Photographers · SOC 27-4021

Highest-Paying Metro Areas for Photographerss

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

Metro areas ranked by published median annual wage for photographers. Areas where BLS suppressed the median are not ranked (7 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 175 metro areas

Photographers: metro areas with the highest published median annual wages, May 2025
#	Metro area	Median annual	Employment	Per 1,000 jobs
1	Bend, OR	$65,990	30	0.3
2	Fort Collins-Loveland, CO	$62,550	70	0.4
3	Boulder, CO	$60,930	60	0.3
4	Springfield, MA	$60,430	40	0.2
5	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$60,050	3,590	0.4
6	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT	$60,000	280	0.3
7	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$59,220	350	0.3
8	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$58,840	880	0.4
9	Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY	$58,050	150	0.6
10	Charleston-North Charleston, SC	$56,890	100	0.2
11	Bakersfield-Delano, CA	$56,220	60	0.2
12	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$55,220	60	0.3
13	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$55,020	670	0.2
14	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$54,530	1,060	0.3
15	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$54,260	160	0.4
16	Springfield, MO	$52,510	80	0.4
17	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$52,470	210	0.2
18	Montgomery, AL	$52,160	30	0.2
19	Kahului-Wailuku, HI	$51,870	100	1.3
20	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$51,790	550	0.3
21	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$51,410	160	0.3
22	New Haven, CT	$51,000	100	0.4
23	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$50,940	130	0.3
24	Santa Fe, NM	$50,670	40	0.6
25	Manchester-Nashua, NH	$50,620	40	0.2

Full state and metro tables, the national distribution, and the pay map are on the Photographers 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.