Technical information: (202)691-6569 USDL 03-741 http://www.bls.gov/oes/ For release: 10:00 A.M. EST Media Contact: 691-5902 Wednesday, November 19, 2003 OCCUPATIONAL EMPLOYMENT AND WAGES, 2002 Management and legal occupational groups were the highest paying of the 22 major occupational groups in 2002, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. The occupational group with the highest employment level in 2002 was office and administrative support workers, followed by sales and related workers, production workers, and food preparation and serving workers. These statistics for wage and salary workers are from the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey, a federal-state cooperative program between BLS and State Employment Security Agencies (SESAs). The OES survey provides estimates of employment, hourly wages, and annual wages for 22 major occupational groups and for 770 detailed occupations, as defined by the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system. (See table A.) The highest-paying major groups in 2002 were management occupations and legal occupations. About 30 percent of the workers in these occupational groups earned more than $43.75 per hour. (See table B.) The occupational groups with the lowest average wages were food preparation and serving related; farming, fishing, and forestry; building and grounds cleaning and maintenance; and personal care and service. At least 40 percent of all workers in each of these lowest-paying groups earned less than $8.50 per hour. Major groups whose wages were concentrated in the middle included busi- ness and financial operations occupations; life, physical, and social science occupations; community and social services occupations; education, training, and library occupations; healthcare practitioner and technical occupations; construction and extraction occupations; and installation, maintenance, and repair occupations. In addition to estimates for the 22 OES major occupational groups, the OES program produces detailed occupational wages across all industries. These estimates show that wages for occupations can vary substantially within a major occupational group. Table 1 shows wages for the detailed occupations within each group. The two largest detailed occupations can be found within the sales group. Retail salespersons and cashiers were the largest occupations in the United States, with almost 3.9 million and 3.4 million employees, respectively. General office clerks and registered nurses were the next largest occupations with 2.9 million and 2.2 million workers, respectively. The seven highest-paying occupations were all found in the occupational group of healthcare practitioner and technical occupations and were all doctors. The average hourly wage for these occupations ranged from $91.15 for surgeons to $65.01 for psychiatrists. Seven of the lowest-paying occupations were found in food preparation and serving, where the average wages for workers ranged from $7.18 per hour for fast-food cooks to $7.76 per hour for hosts and hostesses. - 2 - Table A. Employment and wages by major occupational group, 2002 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Occupations | Employment | Mean Major occupational group |------------------|--------------------|hourly | | Percent | |Percent | wage | Number | of total| Number |of total| ----------------------------|--------|---------|-----------|--------|------ | | | | | Total..................| 770 | 100.0 |127,523,740| 100.0 | Management..................| 30 | 3.9 | 7,092,460| 5.6 |$37.92 Business and financial | | | | | operations................| 28 | 3.6 | 4,772,120| 3.7 | 25.65 Computer and mathematical | | | | | science...................| 16 | 2.1 | 2,772,620| 2.2 | 29.63 Architecture and | | | | | engineering...............| 35 | 4.5 | 2,411,260| 1.9 | 27.89 Life, physical, and social | | | | | science...................| 39 | 5.1 | 1,078,630| .8 | 25.19 Community and social | | | | | services..................| 14 | 1.8 | 1,576,980| 1.2 | 16.65 Legal ......................| 9 | 1.2 | 934,850| .7 | 37.18 Education, training, and | | | | | library...................| 58 | 7.5 | 7,772,470| 6.1 | 19.31 Arts, design, entertainment,| | | | | sports, and media.........| 37 | 4.8 | 1,503,680| 1.2 | 20.03 Healthcare practitioner and | | | | | technical.................| 46 | 6.0 | 6,185,020| 4.9 | 25.96 Healthcare support..........| 15 | 1.9 | 3,173,400| 2.5 | 10.77 Protective service .........| 20 | 2.6 | 2,993,490| 2.3 | 16.02 Food preparation and serving| | | | | related...................| 16 | 2.1 | 10,067,080| 7.9 | 8.26 Building and grounds | | | | | cleaning and maintenance..| 9 | 1.2 | 4,262,880| 3.3 | 10.02 Personal care and service...| 33 | 4.3 | 2,919,280| 2.3 | 10.27 Sales and related...........| 21 | 2.7 | 13,339,570| 10.5 | 14.72 Office and administrative | | | | | support...................| 56 | 7.3 | 22,754,570| 17.8 | 13.42 Farming, fishing, and | | | | | forestry..................| 13 | 1.7 | 451,140| .4 | 9.72 Construction and extraction.| 58 | 7.5 | 6,124,600| 4.8 | 17.47 Installation, maintenance, | | | | | and repair................| 53 | 6.9 | 5,215,970| 4.1 | 17.20 Production..................| 112 | 14.5 | 10,726,670| 8.4 | 13.55 Transportation and | | | | | material moving ..........| 52 | 6.8 | 9,395,000| 7.4 | 13.09 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The OES survey is designed to estimate employment and wages at detailed industry and area levels with a desired level of reliability based on a sample of 1.2 million establishments, collected over a 3-year period. Because the 2002 estimates represent the first year that OES estimates were based on the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and because of the program's transition to semiannual collection and publication, the 2002 estimates are based on 4-year responses from establishments for 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002. The OES employment estimates presented in this release are benchmarked to data from the fourth-quarter 2002 Census of Employment and Wages. The 1999, 2000, and 2001 wage data have been adjusted to the 2002 reference period, using over-the-year wage changes in the most applicable national Employment Cost Index series. For further details, see the Technical Note. The 2002 OES data for states and metropolitan areas and the national employment and wage data by industry will be available on the BLS Web site in late November. - 3 - Table B. Wage distribution by major occupational group, 2002 (Percent distribution) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | Wage range Major |------------------------------------------------------------ occupational |Under|$8.50 |$10.75|$13.50|$17.00|$21.50|$27.25|$34.50|Over group |$8.50| to | to | to | to | to | to | to |$43.75 |Over | |$10.74|$13.49|$16.99|$21.49|$27.24|$34.49|$43.74| ----------------|-----|------|------|------|------|------|------|------|----- Management.......| 1.6| 1.7| 3.5| 6.8| 10.6| 14.4| 16.2| 16.0| 29.2 Business and | | | | | | | | | financial | | | | | | | | | operations.....| 1.9| 2.5| 6.6| 13.7| 19.9| 21.1| 16.6| 9.7| 7.9 Computer and | | | | | | | | | mathematical | | | | | | | | | science........| .9| 1.8| 3.8| 7.7| 13.5| 19.4| 21.7| 18.4| 12.8 Architecture and | | | | | | | | | engineering....| .7| 2.0| 4.7| 9.2| 15.3| 21.2| 20.9| 16.1| 9.8 Life, physical, | | | | | | | | | and social | | | | | | | | | science .......| 2.5| 4.3| 8.1| 14.0| 18.0| 19.0| 15.2| 10.0| 8.8 Community and | | | | | | | | | social | | | | | | | | | services.......| 8.1| 12.0| 18.9| 21.3| 18.2| 12.8| 6.2| 1.9| .8 Legal............| 1.8| 2.7| 6.3| 10.8| 14.3| 12.9| 11.4| 10.6| 29.3 Education, | | | | | | | | | training, and | | | | | | | | | library........| 12.6| 8.8| 10.2| 15.2| 18.5| 16.7| 10.5| 4.7| 2.9 Arts, design, | | | | | | | | | entertainment, | | | | | | | | | sports, and | | | | | | | | | media..........| 13.7| 10.5| 12.4| 15.0| 15.1| 13.5| 9.1| 5.4| 5.3 Healthcare | | | | | | | | | practitioner | | | | | | | | | and technical..| 3.2| 5.5| 8.9| 14.0| 20.4| 20.2| 12.2| 6.3| 9.4 Healthcare | | | | | | | | | support........| 27.7| 30.5| 22.6| 12.7| 4.8| 1.2| .3| .1| - Protective | | | | | | | | | service........| 18.3| 14.4| 15.6| 14.2| 13.8| 12.7| 7.4| 2.9| .8 Food preparation | | | | | | | | | and serving | | | | | | | | | related........| 68.2| 17.0| 8.5| 3.9| 1.7| .5| .2| .1| - Building and | | | | | | | | | grounds clean- | | | | | | | | | ing and | | | | | | | | | maintenance....| 43.9| 24.3| 15.7| 9.2| 4.7| 1.6| .4| .1| - Personal care | | | | | | | | | and service....| 50.9| 20.8| 11.3| 7.0| 4.7| 2.6| 1.2| .7| .6 Sales and | | | | | | | | | related .......| 38.4| 16.2| 11.1| 9.4| 8.0| 6.1| 4.2| 2.9| 3.8 Office and | | | | | | | | | administrative | | | | | | | | | support........| 16.0| 20.2| 22.8| 19.1| 13.8| 5.4| 1.8| .6| .3 Farming, fishing,| | | | | | | | | and forestry...