The PayScale Index (US): Trends in Compensation

2012: Early 2012 showed wages in Boston continuing the upward trend that started at the end of 2010. In Q1 2012, wages in Bean Town were up about 2.5 percent from their previous low point in Q3 2010 and up more than 1 percent over Q1 2011 wage levels.

2007-2011: Just before the recession, earnings for workers in Boston tracked very closely to national trends, growing nearly 6 percent between 2007 and Q4 2008.

Then, as the recession worsened at the end of 2008, wages in Boston dropped more sharply than in many other cities, reaching a low point in 2009 nearly 2 percent below their peak. Average wages in Boston remained relatively flat in 2010 then grew steadily, nearly 1 percent, in 2011.

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The Boston Metro Area includes people in Boston, Mass.; Cambridge, Mass.; Quincy, NH; Rockingham County, NH; Strafford County, NH; Essex County, Mass.; Newton, Mass.; Framingham, Mass.; and the surrounding areas.

The PayScale Index tracks quarterly changes in total cash compensation for full-time, private industry employees in the United States. In addition to a national index, it includes separate indices for specific industries, metropolitan areas, job categories, and company sizes. The PayScale Index uses 2006 average total cash compensation as a baseline.

See full methodology for compensation trend reports.

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