The States Where Small Businesses Pay the Highest Wages

The minimum wage rose in 22 U.S. states at the start of 2024, with 38 counties and cities implementing further increases. However, many small companies were already paying above these new limits to counter staff shortages following the pandemic.

This project was commissioned by OnDeck, who tasked us with determining where in America are small businesses paying the best salaries right now.

To do this, we analyzed U.S. Census Bureau data for businesses with fewer than 500 employees. We ranked them by average annual salary, calculating this as the total annual payroll divided by the number of employees.