Last December we took a look at Clinical Lab Tech Pay in the Top 20 Metro Markets. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data reveals that, without question, the biggest population metro areas are major employment centers for clinical lab technologists and technicians. However, a deeper dive into the BLS data makes it clear that clinical lab techs employed in smaller metro markets very often attain better compensation levels than do their larger market counterparts. In fact, May 2019 data from the BLS reveals that only one of the 20 largest metro markets in the U.S. were among the 20 best metropolitan areas for clinical lab tech pay:
Metropolitan Area | # Employed | Annual Mean Wages | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Vineland-Bridgeton, NJ | 90 | $80,560 | ||
2 | Carson City, NV | 50 | $78,400 | ||
3 | Anchorage, AK | 370 | $76,370 | ||
4 | San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA | 70 | $75,180 | ||
5 | Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade | 1,690 | $73,530 | ||
6 | Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA | 310 | $73,410 | ||
7 | Redding, CA | 150 | $72,850 | ||
8 | Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA | 220 | $71,790 | ||
9 | Fairbanks, AK | 40 | $71,670 | ||
10 | Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA | 170 | $71,390 | ||
11 | New Haven, CT | 1,220 | $69,870 | ||
12 | Longview, WA | 50 | $69,070 | ||
13 | Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT | 660 | $68,870 | ||
14 | Bellingham, WA | 140 | $68,860 | ||
15 | Salinas, CA | 110 | $68,610 | ||
16 | New York-Newark-Jersey City (#) | 18,490 | $68,260 | ||
17 | Corvallis, OR | 100 | $67,440 | ||
18 | Norwich-New London-Westerly, CT-RI | 330 | $67,170 | ||
19 | Ocean City, NJ | N/A | $66,750 | ||
20 | Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford | 1,120 | $66,690 | ||
National | 326,020 | $54,780 |
(#) a top 20 U.S metro population area
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OES. Data extracted on December 5, 2020