Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary · SOC 25-9045

Highest-Paying Metro Areas for Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondarys

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

Metro areas ranked by published median annual wage for teaching assistants, except postsecondary. Areas where BLS suppressed the median are not ranked. Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Top 25 of 391 metro areas

Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary: metro areas with the highest published median annual wages, May 2025
#	Metro area	Median annual	Employment	Per 1,000 jobs
1	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$57,950	870	16.6
2	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$53,950	21,040	10.1
3	Bellingham, WA	$51,670	1,200	13.1
4	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$51,350	1,700	13.1
5	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$50,530	1,370	14.7
6	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$49,360	18,710	7.9
7	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$49,010	7,240	6.4
8	Portland-South Portland, ME	$48,770	3,170	11.0
9	Decatur, IL	$48,480	550	12.2
10	Napa, CA	$48,450	530	6.8
11	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$48,270	1,930	9.4
12	Vallejo, CA	$48,200	1,630	11.3
13	Salinas, CA	$48,030	2,290	12.3
14	Modesto, CA	$47,990	3,470	17.8
15	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$47,860	3,870	11.9
16	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$47,430	1,060	10.8
17	Yakima, WA	$47,380	2,150	22.1
18	Lewiston-Auburn, ME	$47,120	820	17.1
19	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$46,540	2,360	11.8
20	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$46,440	13,260	8.6
21	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$46,410	1,270	10.4
22	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$46,330	22,500	13.1
23	Pueblo, CO	$46,280	530	8.7
24	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$46,240	53,010	8.5
25	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$46,200	25,050	8.0

Full state and metro tables, the national distribution, and the pay map are on the Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary 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.