support · SOC 31-1132
Orderlies
National median $38,290 / yr · 52,440 jobs nationally. Same job, very different outcomes by state — see the WageBench Score below.
National median
$38,290
BLS OEWS
Top state by Score
ND
Score 72 · North Dakota
Top-paying metro
San Francisco
$69,870 median
Top WageBench Score
79
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
Top 10 destinations
Same job. Wildly different outcomes by metro. Click any column to re-sort.
| Rank | Area | Annual Median | Take-Home | State Tax | COL Index | NLC | WageBench Score ↓ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $69,870 | $65,678 | 6.0% | — | — | 79 |
| #2 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $65,790 | $61,843 | 6.0% | — | — | 77 |
| #3 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $46,560 | $46,560 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 74 |
| #4 | Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | $62,380 | $58,637 | 6.0% | — | — | 74 |
| #5 | North Dakota | $38,240 | $37,475 | 2.0% | 89 | ✓ | 72 |
| #6 | Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | $44,920 | $42,944 | 4.4% | — | ✓ | 72 |
| #7 | Washington | $48,690 | $48,690 | 0.0% | 107 | ✓ | 72 |
| #8 | Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | $43,570 | $42,232 | 3.1% | — | ✓ | 71 |
| #9 | Colorado | $43,570 | $41,653 | 4.4% | 103 | ✓ | 71 |
| #10 | New Mexico | $37,650 | $35,805 | 4.9% | 92 | ✓ | 70 |
National wage distribution
How pay spreads across the workforce — from the 10th percentile (entry / low-COL settings) to the 90th (highest-paying environments).
P10
$32,240
P25
$35,570
MEDIAN
$38,290
P75
$44,560
P90
$50,600
Hourly mean
$20
Hourly median
$18
Annual mean
$40,660
Total US jobs
52,440
Every state & metro, ranked
Filter by state, set a minimum WageBench Score, or restrict to Nurse Licensure Compact members. 189 scored areas total.
189 areas · page 1 of 8
| Area | State | Median | Take-Home | State Tax | COL Index | NLC | HPSA | WageBench Score ↓ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | CA | $69,870 | $65,678 | 6.0% | — | — | 24 | 79 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | CA | $65,790 | $61,843 | 6.0% | — | — | 24 | 77 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | WA | $46,560 | $46,560 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 21 | 74 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | CA | $62,380 | $58,637 | 6.0% | — | — | 24 | 74 |
| North Dakota | ND | $38,240 | $37,475 | 2.0% | 89 | ✓ | 23 | 72 |
| Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | CO | $44,920 | $42,944 | 4.4% | — | ✓ | 22 | 72 |
| Washington | WA | $48,690 | $48,690 | 0.0% | 107 | ✓ | 21 | 72 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | PA | $43,570 | $42,232 | 3.1% | — | ✓ | 21 | 71 |
| Colorado | CO | $43,570 | $41,653 | 4.4% | 103 | ✓ | 22 | 71 |
| New Mexico | NM | $37,650 | $35,805 | 4.9% | 92 | ✓ | 24 | 70 |
| Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI | WI | $42,840 | $40,569 | 5.3% | — | ✓ | 21 | 70 |
| Wyoming | WY | $37,410 | $37,410 | 0.0% | 93 | ✓ | 23 | 70 |
| Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN | IN | $40,420 | $39,187 | 3.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 70 |
| Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | TX | $39,210 | $39,210 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 70 |
| Indiana | IN | $38,540 | $37,365 | 3.0% | 93 | ✓ | 23 | 70 |
| Delaware | DE | $43,800 | $41,522 | 5.2% | 100 | ✓ | 21 | 70 |
| Wisconsin | WI | $41,380 | $39,187 | 5.3% | 94 | ✓ | 21 | 70 |
| Ohio | OH | $37,030 | $35,919 | 3.0% | 93 | ✓ | 23 | 70 |
| North Carolina | NC | $38,680 | $37,036 | 4.3% | 94 | ✓ | 24 | 70 |
| Columbus, OH | OH | $37,360 | $36,239 | 3.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 69 |
| Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN | TN | $38,370 | $38,370 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 69 |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | FL | $35,770 | $35,770 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 24 | 69 |
| Pennsylvania | PA | $40,140 | $38,908 | 3.1% | 98 | ✓ | 21 | 69 |
| Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | MD | $37,760 | $35,872 | 5.0% | — | ✓ | 24 | 69 |
| Missouri | MO | $35,620 | $34,017 | 4.5% | 91 | ✓ | 24 | 69 |
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Not published by BLS (4) — BLS suppresses wage estimates where employment is too low to disclose. These states likely still employ this occupation; there's just no public wage to rank: Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, Utah.
Employer benchmark
Download the full national benchmark (PDF)
National percentile wages, 51-state ranking by WageBench Score, top-25 metros, and methodology footer — formatted for HR / compensation review.
WageBench Score blends pay, taxes, COL, demand, license access and livability into one 0-100 number.
How we calculate it →