Athens-Clarke County, GA Salaries
Highest published occupation medians in Athens-Clarke County, GA - BLS OEWS May 2025
Observed metro pay change
What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025
- BLS's published All Occupations median in Athens-Clarke County, GA moved from $39,340 in May 2024 to $41,220 in May 2025 (+4.8%).
- Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
- Athens-Clarke County, GA sits +1.7 pp ahead of that median, nominal dollars, no price deflator applied.
Waiters and Waitresses shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in Athens-Clarke County, GA
Waiters and Waitresses publishes $21,090 here versus $35,230 nationally (-40.1%; 2,030metro-area jobs). Next is Fast Food and Counter Workers at $24,220 locally versus $31,200 nationally (-22.4%).
- Waiters and Waitresses$21,090 in Athens-Clarke County, GA sits 40.1% below the national Waiters and Waitresses median of $35,230 (2,030 published local jobs).
- Fast Food and Counter Workers$24,220 in Athens-Clarke County, GA sits 22.4% below the national Fast Food and Counter Workers median of $31,200 (3,490 published local jobs).
- Retail Salespersons$29,240 in Athens-Clarke County, GA sits 17.4% below the national Retail Salespersons median of $35,410 (2,810 published local jobs).
- Registered Nurses$82,200 in Athens-Clarke County, GA sits 15.7% below the national Registered Nurses median of $97,550 (2,400 published local jobs).
Waiters and Waitresses and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for Athens-Clarke County, GA; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 12020 · Athens-Clarke County, GA $54K mean
MEAN-LOW · RPP-LOW · OCC-MID · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-INLINE · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-FULL
- MEAN-LOW #384/528
- RPP-LOW 93.3
- OCC-MID 303 occs
- TOP-LEAD Emergency Medi… · $388K
- EMP-MIX Pharmacists
- TREND-INLINE +1.7 pp
- PHOTO-FINISH Shreveport-Bossi…
- BOOK-FULL 301 rows · May 2025
Read with Shreveport-Bossier City, LA ($12 on published-row mean) · Highest-paying careers
Instrument codes from this MSA’s OEWS published-row mean, BEA RPP, occupation book, employment lead, All Occupations pay change, and nearest peer — not a moving recommendation.
Published-row mean neighbourhood around Athens-Clarke County, GA
Employment scale inside Athens-Clarke County, GA's top-pay list
Pharmacists and Nurse Practitioners lead published employment inside Athens-Clarke County, GA's top-pay sample — order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. Pharmacists 330 jobs · $132,230
- 2. Nurse Practitioners 240 jobs · $128,140
- 3. Medical and Health Services Managers 240 jobs · $126,420
- 4. Financial Managers 210 jobs · $137,130
- 5. Physicians, All Other 190 jobs · $235,360
- 6. Sales Managers 170 jobs · $121,530
- 7. Physician Assistants 160 jobs · $125,460
- 8. Software Developers 150 jobs · $106,870
- 9. Veterinarians 120 jobs · $123,320
- 10. General Internal Medicine Physicians 110 jobs · $281,100
- 11. Computer and Information Systems Managers 110 jobs · $137,570
- 12. Chemists 110 jobs · $117,990
- 13. Industrial Production Managers 100 jobs · $131,200
- 14. Family Medicine Physicians 90 jobs · $217,050
- 15. Microbiologists 80 jobs · $112,440
- 16. Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary 60 jobs · $134,370
- 17. Human Resources Managers 60 jobs · $129,490
- 18. Chief Executives 50 jobs · $164,460
Occupations Tracked
303
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$54,033
employment-weighted, 301 complete rows
Top Salary
$388,370
Emergency Medicine Physicians
Cost of Living
93.3
7% below US avg
Highest Paying Jobs in Athens-Clarke County, GA
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emergency Medicine Physicians | $388,370 |
| 2 | General Internal Medicine Physicians | $281,100 |
| 3 | Physicians, All Other | $235,360 |
| 4 | Family Medicine Physicians | $217,050 |
| 5 | Dentists, General | $166,440 |
| 6 | Chief Executives | $164,460 |
| 7 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $157,340 |
| 8 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $137,570 |
| 9 | Financial Managers | $137,130 |
| 10 | Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary | $134,370 |
| 11 | Purchasing Managers | $133,630 |
| 12 | Pharmacists | $132,230 |
| 13 | Marketing Managers | $131,280 |
| 14 | Industrial Production Managers | $131,200 |
| 15 | Human Resources Managers | $129,490 |
| 16 | Nurse Practitioners | $128,140 |
| 17 | Medical and Health Services Managers | $126,420 |
| 18 | Physician Assistants | $125,460 |
| 19 | Veterinarians | $123,320 |
| 20 | Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers | $122,180 |
| 21 | Sales Managers | $121,530 |
| 22 | Chemists | $117,990 |
| 23 | Microbiologists | $112,440 |
| 24 | Facilities Managers | $108,050 |
| 25 | Software Developers | $106,870 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in Athens-Clarke County, GA
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Bartenders | $20,400 |
| Waiters and Waitresses | $21,090 |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related Workers, All Other | $22,020 |
| Amusement and Recreation Attendants | $23,580 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | $24,220 |
| Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers | $24,960 |
| Healthcare Support Workers, All Other | $25,190 |
| Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop | $25,840 |
| Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers | $26,000 |
| Childcare Workers | $27,010 |
Other BLS Wage Areas in GA
Other metropolitan or nonmetropolitan OEWS areas assigned to the same state. Cross-state pay and employment peers live in Nationwide similar metros below.
Nationwide metros with similar published-row mean pay or employment scale
Two OEWS peer sets outside GA. Same-state wage areas above stay geographic; these neighborhoods are cross-state nearest neighbors on employment-weighted published-row mean wage ($54,033 here) and summed published employment.
Similar mean wage
Nearest other metros by employment-weighted published-row annual mean wage.
Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on BLS OEWS employment-weighted published-row mean wage and summed occupation employment. Employment peers exclude metros already listed in the mean-wage column so the two link sets stay distinct. Mean wage here is not a worker-level median.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average salary in Athens-Clarke County, GA? ▼
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Related federal data
Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Occupation rows use BLS OEWS May 2025. The metro benchmark is WageDex's employment-weighted mean of published occupation means; where BEA RPP is available, the price-level figure divides that benchmark by the published area parity. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.