Report: Sacramento Wages 10 Percent Higher Than Nation

If you work with convicted criminals in the Sacramento area - you're likely being paid well above your colleagues in other parts of the country.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, or BLS, says Sacramento is the highest paying metro area nationwide for probation officers and correctional treatment specialists. 

"I don't know whether you're going to get a swarm of people coming into Sacramento applying for those jobs but you never know," says BLS economist Todd Johnson.

He says other sectors pay well here too.

"Some occupations such as healthcare, technical occupations within the healthcare area, are nearly 30 percent above the national average, so they're being quite well compensated."

Johnson says the bureau doesn't analyze why wages are higher in certain cities compared to others. But he says it stands to reason - if you have a lot of hospitals in town, there'll be more competition for healthcare workers.

The BLS report finds Sacramento area wages - on average - are higher than the rest of the country.

"Sacramento is doing fairly well," says Johnson. "Workers earned about 10 percent more than the national average."

Johnson says business and financial operations accounted for 7.6 percent of Sacramento's employment, compared to 5.1 percent nationally. 

"Those tend to be clustered in capitol cities because of the activities that legislatures will have and that sort of thing."

The data also show Sacramento was the highest paying metro area nationwide for probation officers and correctional treatment specialists.

The BLS says the average worker in the Sacramento-Arden Arcade-Roseville metro area earned $24.99 an hour in May of last year. The national average was $22.71. Office and administrative support occupations accounted for the largest share of local employment at nearly 18 percent.