New research by the company Tipalti has dived into salaries across the U.S. to reveal where average salaries and wages are the highest. The outcome of this review produced the following league:
The 10 states with the highest average wages
| Rank | State | 2021 Average Wages |
| 1 | New York | $88,035 |
| 2 | Massachusetts | $87,752 |
| 3 | California | $85,741 |
| 4 | Washington | $82,477 |
| 5 | Connecticut | $77,840 |
| 6 | New Jersey | $76,340 |
| 7 | New Hampshire | $72,063 |
| 8 | Maryland | $71,688 |
| 9 | Colorado | $70,563 |
| 10 | Illinois | $70,127 |
The bottom three states in the U.S.’s polarised wage system are Idaho ($50,744); West Virginia ($50,498) and Mississippi ($44,958). Hence, there is considerable variance by location and disparity with the concept of ‘equal wages for equal value’. The survey does not provide data based on gender.
The research, which also provides global comparisons, reveals that the U.S. has the third highest average salaries in the world at $74,738, which is more than $5,500 higher than fourth place Luxembourg. Coming top is Switzerland, which has the highest average wages in the world at $91,852.
Canada comes in eighth place with $54,175. The U.K. does not feature within the top ten.
However, wage is just one element of the employment contract and employee benefits also include annual leave, sick pay, maternity pay and so on. Here the U.S. does not often compare as favourably.
From the table, New York has the highest average wages in the U.S. at $88,035. New York City is one of the most diverse and busiest cities on the planet and is home to a huge number of businesses that in turn means a large number of high-paying jobs in the area. Massachusetts has the second highest average wages in the United States at $87,752.With some of the most prestigious institutions in the country, it is home to a number of businesses in the tech, healthcare and finance sectors.
California has the third highest average wages in the country at $85,741. Home to the Silicon Valley, it is one of the top locations in the country for tech start-ups.
Behind these figures, data trends reveal that Washington had the highest wage growth since 2011 at 64.11 percent and is also projected to be the state with the highest average wage in 2031 based on the past 10 years’ wage growth, with an estimated annual salary of $135,56. This profession is followed by dentists and optometrists.
The highest-earning profession across all six English-speaking countries assessed is psychiatrist, with these individuals earning on average $154,800.