| 57.1| 17.3| 10.6| 7.2| 4.4| 2.0| .8| .3| .1 Construction and | | | | | | | | | extraction.....| 7.8| 12.4| 16.6| 18.6| 17.6| 14.4| 8.8| 3.0| .8 Installation, | | | | | | | | | maintenance, | | | | | | | | | and repair.....| 7.9| 11.0| 15.6| 19.4| 20.4| 16.2| 7.0| 1.8| .5 Production.......| 19.4| 20.4| 20.1| 16.8| 11.5| 7.7| 3.0| .8| .2 Transportation | | | | | | | | | and material | | | | | | | | | moving.........| 27.5| 19.4| 17.7| 14.6| 11.0| 6.2| 2.1| .7| .9 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - 4 - Technical Note Scope of the survey The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey is a semiannual mail survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments, by industry, in the United States. (Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands also are surveyed, but their data are not included in this release.) In 2002, the OES sur- vey switched from industry coding based on the Standard Industrial Classi- fication (SIC) system to that based on the North American Industry Classi- fication System (NAICS). The nationwide response rate for the 2002 survey was 78 percent for establishments, covering 71 percent of employment. In November 2002, the OES survey changed from an annual survey of 400,000 establishments to a semiannual survey of 200,000 establishments. The OES survey samples and contacts establishments in May and November of each year and, over 3 years, contacts approximately 1.2 million estab- lishments. The full 3-year sample allows the production of estimates at fine levels of geographic, industrial, and occupational detail. In order to maintain adequate geographic, industrial, and occupational coverage through the implementation of NAICS and semiannual sampling, the 2002 data were combined with the annual samples from 1999, 2000, and 2001 for a total sample size of approximately 1.4 million establishments. Esti- mates from the OES survey are based on data collected using the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system. A brief description of this classification system is provided below. The occupational classification system for 2002 In 1999, the OES survey began using the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) occupational classification system, the Standard Occupational Classi- fication (SOC) system. The SOC system is the first OMB-required occupational classification system for federal agencies. The OES survey categorizes work- ers in 1 of about 770 detailed occupations. Together, these detailed occupa- tions comprise 22 major occupational groups. The major groups are as follows: Management occupations Business and financial operations occupations Computer and mathematical science occupations Architecture and engineering occupations Life, physical, and social science occupations Community and social services occupations Legal occupations Education, training, and library occupations Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations Healthcare practitioner and technical occupations Healthcare support occupations Protective service occupations Food preparation and serving related occupations Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations Personal care and service occupations Sales and related occupations Office and administrative support occupations Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations Construction and extraction occupations Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations Production occupations Transportation and material moving occupations Military specific occupations (not surveyed in OES) For more information about the SOC system, please see the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Web site at http://www.bls.gov/soc. - 5 - The industry coding system for 2002 In 2002, the OES survey switched from using the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system to using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Due to differences in NAICS and SIC structures, OES industry data for 2002 are not comparable with the SIC-based data for earlier years. For more information about NAICS, see the BLS Web site at http://www.bls.gov/bls/naics.htm. An establishment is defined as an economic unit that processes goods or provides services, such as a factory, mine, or store. The estab- lishment is generally at a single physical location and is engaged primarily in one type of economic activity. The OES survey covers all full-and part-time wage and salary wokers in nonfarm industries. The survey does not include the self-employed owners and partners in unincorporated firms, household workers, or unpaid family workers. The OES survey includes establishments in NAICS sectors 11 (logging and agricultural support activities only), 21, 22, 23, 31-33, 42, 44-45, 48-49, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 61, 62, 71, 72, 81 (except private households), state government, and local government. Data for the U.S. Postal Service and the federal government are universe counts obtained from the Postal Service and the Office of Personnel Management, respectively. BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support, while the State Employment Security Agencies (SESAs) collect the data. BLS produces cross-industry NAICS estimates for the nation, states, and metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs). NAICS estimates are produced primarily at the 4-digit level with some 5-digit exceptions. BLS releases all cross-industry and national estimates, and the SESAs release industry estimates at the state and MSA levels. The OES survey defines employment as the number of workers who can be classified as full-time or part-time employees, including workers on paid vacations or other types of leave; workers on unpaid short-term absences; salaried officers, executives, and staff members of incorporated firms; employees temporarily assigned to other units; and employees for whom the reporting unit is their permanent duty station regardless of whether that unit prepares their paycheck. State Unemployment Insurance (UI) files provide the universe from which the OES survey draws its sample. The employment benchmarks are obtained from reports submitted by employers to the UI program. In some non-manu- facturing industries, supplemental sources are used for establishments not reporting to the UI program. The OES survey sample is stratified by area, industry, and size class. Size classes are defined as follows: Size class Number of employees _____________________________________ 1 1 to 4 2 5 to 9 3 10 to 19 4 20 to 49 5 50 to 99 6 100 to 249 7 250 and above _____________________________________ UI reporting units with 250 or more employees are sampled with virtual certainty across a 3-year period. Generally, one-sixth of the certainty units are sampled in each panel in each state. - 6 - Concepts Occupational employment is the estimate of total wage and salary em- ployment in an occupation across the industries in which that occupation was reported. The OES survey form sent to an establishment contains be- tween 50 and 225 SOC occupations selected on the basis of the sampled establishment's industry classification and size class. To reduce paper- work and respondent burden, no survey form contains every SOC occupation. Thus, data for specific occupations are collected primarily from establish- ments in industries that are the predominant employers of workers in those occupations. Each survey form is structured, however, to allow a respondent to provide detailed occupational information for each worker at the estab- lishment; that is, workers in unlisted occupations can have their occupations added to the survey form. Wages for the OES survey are straight-time, gross pay, exclusive of premium pay. Base rate, cost-of-living allowances, guaranteed pay, hazardous-duty pay, incentive pay including commissions and production bonuses, tips, and on-call pay are included. Excluded are back pay, jury duty pay, overtime pay, severance pay, shift differentials, non-production bonuses, employer cost for supplementary benefits, and tuition reimburse- ments. The OES survey collects wage data in 12 intervals. Employers report the number of employees in an occupation for each wage range. The wage intervals used for the 2002 survey are as follows: ---------------------------------------------------------- | Wages Interval |------------------------------------------- | Hourly | Annual --------------|-------------------|----------------------- Range A | Under $6.75 | Under $14,040 Range B | $6.75 to $8.49 | $14,040 to $17,679 Range C | $8.50 to $10.74 | $17,680 to $22,359 Range D | $10.75 to $13.49 | $22,360 to $28,079 Range E | $13.50 to $16.99 | $28,080 to $35,359 Range F | $17.00 to $21.49 | $35,360 to $44,719 Range G | $21.50 to $27.24 | $44,720 to $56,679 Range H | $27.25 to $34.49 | $56,680 to $71,759 Range I | $34.50 