US states by wages and salaries paid
California had the highest wages and salaries paid of 51 states in 2021, at $1.54 trillion. Wyoming had the lowest, at $15.42 billion. The median was $112.55 billion and the figure for the United States was $10.3 trillion. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Map of states, 2021
- Under 30K
- 30K to 80K
- 80K to 110K
- 110K to 190K
- 190K to 310K
- 310K and over
All states, 2021
Full ranking
| Rank | States | 2021 | Change on 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 1,538,130.5 | +11.6% |
| 2 | Texas | 863,437.1 | +8.8% |
| 3 | New York | 797,748.9 | +8.7% |
| 4 | Florida | 578,183.8 | +12.9% |
| 5 | Illinois | 425,617 | +7.8% |
| 6 | Pennsylvania | 379,802.5 | +7.3% |
| 7 | Ohio | 326,699.7 | +6.9% |
| 8 | Massachusetts | 311,540.1 | +8.9% |
| 9 | New Jersey | 310,736 | +8% |
| 10 | Georgia | 302,376.8 | +10% |
| 11 | North Carolina | 294,282.8 | +10.4% |
| 12 | Washington | 291,898 | +10.2% |
| 13 | Virginia | 287,644.5 | +7% |
| 14 | Michigan | 262,514 | +8.1% |
| 15 | Colorado | 205,564.3 | +9.5% |
| 16 | Maryland | 201,415.8 | +6.6% |
| 17 | Arizona | 194,024.2 | +9.8% |
| 18 | Minnesota | 192,135.8 | +7% |
| 19 | Tennessee | 185,805.8 | +10.8% |
| 20 | Indiana | 177,489 | +9% |
| 21 | Wisconsin | 168,506.1 | +7.3% |
| 22 | Missouri | 168,338.8 | +7% |
| 23 | Connecticut | 127,786.6 | +6.4% |
| 24 | Oregon | 126,515.9 | +9.1% |
| 25 | South Carolina | 119,713 | +8.7% |
| 26 | Alabama | 112,547.8 | +7% |
| 27 | Louisiana | 107,549.7 | +5.8% |
| 28 | Kentucky | 104,846.6 | +7.7% |
| 29 | Utah | 99,151.5 | +10.5% |
| 30 | Oklahoma | 88,691.5 | +5.1% |
| 31 | Nevada | 85,354.7 | +14.2% |
| 32 | Iowa | 85,057.7 | +6.1% |
| 33 | District of Columbia | 84,061.4 | +4.9% |
| 34 | Kansas | 79,833.6 | +5.2% |
| 35 | Arkansas | 67,407.9 | +8.6% |
| 36 | Nebraska | 57,591.3 | +6.7% |
| 37 | Mississippi | 55,952.6 | +6.8% |
| 38 | New Hampshire | 48,112.7 | +15.2% |
| 39 | New Mexico | 45,793.6 | +6.2% |
| 40 | Idaho | 43,164.9 | +12.2% |
| 41 | Hawaii | 39,817.1 | +8.3% |
| 42 | Maine | 35,637.1 | +9.8% |
| 43 | West Virginia | 34,565.2 | +6.1% |
| 44 | Rhode Island | 31,078.9 | +7.5% |
| 45 | Delaware | 29,875.6 | +7% |
| 46 | Montana | 26,159.3 | +10.9% |
| 47 | North Dakota | 24,297.7 | +3.7% |
| 48 | South Dakota | 23,410.8 | +7.4% |
| 49 | Alaska | 22,569 | +4.6% |
| 50 | Vermont | 17,058.3 | +7.1% |
| 51 | Wyoming | 15,415.5 | +5.8% |
Other periods
About this ranking
Total wages and salaries paid to employees for jobs located in a place, including tips, bonuses and pay in kind, before deductions, in millions of current US dollars. United States: Bureau of Economic Analysis regional accounts, table SAINC4 line 50 for the nation and states and CAINC4 line 50 for counties.
Counted where the jobs are, not where the workers live, so places with many commuters coming in can pay more in wages than their residents receive in personal income (the District of Columbia does). Excludes employer contributions to pensions, insurance and social security, and the income of the self-employed.
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 Economic Analysis. SAINC4: personal income and employment by major component, wages and salaries, millions of current dollars, United States and states. https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/SAINC.zip. Retrieved 2026-10-12.Citation styles
APA 7
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. (2026). SAINC4: personal income and employment by major component, wages and salaries, millions of current dollars, United States and states (US states by wages and salaries paid, 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/SAINC.zip
MLA 9
SAINC4: personal income and employment by major component, wages and salaries, millions of current dollars, United States and states, US states by wages and salaries paid, 2021. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 30 Sept. 2026, https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/SAINC.zip. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/wages-and-salaries/us-states?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.
Chicago (author-date)
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. 2026. SAINC4: personal income and employment by major component, wages and salaries, millions of current dollars, United States and states. US states by wages and salaries paid, 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/SAINC.zip. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/wages-and-salaries/us-states?period=2021.
Harvard
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (2026) SAINC4: personal income and employment by major component, wages and salaries, millions of current dollars, United States and states, US states by wages and salaries paid, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/SAINC.zip, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/wages-and-salaries/us-states?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{bureau_us_states_by_wages_2021,
author = {{U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis}},
title = {{SAINC4: personal income and employment by major component, wages and salaries, millions of current dollars, United States and states: US states by wages and salaries paid, 2021}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Data set},
url = {https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/SAINC.zip},
urldate = {2026-10-12},
note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/wages-and-salaries/us-states?period=2021. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. SAINC4: personal income and employment by major component, wages and salaries, millions of current dollars, United States and states. https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/SAINC.zip. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY - DATA
AU - U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
TI - SAINC4: personal income and employment by major component, wages and salaries, millions of current dollars, United States and states: US states by wages and salaries paid, 2021
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/30
PB - U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
DB - Invokely
UR - https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/SAINC.zip
L2 - https://invokely.ai/rankings/wages-and-salaries/us-states?period=2021
Y2 - 2026/10/12
N1 - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/wages-and-salaries/us-states?period=2021.
N1 - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. SAINC4: personal income and employment by major component, wages and salaries, millions of current dollars, United States and states. https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/SAINC.zip. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER -
Use this data in your AI agent
Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:
Rank US states by wages and salaries paid using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"wages_and_salaries","level":"region","within":"United States","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=wages_and_salaries&level=region&within=United%20States&limit=10Questions
Which state has the highest wages and salaries paid?
California, with $1.54 trillion in 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Which state has the lowest wages and salaries paid?
Wyoming, with $15.42 billion in 2021.
Where does this ranking come from?
Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, SAINC4: personal income and employment by major component, wages and salaries, millions of current dollars, United States and states. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
Wages and salaries paid: other rankings
- Counties in Indiana
- Counties in Florida
- Counties in North Dakota
- Counties in Ohio
- Counties in Mississippi
- Counties in North Carolina