Anesthesiologists draw highest hourly wage in latest Kansas survey

The title of highest-paid occupation in Kansas goes to anesthesiologists with an average wage of $140.42 per hour in 2018, state officials said in the latest annual labor survey.

The Kansas Department of Labor said the survey of employers revealed Kansas anesthesiologists were paid better than the national average of $128.38 per hour.

The report released Thursday contained 2018 employment data for most occupations in the state, as well as how holders of those jobs fared in metropolitan areas. It incorporated information a wide range of jobs from all 105 counties.

Lisa Trammel, the state Department of Labor's occupational statistics supervisor, said the snapshot of employment and compensation wouldn't have been possible without participation of employers.

"The high quality of the data could not be achieved without their cooperation and effort," she said.

The report said the average hourly wage in Kansas increased by 34 cents over the year from $21.43 per hour in 2018 to $21.77 per hour.

Here are median salaries for select counties in Kansas: Butler, $20.88; Crawford, $17.36; Ellis, $19.59; Finney, $19.31; Ford, $18.97; Franklin, $18.11; Leavenworth, $23.52; McPherson, $19.76; Newton, $20.44; Pratt, $17.56; Reno, $19.03; Saline, $20.27; Shawnee, $21.54; and Sumner, $17.34.

Eight of the 10 highest paid occupations were in the health field, the survey said. Nine of the 10 lowest compensated occupations were in food preparation and serving-related jobs.

The largest occupational categories in Kansas were office and administrative support, sales and related, food preparation and service-related, production and transportation and material moving.

In addition, the top five specific occupations with highest employment were retail salespersons; food preparation and serving workers, including fast food, customer service representatives; cashiers; and secretaries and administrative assistants.

To view the entire 2019 Kansas Wage Survey go to https://klic.dol.ks.gov/gsipub/index.asp?docid=768.