to $43.74 | $71,760 to $90,999 Range J | $43.75 to $55.49 | $91,000 to $115,439 Range K | $55.50 to $69.99 | $115,440 to $145,599 Range L | $70.00 and over | $145,600 and over ---------------------------------------------------------- A mean (average) wage value is calculated for each wage interval based on occupational wage data collected by the BLS Office of Compensation and Working Conditions for the National Compensation Survey (NCS). These interval mean wage values are then attributed to all workers reported in the interval. To calculate the mean wage of each occupation, total weighted wages are summed across all intervals and divided by the occupation's weight- ed survey employment. The mean wage value for the highest wage interval, $70.00 and over, is calculated after excluding data for pilots. Pilots comprise a large portion of the employment from the NCS survey that falls into the highest interval, and about one percent of the workers reported for the OES survey makes $70.00 and over. Since pilots work much fewer hours than workers in other occupations, their hourly wage rates are much higher than other oc- cupations. After excluding pilots from the calculation, the mean wage for the highest interval was computed separately for 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002. Then the average of these four mean wages was derived and used for all of the $70.00 and over data in the 2002 survey. The wages for this interval do not go through any wage updating procedures. - 7 - Annual Wage. Many employees are paid at an hourly rate by their employers and may work more than or less than 40 hours per week. The annual wage esti- mates in this release are calculated by multiplying the mean hourly wage by a "year-round, full-time" figure of 2,080 hours (52 weeks by 40 hours). Thus, the annual wage estimates may not represent the actual annual pay received by the employee if they work more or less than 2,080 hours per year. Alterna- tively, some workers are paid based on an annual amount, but they generally do not work the usual 2,080 hours per year. Since the OES survey does not collect the actual number of hours worked, the hourly rate cannot be calcu- lated with a reasonable degree of confidence from the annual wages. For this reason, the annual salary is directly calculated from reported survey data, and only annual wages are estimated for these occupations. Occupations that typically have a work year of less than 2,080 hours include musical and entertainment occupations, pilots and flight attendants, and teachers. Hourly versus annual wage reporting. For each occupation, respondents are asked to report the number of employees paid within specific wage intervals. The intervals are defined both as hourly rates and the corresponding annual rates, where the annual rate for an occupation is calculated by multiplying the hourly wage rate by a typical work year of 2,080 hours. The responding establishment can reference either the hourly or the annual rate, but they are instructed to report the hourly rate for part-time workers. Estimation methodology Beginning in the fourth quarter of 2002, the OES survey samples approxi- mately 200,000 establishments semiannually in the second and fourth quarters of the year, for a combined sample of 1.2 million different establishments over six semiannual panels. Until 2002, the survey sampled approximately 400,000 establishments in the fourth quarter of each year, for a 3-year com- bined sample size of 1.2 million. While estimates can be made from a single year or 2 years of data, the OES survey has been designed to produce estimates at a desired level of precision using the full 3 years of data. The 3-year sample allows the production of estimates at fine levels of geographical, industrial, and occupational detail. Since the 2002 sample was the first time that 200,000 establishments were sampled, the data were combined with annual survey data from 1999, 2000, and 2001, for a combined sample of ap- proximately 1.4 million to provide adequate coverage of the sampling frame for these detailed estimates. Producing estimates using the 3 years of sample data provides signifi- cant sampling error reductions (particularly for small geographic areas and occupations); however, it also has some quality limitations in that it requires the adjustment of earlier year's data to the current reference period, a procedure referred to as "wage updating." Wage Updating. As noted above, combining multiple years of data has both statistical advantages and limitations. Significant reductions in sampling error can be achieved by taking advantage of 3 years of data, which covers over 70 percent of the employment in the United States. This feature is particularly important in improving the reliability of estimates for small domains in the population (that is, wage and employ- ment estimates for detailed occupations in small areas). Combining multi- ple years of data also has been necessary to obtain full coverage of estab- lishments with 250 or more workers that are sampled with certainty. Starting with the 1997 estimates, the OES program has used the over-the- year fourth-quarter wage changes from the BLS Employment Cost Index (ECI) to adjust prior year survey data before combining it with the cur- rent year's data. The wage updating procedure assumes that each occupa- tion's wage, as measured in the earlier years, moves according to the av- erage movement of its occupational division and that there are no major geographic or detailed occupational differences. - 8 - 2002 OES survey estimates. The 2002 OES survey estimates are based on data collected from establishments for the 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002 samples. The 2002 estimates use the wage-updating methodology introduced in 1997. In addition, the 2002 estimates use the estimation methodology introduced in 1997, which uses a "nearest neighbor" imputation approach for nonresponse and applies employment benchmarks at the state-MSA /4-digit NAICS (with 5-digit exceptions) /size class level. Reliability of the estimates. Statistics based on establishment surveys are subject to both sampling and nonsampling error. When a sample of the population is surveyed, there is a chance that the sample estimate of a characteristic may differ from the population value of that characteristic. The difference between the sample estimate and the population value will vary depending on the particular sample selected. This variability is measured by the sampling error (SE). If the sampling and estimation process using the same survey design was repeated, 90 percent of the intervals created by add- ing and subtracting 1.645 standard errors from the sample estimate would include the population value. This interval is called a 90-percent confi- dence interval. The OES survey produces estimates of the relative standard error (RSE). The RSE is defined as the SE divided by the estimated value as computed from the sample. This statistic provides a measure of the relative precision of the sample estimates. The SE may be obtained by multiplying the RSE by the sample estimate. RSE estimates are produced for both occupational em- ployment and mean wage estimates. The employment RSE values are estimated using a subsample replication technique known as the Jackknife (random group) variance estimation method. The mean wage RSE values are estimated using a variance components model that accounts for both the observed and unobserved components of the wage data. The variances of the unobserved components of the wage data are calculated from the BLS National Compensation Survey. In general, estimates involving many establishments have lower relative standard errors than estimates involving few establishments. If the distributional assumptions of the models are violated, the resulting confidence interval may not reflect the prescribed level of confidence. Additional information The 2002 OES national data by occupation, comparable to data in table 1, will be available soon on the Internet (http://www.bls.gov/oes). Users also may access each occupation's definition and percentile wages. The 2002 cross-industry data for states and metropolitan areas will be avail- able on the BLS Web site in late November. Industry staffing patterns at the 4- and 5-digit NAICS levels also will be available from the Internet beginning in late November. These data will include industry-specific oc- cupational employment and wage data. For additional information, contact the Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics, Division of Occupational Employment Statistics, Room 2135, 2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE, Washington, DC, 20212; telephone 202-691-6569 (e-mail: oesinfo@bls.gov). Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-877-8339. Table 1. National employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey by occupation, 2002 Occupation Employment Mean wages Median hourly Hourly Annual(1) wages Management occupations Chief executives 452,400 $64.89 $134,960 $60.70 General and operations managers 1,998,350 40.19 83,590 32.80 Legislators 64,650 14.62 30,420 7.32 Advertising and promotions managers 81,090 33.27 69,200 27.47 Marketing managers 192,080 41.91 87,170 37.62 Sales managers 328,060 41.40 86,110 36.08 Public relations managers 62,640 33.59 69,870 29.15 Administrative services managers 306,370 28.54 59,350 25.24 Computer and information systems managers 264,790 43.48 90,440 40.98 Financial managers 563,020 39.94 83,080 35.26 Human resources managers 193,360 34.12 70,960 31.11 Industrial production managers 173,960 35.09 72,980 32.37 Purchasing managers 105,010 31.85 66,250 28.79 Transportation, storage, and distribution managers 107,400 31.29 65,070 28.68 Farm, ranch, and other agricultural managers 5,630 23.65 49,200 21.03 Construction managers 208,360 34.24 71,210 30.53 Education administrators, preschool and child care center/program 52,700 18.84 39,190 16.03 Education administrators, elementary and secondary school 204,340 (2) 74,050 (2) Education administrators, postsecondary 96,910 34.44 71,630 31.08 Engineering managers 205,390 46.03 95,750 43.71 Food service managers 249,710 19.75 41,090 17.21 Funeral directors 21,740 24.83 51,650 20.85 Gaming managers 3,760 29.29 60,910 26.12 Lodging managers 31,170 18.32 38,110 16.33 Medical and health services managers 228,290 33.35 69,370 29.50 Natural sciences managers 42,470 43.46 90,400 39.54 Postmasters and mail superintendents 26,470 23.36 48,590 23.34 Property, real estate, and community association managers 156,290 22.30 46,390 17.73 Social and community service managers 111,480 22.55 46,900 20.71 Business and financial operations occupations Agents and business managers of artists, performers, and athletes 11,590 33.16 68,970 26.79 Purchasing agents and buyers, farm products 16,570 22.56 46,930 19.66 Wholesale and retail buyers, except farm products 138,380 22.43 46,650 19.60 Purchasing agents, except wholesale, retail, and farm products 231,490 23.21 48,270 21.68 Claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators 211,960 22.11 45,990 20.68 Insurance appraisers, auto damage 13,270 20.97 43,620 20.50 Compliance officers, except agriculture, construction, health and safety, and transportation 146,670 23.29 48,450 21.54 Cost estimators 185,080 24.67 51,310 22.86 Emergency management specialists 10,700 22.75 47,320 20.94 Employment, recruitment, and placement specialists 168,550 22.14 46,050 18.95 Compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists 85,880 23.04 47,920 21.68 Training and development specialists 198,910 22.11 46,000 20.58 Management analysts 392,670 33.73 70,160 29.01 Meeting and convention planners 32,380 19.72 41,020 17.99 Accountants and auditors 888,690 25.59 53,230 22.60 Appraisers and assessors of real estate 57,160 22.18 46,120 20.08 Budget analysts 58,900 26.67 55,470 25.23 Credit analysts 65,700 23.81 49,530 20.63 Financial analysts 159,920 32.30 67,180 27.45 Personal financial advisors 77,010 37.72 78,460 27.25 Insurance underwriters 95,620 24.49 50,940 21.92 Financial examiners 23,890 29.60 61,570 27.03 Loan counselors 29,780 17.52 36,450 15.39 Loan officers 218,470 25.08 52,160 21.15 Tax examiners, collectors, and revenue agents 69,320 21.99 45,730 20.31 Tax preparers 54,330 15.21 31,630 12.32 Computer and mathematical science occupations Computer and information scientists, research 24,410 38.71 80,510 37.38 Computer programmers 457,320 30.62 63,690 28.98 Computer software engineers, applications 356,760 35.48 73,800 34.09 Computer software engineers, systems software 255,040 36.46 75,840 35.60 Computer support specialists 478,560 20.35 42,320 18.80 Computer systems analysts 467,750 31.20 64,890 30.24 Database administrators 102,090 28.41 59,080 26.68 Network and computer systems administrators 232,560 27.70 57,620 26.35 Network systems and data communications analysts 133,460 29.51 61,390 28.09 Actuaries 14,440 38.84 80,780 33.64 Mathematicians 2,600 36.35 75,610 36.77 Operations research analysts 56,310 29.27 60,890 27.36 Statisticians 17,820 28.85 60,000 27.44 Mathematical technicians 1,970 20.64 42,920 17.56 Architecture and engineering occupations Architects, except landscape and naval 87,700 30.06 62,530 27.22 Landscape architects 17,460 25.02 52,050 22.79 Cartographers and photogrammetrists 8,040 21.72 45,180 20.61 Surveyors 53,340 20.50 42,630 19.22 Aerospace engineers 74,210 35.63 74,110 34.97 Agricultural engineers 2,500 26.79 55,730 24.38 Biomedical engineers 7,130 30.97 64,420 29.04 Chemical engineers 32,110 36.06 75,010 34.85 Civil engineers 207,480 30.29 63,010 28.88 Computer hardware engineers 67,180 36.61 76,150 34.69 Electrical engineers 146,180 33.88 70,480 32.78 Electronics engineers, except computer 126,020 34.43 71,600 33.62 Environmental engineers 45,720 30.50 63,440 29.52 Health and safety engineers, except mining safety engineers and inspectors 34,160 28.77 59,830 27.89 Industrial engineers 151,760 30.57 63,590 29.88 Marine engineers and naval architects 4,810 32.83 68,280 32.04 Materials engineers 22,780 30.92 64,310 30.09 Mechanical engineers 203,620 31.33 65,170 30.23 Mining and geological engineers, including mining safety engineers 5,050 31.14 64,770 29.70 Nuclear engineers 15,180 39.57 82,300 39.11 Petroleum engineers 11,130 41.13 85,540 40.08 Architectural and civil drafters 101,190 18.78 39,060 17.95 Electrical and electronics drafters 35,470 21.16 44,020 19.76 Mechanical drafters 68,280 20.71 43,080 19.58 Aerospace engineering and operations technicians 14,700 25.48 52,990 24.83 Civil engineering technicians 88,380 18.71 38,910 18.13 Electrical and electronic engineering technicians 194,960 21.26 44,210 20.65 Electro-mechanical technicians 30,360 19.20 39,930 18.33 Environmental engineering technicians 18,770 18.93 39,380 17.72 Industrial engineering technicians 59,700 21.79 45,310 20.15 Mechanical engineering technicians 53,630 20.60 42,850 19.85 Surveying and mapping technicians 55,670 15.27 31,760 14.05 Life, physical, and social science occupations Agricultural and food scientists 14,920 25.38 52,800 23.40 Biochemists and biophysicists 15,190 31.55 65,620 29.03 Microbiologists 14,730 26.78 55,700 24.53 Zoologists and wildlife biologists 12,970 23.68 49,250 22.95 Conservation scientists 13,600 24.43 50,820 24.20 Foresters 9,760 23.11 48,060 22.47 Epidemiologists 3,760 27.98 58,190 25.89 Medical scientists, except epidemiologists 53,840 31.83 66,200 27.40 Astronomers 900 38.71 80,510 39.27 Physicists 11,480 42.08 87,530 40.88 Atmospheric and space scientists 7,210 29.33 61,000 28.94 Chemists 82,050 27.72 57,670 25.43 Materials scientists 7,090 32.33 67,240 31.05 Environmental scientists and specialists, including health 60,380 24.51 50,970 22.88 Geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers 26,130 37.83 78,690 32.44 Hydrologists 7,390 28.28 58,820 27.18 Economists 13,290 36.62 76,180 32.96 Market research analysts 122,000 28.97 60,260 25.87 Survey researchers 18,350 14.60 30,360 10.67 Clinical, counseling, and school psychologists 100,560 27.18 56,540 24.60 Industrial-organizational psychologists 1,360 33.49 69,670 30.63 Sociologists 2,630 27.17 56,520 25.56 Urban and regional planners 30,460 24.98 51,960 23.98 Anthropologists and archeologists 4,410 20.38 42,380 18.57 Geographers 740 26.10 54,290 25.68 Historians 2,110 21.68 45,090 20.21 Political scientists 5,300 38.48 80,040 38.73 Agricultural and food science technicians 15,990 14.91 31,010 13.74 Biological technicians 45,630 16.65 34,630 15.73 Chemical technicians 67,230 18.70 38,890 18.00 Geological and petroleum technicians 10,690 19.94 41,470 18.96 Nuclear technicians 5,620 29.43 61,220 28.84 Environmental science and protection technicians, including health 26,380 17.96 37,370 16.98 Forensic science technicians 7,830 20.81 43,280 19.73 Forest and conservation technicians 17,160 15.72 32,700 14.90 Community and social services occupations Substance abuse and behavioral disorder counselors 63,310 15.32 31,860 14.51 Educational, vocational, and school counselors 208,340 22.19 46,160 21.20 Marriage and family therapists 22,130 18.45 38,370 17.11 Mental health counselors 81,030 15.77 32,800 14.39 Rehabilitation counselors 110,580 13.75 28,590 12.43 Child, family, and school social workers 259,990 17.14 35,640 15.94 Medical and public health social workers 103,180 18.71 38,920 17.97 Mental health and substance abuse social workers 91,240 16.76 34,860 15.79 Health educators 43,240 18.84 39,190 17.43 Probation officers and correctional treatment specialists 78,990 19.81 41,210 18.44 Social and human service assistants 291,410 12.04 25,040 11.24 Clergy 36,450 17.35 36,080 15.92 Directors, religious activities and education 13,120 15.54 32,330 13.47 Legal occupations Lawyers 504,370 