The numbers come from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics…an annual snapshot of U.S. wages conducted by the agency in May of 2011. David Kong with the BLS says the nationwide average was $21.74.  

"And for Sacramento, the mean hourly wage was $24.78."

Kong says one reason wages are higher is - it's more expensive to live in California than in many other parts of the country and employers have to pay more to attract workers.

And there's another reason:

"Wages are higher because of concentrations in professional jobs and professional jobs tend to be higher paid jobs."

Kong says the Sacramento area has a high concentration of jobs in: management; business and financial operations; computer and mathematical; and architecture and engineering.