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.
Based on wage level, year-over-year wage growth, and regional-price-parity-adjusted purchasing power from BLS and BEA sources, not job availability, industry mix, or day-to-day livability.
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? ▼
Which published medians lead Athens-Clarke County, GA? ▼
What is the cost of living in Athens-Clarke County, GA? ▼
Where does BLS salary data for Athens-Clarke County, GA come from? ▼
Related federal data
What to do with this data
How to use Athens-Clarke County, GA wage figures in a real decision
- Emergency Medicine Physicians leads published medians in Athens-Clarke County, GA at $388,370/year; open the occupation for percentile bands and state rows. Emergency Medicine Physicians
- The employment-weighted published-row mean of $54,033 adjusts to about $57,887 on a national-price basis at BEA RPP 93.3. Salary vs cost of living
- Compare this metropolitan statistical area against the statewide occupation table for GA before treating one geography as the other. State wage page
BLS OEWS estimates reflect the May 2025 reference period; small occupation-area cells can be suppressed, and figures are not employer offers.
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.