Drafters, All Other · SOC 17-3019

Highest-Paying Metro Areas for Drafters, All Others

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025U.S. metropolitan areas

Metro areas ranked by published median annual wage for drafters, all other. Areas where BLS suppressed the median are not ranked (1 such areas are excluded here). Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Top 25 of 83 metro areas

Drafters, All Other: metro areas with the highest published median annual wages, May 2025
#	Metro area	Median annual	Employment	Per 1,000 jobs
1	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$90,850	80	0.1
2	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$82,360	170	0.1
3	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$81,220	550	0.1
4	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$80,470	Not published	Not published
5	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$79,960	180	0.1
6	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$78,020	100	0.1
7	Baton Rouge, LA	$77,020	320	0.8
8	Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC	$76,330	50	0.1
9	Fresno, CA	$75,150	40	0.1
10	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$75,090	40	0.1
11	Boulder, CO	$74,630	60	0.3
12	Alexandria, LA	$74,540	50	0.9
13	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$74,380	130	0.0
14	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$73,880	140	0.1
15	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$73,840	690	0.1
16	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$73,100	50	0.1
17	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT	$73,080	80	0.1
18	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$72,990	330	0.2
19	Missoula, MT	$72,520	30	0.4
20	Lake Charles, LA	$71,690	60	0.6
21	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$70,320	330	0.1
22	Tucson, AZ	$69,810	50	0.1
23	Modesto, CA	$68,850	30	0.2
24	Syracuse, NY	$68,500	30	0.1
25	Memphis, TN-MS-AR	$68,020	30	0.1

Full state and metro tables, the national distribution, and the pay map are on the Drafters, All Other overview.

About this data. Estimates are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, retrieved from bls.gov/oes/tables.htm on July 24, 2026. OEWS estimates describe metropolitan/nonmetropolitan areas and states — not city limits — and are not designed for year-over-year comparisons. See BLS methodology, our plain-English methodology, and sources. CitySalaryData is independent and not affiliated with BLS.