SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – Workers in the San Francisco Bay area receive the nation’s highest salaries in nearly all job categories, according to a new study by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The second highest-paying area was Hartford, Conn., where workers enjoyed a 13 percent salary over the national average. Workers in Brownsville, Texas, were among the lowest paid, earning wages 19 percent below the national average.

Wages for Bay Area employees were 17 percent higher than the national average in nine major job categories in 2004, the most recent year that salary data was available, the agency reported Wednesday in its “Occupational Pay Relatives” survey.

The survey found that the Bay Area pays 6.4 percent better than New York and 4.5 percent better than Boston.

The study compared wages, salaries and other compensation for more than 820 occupations ranging from management to the rank-and-file employees in 152 metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas.

The gap between Bay Area pay and the national average was even larger when removing adjustments for regional differences. For example, a direct comparison found that San Francisco professionals earned an annual salary of $80,412, more than 31 percent above the national average of $61,152.

But the survey did not include an adjustment for the area’s high cost of living, which analysts said could erode much of the benefits of higher salaries. For example, housing costs in San Jose are 163 percent higher than the national average, according to the American Chamber of Commerce Research Association.

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Information from: San Jose Mercury News, http://www.sjmercury.com

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Information from: San Jose Mercury News, http://www.sjmercury.com

AP-ES-12-29-05 1839EST