50.91 105,890 43.41 Administrative law judges, adjudicators, and hearing officers 16,700 32.76 68,130 31.03 Arbitrators, mediators, and conciliators 5,090 26.91 55,970 22.75 Judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates 25,100 40.97 85,210 45.23 Paralegals and legal assistants 193,300 19.51 40,590 18.25 Court reporters 15,270 21.59 44,910 19.98 Law clerks 41,760 15.42 32,070 14.65 Title examiners, abstractors, and searchers 48,060 17.93 37,300 15.68 Education, training, and library occupations Business teachers, postsecondary 66,520 (2) 61,400 (2) Computer science teachers, postsecondary 32,990 (2) 55,330 (2) Mathematical science teachers, postsecondary 41,140 (2) 55,060 (2) Architecture teachers, postsecondary 5,290 (2) 61,930 (2) Engineering teachers, postsecondary 29,310 (2) 73,100 (2) Agricultural sciences teachers, postsecondary 11,070 (2) 67,660 (2) Biological science teachers, postsecondary 47,150 (2) 67,750 (2) Forestry and conservation science teachers, postsecondary 2,350 (2) 68,030 (2) Atmospheric, earth, marine, and space sciences teachers, postsecondary 8,270 (2) 67,320 (2) Chemistry teachers, postsecondary 17,670 (2) 60,800 (2) Environmental science teachers, postsecondary 3,760 (2) 63,380 (2) Physics teachers, postsecondary 11,940 (2) 66,960 (2) Anthropology and archeology teachers, postsecondary 4,490 (2) 62,910 (2) Area, ethnic, and cultural studies teachers, postsecondary 6,040 (2) 61,180 (2) Economics teachers, postsecondary 11,560 (2) 68,370 (2) Geography teachers, postsecondary 3,920 (2) 59,790 (2) Political science teachers, postsecondary 11,910 (2) 62,110 (2) Psychology teachers, postsecondary 25,790 (2) 58,680 (2) Sociology teachers, postsecondary 13,580 (2) 56,510 (2) Health specialties teachers, postsecondary 85,770 (2) 72,820 (2) Nursing instructors and teachers, postsecondary 36,500 (2) 52,970 (2) Education teachers, postsecondary 42,300 (2) 52,240 (2) Library science teachers, postsecondary 3,760 (2) 54,480 (2) Criminal justice and law enforcement teachers, postsecondary 8,870 (2) 48,890 (2) Law teachers, postsecondary 10,260 (2) 88,020 (2) Social work teachers, postsecondary 6,480 (2) 56,070 (2) Art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary 58,130 (2) 52,350 (2) Communications teachers, postsecondary 19,660 (2) 52,050 (2) English language and literature teachers, postsecondary 55,150 (2) 51,310 (2) Foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary 19,730 (2) 50,410 (2) History teachers, postsecondary 17,500 (2) 56,200 (2) Philosophy and religion teachers, postsecondary 14,480 (2) 53,760 (2) Graduate teaching assistants 128,470 (2) 25,420 (2) Home economics teachers, postsecondary 4,490 (2) 53,650 (2) Recreation and fitness studies teachers, postsecondary 14,650 (2) 46,480 (2) Vocational education teachers, postsecondary 119,350 20.35 42,340 18.71 Preschool teachers, except special education 367,300 10.45 21,730 9.26 Kindergarten teachers, except special education 162,560 (2) 42,040 (2) Elementary school teachers, except special education 1,443,160 (2) 44,080 (2) Middle school teachers, except special and vocational education 582,620 (2) 44,110 (2) Vocational education teachers, middle school 17,730 (2) 44,650 (2) Secondary school teachers, except special and vocational education 984,600 (2) 46,010 (2) Vocational education teachers, secondary school 106,920 (2) 45,850 (2) Special education teachers, preschool, kindergarten, and elementary school 211,530 (2) 45,510 (2) Special education teachers, middle school 89,350 (2) 44,150 (2) Special education teachers, secondary school 134,870 (2) 47,270 (2) Adult literacy, remedial education, and GED teachers and instructors 61,440 19.94 41,470 17.50 Self-enrichment education teachers 136,780 15.82 32,910 14.09 Archivists, curators, and museum technicians 20,100 19.11 39,750 16.96 Librarians 156,920 21.36 44,430 20.72 Library technicians 111,240 12.16 25,280 11.58 Audio-visual collections specialists 9,040 17.01 35,370 15.56 Farm and home management advisors 12,760 20.12 41,850 18.96 Instructional coordinators 90,350 23.80 49,510 22.77 Teacher assistants 1,227,220 (2) 19,930 (2) Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations Art directors 23,200 33.55 69,790 29.74 Fine artists, including painters, sculptors, and illustrators 10,280 21.03 43,750 16.95 Multi-media artists and animators 34,150 24.45 50,860 21.14 Commercial and industrial designers 35,270 26.04 54,160 25.12 Fashion designers 10,310 28.93 60,160 24.66 Floral designers 66,480 9.90 20,600 9.37 Graphic designers 141,830 19.89 41,380 17.64 Interior designers 40,670 21.04 43,770 18.84 Merchandise displayers and window trimmers 53,350 12.25 25,470 10.84 Set and exhibit designers 8,280 17.91 37,250 16.28 Actors 52,560 (2) 42,820 (2) Producers and directors 50,780 (2) 61,500 (2) Athletes and sports competitors 10,400 (2) 92,540 (2) Coaches and scouts 87,720 (2) 34,170 (2) Umpires, referees, and other sports officials 9,190 (2) 27,010 (2) Dancers 16,580 13.17 27,390 10.14 Choreographers 15,320 16.24 33,790 14.17 Music directors and composers 8,980 (2) 39,270 (2) Musicians and singers 53,940 (2) 48,240 (2) Announcers 49,790 14.03 29,190 9.91 News analysts, reporters and correspondents 61,100 18.83 39,160 14.67 Public relations specialists 136,360 22.40 46,590 20.05 Editors 106,520 22.60 47,010 19.79 Technical writers 44,780 25.63 53,310 24.32 Writers and authors 41,990 24.18 50,300 20.57 Interpreters and translators 18,600 16.78 34,900 15.67 Audio and video equipment technicians 35,770 17.57 36,550 14.96 Broadcast technicians 31,520 16.44 34,200 13.35 Radio operators 2,510 16.53 34,380 15.16 Sound engineering technicians 11,110 22.00 45,750 17.77 Photographers 63,140 13.85 28,810 11.56 Camera operators, television, video, and motion picture 21,370 17.73 36,880 15.73 Film and video editors 15,180 21.42 44,540 18.40 Healthcare practitioner and technical occupations Chiropractors 20,630 40.12 83,440 31.41 Dentists 92,460 64.11 133,350 59.24 Dietitians and nutritionists 45,150 20.16 41,920 19.79 Optometrists 23,040 45.89 95,440 41.39 Pharmacists 219,390 36.13 75,140 37.04 Anesthesiologists 24,780 87.22 181,420 (3) Family and general practitioners 115,020 65.51 136,260 62.79 Internists, general 50,380 76.13 158,350 (3) Obstetricians and gynecologists 19,970 86.37 179,640 (3) Pediatricians, general 27,320 68.44 142,360 64.11 Psychiatrists 19,750 65.01 135,220 62.95 Surgeons 51,580 91.15 189,590 (3) Physician assistants 61,910 30.53 63,490 31.09 Podiatrists 7,490 51.65 107,430 45.61 Registered nurses 2,239,530 23.96 49,840 23.12 Audiologists 10,180 24.92 51,840 23.27 Occupational therapists 78,580 25.50 53,040 24.99 Physical therapists 130,290 28.93 60,180 27.56 Radiation therapists 13,510 28.90 60,110 24.35 Recreational therapists 26,130 15.23 31,670 14.68 Respiratory therapists 85,350 19.57 40,700 19.34 Speech-language pathologists 87,030 24.75 51,490 23.77 Veterinarians 42,900 35.44 73,720 30.33 Medical and clinical laboratory technologists 146,480 21.00 43,670 20.63 Medical and clinical laboratory technicians 144,120 14.58 30,330 13.96 Dental hygienists 148,530 27.78 57,790 26.59 Cardiovascular technologists and technicians 42,870 18.12 37,680 17.52 Diagnostic medical sonographers 36,530 23.90 49,710 23.40 Nuclear medicine technologists 17,090 25.13 52,260 23.44 Radiologic technologists and technicians 173,540 19.30 40,150 18.74 Emergency medical technicians and paramedics 178,700 12.78 26,570 11.55 Dietetic technicians 28,910 11.59 24,100 10.81 Pharmacy technicians 207,380 11.15 23,200 10.70 Psychiatric technicians 58,600 13.49 28,060 12.36 Respiratory therapy technicians 26,220 16.79 34,930 16.41 Surgical technologists 72,040 15.36 31,960 15.00 Veterinary technologists and technicians 54,040 11.56 24,050 11.03 Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses 692,290 15.53 32,300 15.12 Medical records and health information technicians 145,270 12.49 25,980 11.49 Opticians, dispensing 61,790 13.38 27,830 12.31 Orthotists and prosthetists 4,480 25.68 53,410 22.24 Occupational health and safety specialists and technicians 39,060 22.85 47,530 22.12 Athletic trainers 13,500 (2) 36,070 (2) Healthcare support occupations Home health aides 569,670 9.16 19,050 8.70 Nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants 1,329,310 9.87 20,540 9.59 Psychiatric aides 56,260 11.42 23,760 11.04 Occupational therapist assistants 17,970 17.76 36,950 17.62 Occupational therapist aides 8,040 11.78 24,510 10.60 Physical therapist assistants 50,430 17.48 36,360 17.34 Physical therapist aides 37,330 10.63 22,120 9.94 Massage therapists 27,160 16.21 33,720 13.75 Dental assistants 268,220 13.42 27,910 13.10 Medical assistants 361,960 11.93 24,810 11.51 Medical equipment preparers 35,490 11.50 23,910 11.04 Medical transcriptionists 99,160 13.33 27,730 13.05 Pharmacy aides 58,020 9.47 19,700 8.86 Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers 