Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services: NAICS 54

About the Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services sector

The professional, scientific, and technical services sector is part of the professional and business services supersector.

The professional, scientific, and technical services sector consists of a single subsector, Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services: NAICS 541. Data published under either the sector or subsector classification are included in the tables below. The subsector consists of these industry groups:

• Legal Services: NAICS 5411
• Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Services: NAICS 5412
• Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services: NAICS 5413
• Specialized Design Services: NAICS 5414
• Computer Systems Design and Related Services: NAICS 5415
• Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services: NAICS 5416
• Scientific Research and Development Services: NAICS 5417
• Advertising and Related Services: NAICS 5418
• Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services: NAICS 5419

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment and unemployment in professional, scientific, and technical services. While most data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys, information on industry unemployment comes from a national survey of households. The following tables present an overview of the industry including the number of jobs, the unemployment rate of those previously employed in the industry, union membership and representation, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment and Unemployment

Data series	Back data	Dec. 2024	Jan. 2025	Feb. 2025	Mar. 2025
Employment (in thousands)
Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)		10,864.8	10,862.4	(p)10,856.2	(p)10,861.9
Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees		8,186.1	8,087.7	(p)8,151.6
Unemployment
Unemployment rate		2.7%	3.0%	3.9%	3.1%
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Current Population Survey

Union Membership and Representation

Data series	Back data	2021	2022	2023	2024
Union membership and representation
Members of unions (percent of wage and salary workers)		1.2%	1.3%	1.3%	1.2%
Represented by unions (percent of wage and salary workers)		1.9%	1.8%	2.0%	1.9%

(Source: Current Population Survey)

Employment by Occupation

Data series	Employment, 2024
Accountants and auditors	483,970
Architectural and civil drafters	82,740
Lawyers	470,370
Management analysts	368,770

(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)

Projections

For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for professional, scientific, and technical services.

(Source: Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections)

Earnings and Hours

This section presents data on employee earnings and weekly hours. The latest industry averages of hourly earnings and weekly hours, as well as weekly earnings by union membership status, are shown. In addition, recent hourly and annual earnings are shown for occupations commonly found in real estate and rental and leasing. This section also contains information on the average cost of benefits paid by employers, as well as recent rates of change in wages and total compensation.

Earnings and Hours of All Employees

Data series	Back data	Nov. 2024	Dec. 2024	Jan. 2025	Feb. 2025
Average hourly earnings		$52.76	$53.89	$53.28	(p)$53.67
Average weekly hours		36.9	37.7	36.4	(p)37.8
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees

Data series	Back data	Nov. 2024	Dec. 2024	Jan. 2025	Feb. 2025
Average hourly earnings		$45.47	$46.45	$45.68	(p)$46.13
Average weekly hours		36.8	37.5	36.4	(p)37.8
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series	Wages, 2024
	Hourly		Annual
	Median	Mean	Median	Mean
Accountants and auditors	$39.42	$46.82	$82,000	$97,380
Architectural and civil drafters	$30.78	$32.84	$64,020	$68,320
Lawyers	$72.17	$92.27	$150,110	$191,920
Management analysts	$51.82	$62.02	$107,790	$129,000

(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)

Employee Benefits

This section presents data on the incidence (the percentage of workers with access to and participation in employer-provided benefit plans) and provisions of selected employee benefits from the National Compensation Survey. More Benefits estimates are also accessible from the Benefits database, the archived NCS publications page, and the complete Employee Benefits Excel dataset (XLSX).

Data series	Access		Participation
	Back data	2024	Back data	2024
Private industry
Retirement benefit plans		84		73
Defined benefit plans		14		8
Defined contribution plans		84		72

(Source: Employee Benefits in the United States)

Data series	After 1 year of service		After 20 years of service
	Back data	2024	Back data	2024
Mean number of vacation days for private industry workers without consolidated leave plans		11		18

(Source: Employee Benefits in the United States)

Data series	Back data	2024
Percent of private industry workers with access to employer-sponsored benefits
Health care		88
Paid vacation		92
Paid sick leave		91

(Source: Employee Benefits in the United States)

Employer Compensation Costs

Data series	Back data	1st quarter 2024	2nd quarter 2024	3rd quarter 2024	4th quarter 2024
Private industry
12-month percent change
Total compensation		3.8%	3.7%	2.9%	3.4%
Wages and salaries		3.9%	4.0%	3.1%	3.6%
3-month percent change
Total compensation		1.9%	0.7%	0.2%	0.6%
Wages and salaries		1.8%	0.9%	0.2%	0.7%

(Source: Compensation Cost Trends)

Data series	Private industry
	Compensation component ($ per hour worked)		Percent of total compensation
	Back data	4th quarter 2024	Back data	4th quarter 2024
Total compensation		71.88		100.0
Wages and salaries		49.71		69.2
Total benefits		22.17		30.8
Insurance		4.67		6.5
Retirement		2.63		3.7
Paid leave		6.73		9.4

(Source: Compensation Cost Trends)

Union Membership and Representation

Data series	Back data	Median weekly earnings
		2021	2022	2023	2024
Union membership and representation
Full-time workers		$1,515	$1,641	$1,729	$1,830
Members of unions		$1,527	$1,531	$1,575	$1,701
Represented by unions		$1,365	$1,529	$1,560	$1,535
Nonunion		$1,518	$1,644	$1,731	$1,838

(Source: Current Population Survey)

Work-related Fatalities, Injuries, and Illnesses

This section presents data for the industry on the number of workplace fatalities and the rates of workplace injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers in professional, scientific, and technical services. An injury or illness is considered to be work-related if an event or exposure in the work environment either caused or contributed to the resulting condition or significantly aggravated a pre-existing condition.

Data series	2020	2021	2022	2023
Fatalities
Number of fatalities				69
There was a series break beginning with 2023 data due to NAICS 2022. Data for years prior to 2023 are available at www.bls.gov/iif.

Data series	2023
Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers
Total recordable cases	0.8
Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer	0.3
Cases involving days away from work	0.2
Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction	0.1
Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.

(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in professional, scientific, and technical services.

Establishments

Data series	Back data	4th quarter 2023	1st quarter 2024	2nd quarter 2024	3rd quarter 2024
Number of establishments
Private industry		1,705,184	(p)1,724,968	(p)1,742,642	(p)1,762,474
Local government		1,239	(p)1,263	(p)1,279	(p)1,283
State government		668	(p)673	(p)677	(p)681
Federal government		1,311	(p)1,368	(p)1,368	(p)1,365
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Productivity

This section presents productivity and related data for the industry, presented as the percent change from the previous year. Measures of total factor productivity (TFP) compare growth in output to the growth in a combination of inputs that include labor, capital, energy, materials, and services. Measures of labor productivity, or output per hour, compare the growth in output to the growth in hours worked.

Data series	Back data	2020	2021	2022	2023
Total factor productivity (TFP)		1.8	5.7	1.9	1.4
Output		1.5	10.8	7.1	3.5
Combined inputs		-0.3	4.8	5.0	2.0
Capital input		7.2	6.3	5.9	4.8
Labor input		-3.4	5.2	5.2	1.6
Labor productivity, output per hour		5.5	5.0	1.9	1.8

(Source: Productivity)

 

Data extracted on: April 29, 2025