Wichita, KS Salaries
Local wages where BEA prices sit below the US average (RPP 88.9) - BLS OEWS May 2025
Observed metro pay change
What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025
- BLS's published All Occupations median in Wichita, KS moved from $46,650 in May 2024 to $47,630 in May 2025 (+2.1%).
- Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
- Wichita, KS sits -1.0 pp behind 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.
Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in Wichita, KS
Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers publishes $63,030 here versus $48,570 nationally (+29.8%; 3,590metro-area jobs). Next is Industrial Machinery Mechanics at $83,540 locally versus $64,520 nationally (+29.5%).
- Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers$63,030 in Wichita, KS sits 29.8% above the national Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers median of $48,570 (3,590 published local jobs).
- Industrial Machinery Mechanics$83,540 in Wichita, KS sits 29.5% above the national Industrial Machinery Mechanics median of $64,520 (2,470 published local jobs).
- Software Developers$105,980 in Wichita, KS sits 22.1% below the national Software Developers median of $135,980 (2,040 published local jobs).
- Registered Nurses$76,540 in Wichita, KS sits 21.5% below the national Registered Nurses median of $97,550 (7,460 published local jobs).
Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for Wichita, KS; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 48620 · Wichita, KS $58K mean
MEAN-MID · RPP-LOW · OCC-MOST · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-INLINE · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-FULL
- MEAN-MID #249/528
- RPP-LOW 88.9
- OCC-MOST 479 occs
- TOP-LEAD Pediatricians,… · $229K
- EMP-MIX Aerospace En…
- TREND-INLINE -1.0 pp
- PHOTO-FINISH Wildwood-The Vil…
- BOOK-FULL 470 rows · May 2025
Read with Wildwood-The Villages, FL ($4 on published-row mean) · Salary vs. cost of living
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 Wichita, KS
Where Wichita, KS already employs the upper wage tier
Aerospace Engineers and Physicians, All Other lead published employment inside Wichita, KS's top-pay sample, order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. Aerospace Engineers 1,430 jobs · $130,720
- 2. Physicians, All Other 1,170 jobs · $151,470
- 3. Financial Managers 1,060 jobs · $155,060
- 4. Sales Managers 960 jobs · $134,650
- 5. Lawyers 690 jobs · $121,510
- 6. Nurse Practitioners 690 jobs · $116,100
- 7. Pharmacists 580 jobs · $142,400
- 8. Computer and Information Systems Managers 550 jobs · $156,130
- 9. Industrial Production Managers 510 jobs · $127,360
- 10. Managers, All Other 470 jobs · $131,710
- 11. Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products 380 jobs · $117,870
- 12. Chief Executives 350 jobs · $198,910
- 13. Architectural and Engineering Managers 350 jobs · $154,310
- 14. Education Administrators, Postsecondary 320 jobs · $112,010
- 15. Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary 260 jobs · $163,230
- 16. Marketing Managers 240 jobs · $150,210
- 17. Physician Assistants 240 jobs · $121,640
- 18. Facilities Managers 230 jobs · $113,310
Occupations Tracked
479
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$58,372
employment-weighted, 470 complete rows
Top Salary
$228,820
Pediatricians, General
Cost of Living
88.9
11% below US avg
Top-pay occupations in Wichita, KS, by employment
Same top-pay sample as the salary ranking, sorted by published local jobs so the title sequence follows the OEWS mix.
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aerospace Engineers | $130,720 |
| 2 | Physicians, All Other | $151,470 |
| 3 | Financial Managers | $155,060 |
| 4 | Sales Managers | $134,650 |
| 5 | Lawyers | $121,510 |
| 6 | Nurse Practitioners | $116,100 |
| 7 | Pharmacists | $142,400 |
| 8 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $156,130 |
| 9 | Industrial Production Managers | $127,360 |
| 10 | Managers, All Other | $131,710 |
| 11 | Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products | $117,870 |
| 12 | Chief Executives | $198,910 |
| 13 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $154,310 |
| 14 | Education Administrators, Postsecondary | $112,010 |
| 15 | Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary | $163,230 |
| 16 | Marketing Managers | $150,210 |
| 17 | Physician Assistants | $121,640 |
| 18 | Facilities Managers | $113,310 |
| 19 | Nurse Anesthetists | $205,540 |
| 20 | Human Resources Managers | $132,050 |
| 21 | Purchasing Managers | $155,970 |
| 22 | Optometrists | $123,940 |
| 23 | Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates | $148,910 |
| 24 | Pediatricians, General | $228,820 |
| 25 | Chemical Engineers | $128,780 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in Wichita, KS
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Amusement and Recreation Attendants | $22,500 |
| Physical Therapist Aides | $23,120 |
| Food Servers, Nonrestaurant | $24,190 |
| Cooks, Fast Food | $25,580 |
| Ushers, Lobby Attendants, and Ticket Takers | $27,420 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | $27,420 |
| Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop | $27,550 |
| Telemarketers | $27,670 |
| School Bus Monitors | $27,790 |
| Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers | $27,870 |
Other BLS Wage Areas in KS
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 KS. Same-state wage areas above stay geographic; these neighborhoods are cross-state nearest neighbors on employment-weighted published-row mean wage ($58,372 here) and summed published employment.
Similar mean wage
Nearest other metros by employment-weighted published-row annual mean wage.
Similar employment scale
Nearest headcount peers (floor 100,000 summed published jobs), distinct from the mean-wage column.
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 does the lower price level do to Wichita, KS wage reading? ▼
What is the highest paying job in Wichita, KS? ▼
What jobs pay the least in Wichita, KS? ▼
Which federal tables feed Wichita, KS's wage and price figures? ▼
Related federal data
What to do with this data
How to use Wichita, KS wage figures in a real decision
- Pediatricians, General leads published medians in Wichita, KS at $228,820/year; open the occupation for percentile bands and state rows. Pediatricians, General
- The employment-weighted published-row mean of $58,372 adjusts to about $65,626 on a national-price basis at BEA RPP 88.9. Salary vs cost of living
- Compare this metropolitan statistical area against the statewide occupation table for KS 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.