62,740 9.07 18,870 8.55 Protective service occupations First-line supervisors/managers of correctional officers 31,210 22.59 47,000 21.60 First-line supervisors/managers of police and detectives 109,530 29.64 61,650 29.33 First-line supervisors/managers of fire fighting and prevention workers 60,900 27.28 56,750 26.66 Fire fighters 273,850 18.04 37,530 17.42 Fire inspectors and investigators 12,140 22.11 46,000 21.64 Forest fire inspectors and prevention specialists 1,450 19.58 40,720 18.04 Bailiffs 14,390 16.47 34,250 15.73 Correctional officers and jailers 400,190 16.66 34,650 15.71 Detectives and criminal investigators 88,460 25.46 52,960 24.71 Fish and game wardens 7,080 21.12 43,920 19.72 Parking enforcement workers 10,180 14.07 29,260 13.52 Police and sheriff's patrol officers 597,650 20.86 43,390 20.32 Transit and railroad police 6,010 22.00 45,750 21.01 Animal control workers 10,420 12.49 25,980 11.91 Private detectives and investigators 31,170 16.47 34,250 14.09 Gaming surveillance officers and gaming investigators 8,760 11.79 24,520 11.11 Security guards 977,650 10.13 21,060 9.20 Crossing guards 73,020 9.79 20,370 8.98 Food preparation and serving related occupations Chefs and head cooks 120,430 15.38 32,000 13.43 First-line supervisors/managers of food preparation and serving workers 661,050 12.78 26,590 11.73 Cooks, fast food 582,630 7.18 14,930 6.90 Cooks, institution and cafeteria 416,710 9.23 19,190 8.72 Cooks, restaurant 715,520 9.54 19,850 9.16 Cooks, short order 223,030 8.24 17,130 7.82 Food preparation workers 836,540 8.27 17,200 7.85 Bartenders 453,390 8.12 16,900 7.21 Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food 2,000,070 7.28 15,150 6.97 Counter attendants, cafeteria, food concession, and coffee shop 466,270 7.74 16,090 7.32 Waiters and waitresses 2,086,120 7.58 15,770 6.80 Food servers, nonrestaurant 193,980 8.21 17,070 7.52 Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers 404,210 7.37 15,330 6.99 Dishwashers 499,070 7.41 15,410 7.15 Hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop 295,170 7.76 16,130 7.36 Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations First-line supervisors/managers of housekeeping and janitorial workers 204,710 14.63 30,430 13.53 First-line supervisors/managers of landscaping, lawn service, and groundskeeping workers 95,600 17.41 36,220 15.89 Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners 2,052,090 9.69 20,150 8.77 Maids and housekeeping cleaners 912,340 8.33 17,330 7.90 Pest control workers 57,370 12.58 26,180 11.90 Landscaping and groundskeeping workers 792,170 10.33 21,490 9.51 Pesticide handlers, sprayers, and applicators, vegetation 22,000 12.48 25,960 11.94 Tree trimmers and pruners 43,530 12.92 26,870 12.07 Personal care and service occupations Gaming supervisors 25,610 19.32 40,180 18.89 Slot key persons 14,380 11.80 24,540 11.00 First-line supervisors/managers of personal service workers 106,680 15.45 32,130 13.92 Animal trainers 6,780 13.08 27,210 11.03 Nonfarm animal caretakers 86,700 9.01 18,750 8.21 Gaming dealers 75,690 7.82 16,270 6.78 Gaming and sports book writers and runners 13,820 9.95 20,700 8.97 Motion picture projectionists 9,600 9.82 20,420 7.97 Ushers, lobby attendants, and ticket takers 106,050 7.93 16,490 7.02 Amusement and recreation attendants 225,100 7.87 16,360 7.18 Costume attendants 3,660 12.93 26,890 11.62 Locker room, coatroom, and dressing room attendants 21,660 8.55 17,780 8.14 Embalmers 6,790 17.38 36,160 16.46 Funeral attendants 25,950 9.52 19,800 8.75 Barbers 18,350 10.77 22,390 9.40 Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists 330,730 10.63 22,110 9.12 Makeup artists, theatrical and performance 830 15.44 32,120 11.89 Manicurists and pedicurists 31,350 9.04 18,810 8.33 Shampooers 15,410 7.30 15,190 6.91 Skin care specialists 15,580 12.33 25,650 10.80 Baggage porters and bellhops 57,650 10.79 22,440 8.58 Concierges 16,770 11.39 23,680 10.44 Tour guides and escorts 28,480 9.63 20,040 8.90 Travel guides 4,960 14.25 29,640 12.55 Flight attendants 104,360 (2) 50,460 (2) Transportation attendants, except flight attendants and baggage porters 26,580 10.07 20,940 9.00 Child care workers 456,260 8.32 17,310 7.86 Personal and home care aides 451,040 8.07 16,790 7.81 Fitness trainers and aerobics instructors 169,920 14.38 29,910 11.51 Recreation workers 267,930 9.89 20,580 8.69 Residential advisors 48,530 10.77 22,410 9.95 Sales and related occupations First-line supervisors/managers of retail sales workers 1,197,190 16.72 34,770 14.28 First-line supervisors/managers of non-retail sales workers 325,450 30.90 64,270 25.49 Cashiers 3,375,510 8.02 16,680 7.41 Gaming change persons and booth cashiers 32,930 9.66 20,090 9.42 Counter and rental clerks 425,380 9.64 20,040 8.31 Parts salespersons 243,170 12.82 26,670 11.51 Retail salespersons 3,894,760 10.46 21,750 8.51 Advertising sales agents 141,360 22.89 47,610 18.11 Insurance sales agents 274,830 25.86 53,800 19.59 Securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents 254,600 41.21 85,710 29.32 Travel agents 104,550 13.64 28,370 12.80 Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products 371,580 30.51 63,460 26.80 Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products 1,375,380 24.58 51,130 20.54 Demonstrators and product promoters 101,420 12.19 25,360 9.80 Models 2,260 12.15 25,280 10.29 Real estate brokers 40,810 34.68 72,130 24.20 Real estate sales agents 125,960 20.42 42,470 14.87 Sales engineers 79,300 33.27 69,200 30.61 Telemarketers 419,740 10.74 22,330 9.40 Door-to-door sales workers, news and street vendors, and related workers 25,780 14.48 30,120 12.18 Office and administrative support occupations First-line supervisors/managers of office and administrative support workers 1,400,240 20.22 42,060 18.66 Switchboard operators, including answering service 226,890 10.56 21,970 10.19 Telephone operators 46,420 14.11 29,340 13.75 Bill and account collectors 407,280 13.62 28,330 12.88 Billing and posting clerks and machine operators 491,000 13.04 27,120 12.55 Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks 1,728,730 13.77 28,650 13.16 Gaming cage workers 18,320 10.77 22,400 10.47 Payroll and timekeeping clerks 191,500 14.50 30,150 13.94 Procurement clerks 73,570 14.61 30,380 14.23 Tellers 526,750 9.97 20,750 9.81 Brokerage clerks 75,480 17.09 35,540 15.97 Correspondence clerks 32,160 13.01 27,060 12.48 Court, municipal, and license clerks 99,010 14.04 29,210 13.12 Credit authorizers, checkers, and clerks 79,400 13.92 28,960 12.83 Customer service representatives 1,854,750 13.58 28,240 12.62 Eligibility interviewers, government programs 89,400 15.59 32,440 14.91 File clerks 258,680 10.19 21,190 9.63 Hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks 176,140 8.71 18,110 8.35 Interviewers, except eligibility and loan 190,390 11.07 23,020 10.43 Library assistants, clerical 113,760 10.04 20,880 9.35 Loan interviewers and clerks 163,660 14.09 29,300 13.38 New accounts clerks 97,770 12.80 26,620 12.11 Order clerks 327,120 12.67 26,350 11.93 Human resources assistants, except payroll and timekeeping 167,480 15.16 31,530 14.62 Receptionists and information clerks 1,063,020 10.56 21,970 10.17 Reservation and transportation ticket agents and travel clerks 174,170 13.78 28,670 12.19 Cargo and freight agents 59,440 16.03 33,350 15.10 Couriers and messengers 120,900 9.96 20,720 9.32 Police, fire, and ambulance dispatchers 89,280 13.89 28,900 13.30 Dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance 168,380 15.70 32,660 14.56 Meter readers, utilities 52,510 14.74 30,660 13.86 Postal service clerks 79,760 18.72 38,930 19.08 Postal service mail carriers 347,420 18.80 39,110 19.00 Postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators 262,440 16.86 35,080 18.34 Production, planning, and expediting clerks 279,640 16.87 35,080 16.18 Shipping, receiving, and traffic clerks 792,470 12.02 24,990 11.26 Stock clerks and order fillers 1,608,230 10.21 21,240 9.26 Weighers, measurers, checkers, and samplers, recordkeeping 77,050 12.85 26,740 11.62 Executive secretaries and administrative assistants 1,407,950 16.85 35,050 16.06 Legal secretaries 259,010 17.59 36,580 16.84 Medical secretaries 336,200 12.83 26,690 12.23 Secretaries, except legal, medical, and executive 1796,480 12.69 26,390 12.16 Computer operators 172,640 15.21 31,640 14.26 Data entry keyers 376,970 11.15 23,190 10.77 Word processors and typists 209,200 13.38 27,830 12.85 Desktop publishers 34,280 16.21 33,730 15.20 Insurance claims and policy processing clerks 252,590 14.95 31,090 13.88 Mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service 161,850 10.64 22,130 10.19 Office clerks, general 2,857,300 11.32 23,540 10.71 Office machine operators, except computer 93,340 11.25 23,400 10.47 Proofreaders and copy markers 25,310 12.62 26,240 11.68 Statistical assistants 22,330 15.00 31,190 