state, 000000500000003). https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.data.56.TotalPrivate.Current. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

Which state has the highest average hourly earnings, private employees?

District of Columbia, with $58.7 in August 2026, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which state has the lowest average hourly earnings, private employees?

Mississippi, with $29.52 in August 2026.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: average hourly earnings of all employees, total private, statewide, not seasonally adjusted (SMU, state, 000000500000003). Retrieved 2026-10-12.