Salaries are a gauge of overall economic health and a measure of the degree to which employees are sharing in the prosperity of a community. They also indicate the vitality of a region and its ability to compete and attract workers.

Although there have been shifts in average salaries among employment sectors, the overall average salary in Worcester County in 2022 was $67,000, a 7% increase from 2000. This increase was notably less than the state and the nation, where the average salary increased by 19% and 17% respectively.

The greatest increases in average salary were in the Financial Activities (35%), Government (30%), and Professional and Business Services (26%) sectors in Worcester County, while the Manufacturing and Natural Resources and Mining sectors declined by 7% and 2% respectively. The County had much smaller increases in the Educational and Information sectors compared to both the state and nation. The average Education sector salary grew by 17% in the state and 10% in the nation compared to 2% in Worcester. Similarly, the average Information sector salary grew by 35% in the state and 45% in the nation, compared to 5% in the County.

Data have been converted to 2022 dollars. Industries in which most of the workforce is full time (e.g., Manufacturing) will appear to pay significantly higher wages than ones that employ many part-timers (e.g., Retail or Leisure and Hospitality).