14.17 Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations First-line supervisors/managers of farming, fishing, and forestry workers 20,910 17.78 36,970 16.43 Farm labor contractors 5,830 12.61 26,220 7.39 Agricultural inspectors 13,760 15.09 31,380 13.76 Animal breeders 1,590 14.11 29,340 12.06 Graders and sorters, agricultural products 54,500 8.50 17,670 7.67 Agricultural equipment operators 21,830 9.25 19,240 8.31 Farmworkers and laborers, crop, nursery, and greenhouse 218,020 7.86 16,340 7.24 Farmworkers, farm and ranch animals 38,260 8.93 18,560 8.22 Forest and conservation workers 9,140 10.93 22,730 9.12 Fallers 10,180 15.43 32,090 13.54 Logging equipment operators 29,060 13.39 27,850 12.88 Log graders and scalers 4,730 13.87 28,840 13.08 Construction and extraction occupations First-line supervisors/managers of construction trades and extraction workers 508,620 24.50 50,960 22.92 Boilermakers 24,560 20.46 42,550 20.17 Brickmasons and blockmasons 109,900 20.48 42,600 20.11 Stonemasons 12,870 17.08 35,530 16.36 Carpenters 856,750 17.71 36,840 16.44 Carpet installers 38,320 16.79 34,920 15.67 Floor layers, except carpet, wood, and hard tiles 14,840 16.82 34,990 16.15 Floor sanders and finishers 7,740 14.51 30,180 13.22 Tile and marble setters 33,550 18.15 37,740 17.20 Cement masons and concrete finishers 177,930 16.25 33,800 14.74 Terrazzo workers and finishers 6,130 14.82 30,830 13.42 Construction laborers 830,860 13.73 28,570 11.90 Paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators 58,760 15.62 32,490 13.87 Pile-driver operators 4,670 22.10 45,980 21.84 Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators 343,710 18.42 38,320 16.94 Drywall and ceiling tile installers 111,600 17.48 36,350 16.21 Tapers 33,320 19.49 40,550 18.75 Electricians 593,010 21.11 43,910 19.90 Glaziers 46,950 16.67 34,660 15.20 Insulation workers 51,740 15.63 32,500 13.91 Painters, construction and maintenance 257,140 15.20 31,620 13.98 Paperhangers 9,450 16.21 33,720 15.22 Pipelayers 52,380 15.26 31,740 13.70 Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters 438,560 20.49 42,630 19.31 Plasterers and stucco masons 54,290 17.07 35,500 15.91 Reinforcing iron and rebar workers 29,540 19.54 40,640 17.66 Roofers 117,140 15.88 33,020 14.51 Sheet metal workers 197,110 18.08 37,620 16.62 Structural iron and steel workers 74,700 20.37 42,360 19.55 Helpers--brickmasons, blockmasons, stonemasons, and tile and marble setters 60,740 13.06 27,170 11.73 Helpers--carpenters 97,900 10.90 22,670 10.34 Helpers--electricians 97,690 11.80 24,540 11.10 Helpers--painters, paperhangers, plasterers, and stucco masons 31,320 10.70 22,260 9.66 Helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters 78,570 11.30 23,510 10.69 Helpers--roofers 21,940 10.47 21,780 9.85 Construction and building inspectors 75,190 20.71 43,070 20.01 Elevator installers and repairers 20,920 25.74 53,540 25.99 Fence erectors 21,730 12.10 25,170 10.65 Hazardous materials removal workers 37,350 17.12 35,610 15.61 Highway maintenance workers 146,290 14.06 29,250 13.65 Rail-track laying and maintenance equipment operators 10,450 16.75 34,840 16.90 Septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners 15,530 14.30 29,750 13.43 Segmental pavers 2,100 14.25 29,630 12.95 Derrick operators, oil and gas 14,120 15.28 31,780 14.34 Rotary drill operators, oil and gas 13,110 17.46 36,320 16.23 Service unit operators, oil, gas, and mining 12,310 15.13 31,480 13.78 Earth drillers, except oil and gas 19,830 16.56 34,450 15.62 Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters 4,850 17.33 36,050 16.88 Continuous mining machine operators 8,100 17.06 35,490 16.75 Mine cutting and channeling machine operators 5,060 18.02 37,490 18.07 Rock splitters, quarry 2,610 13.49 28,070 12.58 Roof bolters, mining 3,980 18.28 38,020 18.47 Roustabouts, oil and gas 31,960 11.62 24,160 10.71 Helpers--extraction workers 28,690 12.86 26,750 12.12 Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations First-line supervisors/managers of mechanics, installers, and repairers 433,640 24.05 50,030 22.87 Computer, automated teller, and office machine repairers 135,380 16.73 34,810 15.98 Radio mechanics 6,960 18.37 38,210 17.42 Telecommunications equipment installers and repairers, except line installers 195,680 21.90 45,550 22.78 Avionics technicians 21,710 20.39 42,410 20.21 Electric motor, power tool, and related repairers 28,720 16.36 34,030 15.49 Electrical and electronics installers and repairers, transportation equipment 17,320 18.56 38,590 18.56 Electrical and electronics repairers, commercial and industrial equipment 82,320 19.60 40,760 19.77 Electrical and electronics repairers, powerhouse, substation, and relay 20,040 24.02 49,970 24.85 Electronic equipment installers and repairers, motor vehicles 15,200 13.27 27,600 12.51 Electronic home entertainment equipment installers and repairers 30,600 14.01 29,150 13.08 Security and fire alarm systems installers 43,310 16.53 34,390 15.56 Aircraft mechanics and service technicians 125,850 20.97 43,620 20.71 Automotive body and related repairers 175,370 16.93 35,200 15.71 Automotive glass installers and repairers 19,710 13.49 28,050 12.93 Automotive service technicians and mechanics 687,380 15.79 32,830 14.71 Bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists 254,470 17.01 35,380 16.53 Farm equipment mechanics 32,330 13.44 27,950 13.03 Mobile heavy equipment mechanics, except engines 113,340 17.69 36,790 17.29 Rail car repairers 13,520 18.35 38,170 18.78 Motorboat mechanics 18,550 14.57 30,310 13.97 Motorcycle mechanics 13,030 13.80 28,690 13.03 Outdoor power equipment and other small engine mechanics 25,170 12.47 25,950 11.93 Bicycle repairers 7,000 9.62 20,000 9.25 Recreational vehicle service technicians 12,490 13.72 28,530 13.02 Tire repairers and changers 81,560 10.45 21,730 9.69 Mechanical door repairers 10,730 15.42 32,080 14.03 Control and valve installers and repairers, except mechanical door 36,720 20.54 42,730 20.90 Heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers 206,870 17.51 36,430 16.78 Home appliance repairers 34,750 15.47 32,180 14.61 Industrial machinery mechanics 179,640 18.95 39,410 18.26 Maintenance and repair workers, general 1,212,620 14.91 31,010 14.12 Maintenance workers, machinery 90,500 16.23 33,750 15.63 Millwrights 67,900 20.50 42,630 20.19 Refractory materials repairers, except brickmasons 3,330 17.43 36,240 16.88 Electrical power-line installers and repairers 96,040 22.68 47,170 23.33 Telecommunications line installers and repairers 156,160 19.02 39,560 19.06 Camera and photographic equipment repairers 5,220 15.57 32,390 15.09 Medical equipment repairers 21,770 18.39 38,250 17.49 Musical instrument repairers and tuners 4,870 15.97 33,210 14.15 Watch repairers 3,710 14.09 29,310 12.77 Coin, vending, and amusement machine servicers and repairers 33,520 13.58 28,250 13.16 Commercial divers 2,930 21.93 45,620 16.69 Fabric menders, except garment 2,030 13.74 28,580 12.35 Locksmiths and safe repairers 18,970 14.54 30,250 13.67 Manufactured building and mobile home installers 13,780 11.51 23,940 11.14 Riggers 13,770 17.03 35,420 16.25 Signal and track switch repairers 7,990 20.98 43,640 20.85 Helpers--installation, maintenance, and repair workers 148,770 11.33 23,560 10.31 Production occupations First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers 700,490 22.08 45,920 20.64 Aircraft structure, surfaces, rigging, and systems assemblers 25,690 18.18 37,810 18.71 Coil winders, tapers, and finishers 34,710 11.88 24,700 11.07 Electrical and electronic equipment assemblers 267,030 11.84 24,640 11.03 Electromechanical equipment assemblers 57,500 12.75 26,510 12.15 Engine and other machine assemblers 49,280 14.93 31,050 14.02 Structural metal fabricators and fitters 87,020 14.42 29,990 13.76 Fiberglass laminators and fabricators 36,470 12.61 26,220 11.83 Team assemblers 1,139,360 11.88 24,710 10.90 Timing device assemblers, adjusters, and calibrators 6,230 12.58 26,160 11.63 Bakers 161,820 10.64 22,120 9.89 Butchers and meat cutters 129,840 13.06 27,160 12.26 Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers 150,920 9.03 18,790 8.57 Slaughterers and meat packers 126,460 9.81 20,410 9.79 Food and tobacco roasting, baking, and drying machine operators and tenders 19,180 12.06 25,080 11.18 Food batchmakers 71,930 11.17 23,240 10.54 Food cooking machine operators and tenders 34,140 11.13 23,160 10.51 Computer-controlled machine tool operators, metal and plastic 128,400 14.57 30,310 13.97 Numerical tool and process control programmers 18,910 18.80 39,100 18.04 Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic 96,270 12.83 26,690 12.44 Forging machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic 44,920 13.90 28,910 12.64 Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic 42,270 14.19 29,510 13.62 Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic 277,410 12.47 25,940 11.81 Drilling and boring machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic 51,730 14.14 29,400 13.23 Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic 99,580 13.49 28,070 12.56 Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic 72,270 15.12 31,450 14.55 Milling and planing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic 30,340 14.57 30,300 14.04 Machinists 368,320 16.06 33,410 15.66 Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders 17,120 15.37 31,970 14.79 Pourers and casters, metal 12,900 14.05 29,230 13.40 Model makers, metal and plastic 8,360 18.92 39,360 18.27 Patternmakers, metal and plastic 6,300 17.03 35,420 16.09 Foundry mold and coremakers 21,960 13.14 27,340 12.55 Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic 147,060 12.12 25,200 11.17 Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic 96,560 14.93 31,050 13.79 Tool and die makers 105,210 20.98 43,630 20.54 Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers 361,970 14.82 30,820 14.02 Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders 56,280 15.20 31,620 13.90 Heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic 28,410 14.35 29,860 13.56 Lay-out workers, metal and plastic 12,490 15.67 32,600 14.79 Plating and coating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic 41,580 12.87 26,780 12.22 Tool grinders, filers, and sharpeners 22,700 14.94 31,080 14.14 Bindery workers 88,740 11.53 23,970 10.51 Bookbinders 7,170 14.27 29,680 13.31 Job printers 49,080 15.34 31,910 14.47 Prepress technicians and workers 89,370 15.88 33,040 14.98 Printing machine operators 189,590 14.80 30,780 13.95 Laundry and dry-cleaning workers 213,840 8.53 17,750 8.07 Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials 87,130 8.54 17,770 8.21 Sewing machine operators 277,800 8.99 18,710 8.39 Shoe and leather workers and repairers 9,860 9.84 20,460 9.14 Shoe machine operators and tenders 6,320 10.19 21,180 9.90 Sewers, hand 19,180 9.91 20,610 8.69 Tailors, dressmakers, and custom sewers 29,560 11.75 24,450 10.68 Textile bleaching and dyeing machine operators and tenders 25,950 10.21 21,230 10.00 Textile cutting machine setters, operators, and tenders 32,970 10.35 21,530 9.77 Textile knitting and weaving machine setters, operators, and tenders 49,410 11.16 23,210 11.05 Textile winding, twisting, and drawing out machine setters, operators, and tenders 62,800 10.96 22,810 10.54 Extruding and forming machine setters, operators, and tenders, synthetic and glass fibers 26,620 13.32 27,710 13.22 Fabric and apparel patternmakers 10,800 15.33 31,890 12.67 Upholsterers 40,380 12.78 26,580 11.86 Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters 125,220 12.32 25,630 11.54 Furniture finishers 30,110 11.59 24,110 10.92 Model makers, wood 4,350 13.35 27,770 11.90 Patternmakers, wood 4,130 14.99 31,170 14.32 Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood 53,520 11.12 23,130 10.62 Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing 89,860 11.13 23,160 10.59 Nuclear power reactor operators 3,400 29.76 61,910 29.36 Power distributors and dispatchers 11,670 26.08 54,240 26.02 Power plant operators 34,390 23.61 49,110 24.00 Stationary engineers and boiler operators 52,510 21.26 44,220 20.79 Water and liquid waste treatment plant and system operators 96,970 16.64 34,620 16.05 Chemical plant and system operators 55,910 21.00 43,680 21.12 Gas plant operators 11,940 23.24 48,340 23.24 Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers 38,500 22.85 47,520 23.69 Chemical equipment operators and tenders 56,610 18.29 38,040 18.00 Separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders 35,550 15.39 32,010 14.59 Crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders 44,370 13.46 28,000 12.83 Grinding and polishing workers, hand 43,370 11.99 24,940 11.04 Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders 103,940 13.70 28,500 13.23 Cutters and trimmers, hand 30,910 11.84 24,630 10.59 Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders 75,430 12.86 26,760 12.35 Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders 71,500 13.49 28,070 12.76 Furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders 29,400 14.27 29,690 13.56 Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers 500,250 14.31 29,760 13.01 Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers 28,970 14.11 29,350 12.63 Dental laboratory technicians 40,440 15.17 31,560 13.70 Medical appliance technicians 11,870 15.07 31,340 13.31 Ophthalmic laboratory technicians 32,920 11.18 23,260 10.46 Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders 390,380 11.18 23,260 10.20 Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders 91,950 12.85 26,730 12.16 Painters, transportation equipment 45,670 17.17 35,700 16.13 Painting, coating, and decorating workers 30,830 11.07 23,020 10.19 Photographic process workers 27,360 11.07 23,020 9.72 Photographic processing machine operators 52,290 10.13 21,080 9.05 Semiconductor processors 43,630 14.01 29,140 13.14 Cementing and gluing machine operators and tenders 26,880 11.81 24,560 11.15 Cleaning, washing, and metal pickling equipment operators and tenders 18,010 11.91 24,780 10.99 Cooling and freezing equipment operators and tenders 7,280 11.41 23,730 10.21 Etchers and engravers 9,130 12.15 25,270 10.79 Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic 36,240 12.65 26,320 11.87 Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders 114,390 14.07 29,260 13.59 Tire builders 13,020 17.30 35,990 18.67 Helpers--production workers 464,390 9.97 20,730 9.25 Transportation and material moving occupations Aircraft cargo handling supervisors 8,920 19.82 41,220 17.90 First-line supervisors/managers of helpers, laborers, and material movers, hand 147,180 18.96 39,430 17.87 First-line supervisors/managers of transportation and material-moving machine and vehicle operators 207,280 21.96 45,670 20.63 Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers 78,810 (2) 122,230 (2) Commercial pilots 19,570 (2) 58,000 (2) Air traffic controllers 23,410 42.35 88,090 44.04 Airfield operations specialists 5,910 19.64 40,850 17.31 Ambulance drivers and attendants, except emergency medical technicians 17,280 10.02 20,840 9.18 Bus drivers, transit and intercity 197,090 14.81 30,810 14.22 Bus drivers, school 468,790 11.01 22,890 10.77 Driver/sales workers 368,730 11.43 23,780 9.92 Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer 1,520,880 16.52 34,350 15.97 Truck drivers, light or delivery services 977,920 12.65 26,320 11.48 Taxi drivers and chauffeurs 125,720 10.01 20,830 8.91 Locomotive engineers 28,250 24.66 51,280 23.28 Locomotive firers 710 21.58 44,880 22.02 Rail yard engineers, dinkey operators, and hostlers 4,600 19.52 40,600 18.07 Railroad brake, signal, and switch operators 15,030 21.99 45,750 20.93 Railroad conductors and yardmasters 38,070 23.69 49,280 21.39 Subway and streetcar operators 7,250 22.51 46,810 23.54 Sailors and marine oilers 25,360 14.69 30,550 13.64 Captains, mates, and pilots of water vessels 22,530 24.73 51,430 23.97 Motorboat operators 3,600 14.71 30,590 12.71 Ship engineers 8,020 25.09 52,190 24.61 Bridge and lock tenders 3,900 15.17 31,560 16.98 Parking lot attendants 108,460 8.30 17,270 7.84 Service station attendants 102,550 8.54 17,770 7.97 Traffic technicians 5,370 16.50 34,320 15.22 Transportation inspectors 28,340 23.06 47,970 23.30 Conveyor operators and tenders 59,240 12.40 25,790 11.66 Crane and tower operators 49,060 18.42 38,320 17.47 Dredge operators 2,850 14.30 29,740 13.33 Excavating and loading machine and dragline operators 67,210 16.77 34,880 15.58 Loading machine operators, underground mining 3,200 15.62 32,480 15.35 Hoist and winch operators 8,970 17.29 35,960 15.09 Industrial truck and tractor operators 586,660 13.34 27,740 12.54 Cleaners of vehicles and equipment 311,070 9.05 18,830 8.20 Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand 2,217,590 10.32 21,460 9.48 Machine feeders and offbearers 162,670 11.23 23,360 10.50 Packers and packagers, hand 927,740 8.73 18,160 8.03 Gas compressor and gas pumping station operators 6,920 20.64 42,920 20.44 Pump operators, except wellhead pumpers 12,360 18.58 38,640 17.53 Wellhead pumpers 10,280 16.48 34,290 16.24 Refuse and recyclable material collectors 132,290 12.55 26,090 11.60 Shuttle car operators 3,070 17.81 37,050 18.44 Tank car, truck, and ship loaders 16,960 17.03 35,420 15.63 1 Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a "year-round, full-time" hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly mean wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data. 2 Hourly wage rates for occupations where workers typically work fewer than 2,080 hours per year are not available. 3 Represents a wage above $70.01 per hour. NOTE: Data do not include Guam, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.