Occupational Employment and Wages Summary

For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Wednesday, April 3, 2024 				  USDL-24-0628

Technical information:  (202) 691-6569  *  oewsinfo@bls.gov  *  www.bls.gov/oes 
Media contact:          (202) 691-5902  *  PressOffice@bls.gov


                       OCCUPATIONAL EMPLOYMENT AND WAGES -- MAY 2023


Office and administrative support occupations had employment of 18.5 million in May 2023,
representing 12.2 percent of total national employment, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
reported today. The largest office and administrative support occupations were customer
service representatives (2.9 million) and general office clerks (2.5 million). The annual mean
wage across all office and administrative support occupations was $47,940, compared with the
U.S. average wage of $65,470.

The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program provides employment and wage
estimates for about 830 occupations in the nation, states, and approximately 530 areas.
National data are available by industry for approximately 410 industry classifications and by
ownership across all industries and for the educational services and hospitals industries.
This news release features office and administrative support; food preparation and serving
related; and life, physical, and social science occupations, in addition to largest 
occupations and public sector occupations. National employment and wage information for all
occupations is shown in table 1.

Office and administrative support occupations

 --Office and administrative support (18.5 million) was the largest occupational group
   overall, followed by transportation and material moving occupations (13.8 million) and
   sales and related occupations (13.4 million). (See table 1.)

 --The largest office and administrative support occupations were customer service
   representatives (2.9 million), general office clerks (2.5 million), and secretaries and
   administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive (1.8 million). (See table
   1.)

 --The highest paying office and administrative support occupations were executive secretaries
   and executive administrative assistants ($73,680) and first-line supervisors of office and
   administrative support workers ($68,620). These were the only office and administrative
   support occupations with annual mean wages above the U.S. average of $65,470. (See table
   1.)

 --The lowest paying office and administrative support occupations were hotel, motel, and
   resort desk clerks ($32,570) and clerical library assistants ($35,970). (See table 1.)

 --The industries with the highest employment of office and administrative support occupations
   were local government, excluding schools and hospitals (961,360); credit intermediation and
   related activities (842,450); and offices of physicians (759,630).

 --Several of the highest paying industries for office and administrative support occupations
   were related to extracting, transporting, and distributing natural resources, including
   pipeline transportation of crude oil ($79,030), other pipeline transportation ($76,920),
   natural gas distribution ($70,650), and metal ore mining ($70,000).

 --Customer service representatives, the largest office and administrative support occupation,
   had an annual mean wage of $43,520 nationally. (See table 1.) The District of Columbia
   ($56,140) and Washington state ($52,690) had the highest wages for customer service
   representatives. The lowest paying states for this occupation included Mississippi
   ($34,680) and Louisiana ($37,480).

National industry-specific data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrci.htm.

State data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrcst.htm. 

Food preparation and serving related occupations

 --Food preparation and serving related occupations had employment of 13.2 million,
   representing 8.7 percent of U.S. employment. 

 --The largest food preparation and serving related occupations were fast food and counter
   workers (3.7 million), waiters and waitresses (2.2 million), and restaurant cooks (1.4
   million). (See table 1.)

 --The annual mean wage for food preparation and serving related occupations was $34,490,
   making this the lowest paying occupational group. All 17 food preparation and serving
   related occupations had annual mean wages below the U.S. average of $65,470. (See table 1.)

 --The highest paying food preparation and serving related occupation was chefs and head cooks
   ($62,640). The lowest paying occupations in this group included fast food cooks ($29,760)
   and fast food and counter workers ($30,110). (See table 1.)

 --The metropolitan areas with the highest concentrations of food preparation and serving
   related occupations were Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, HI (18.1 percent of area employment);
   Ocean City, NJ (17.9 percent); and Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC-NC (17.7
   percent).

 --The highest paying metropolitan areas for food preparation and serving related occupations
   were Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA ($47,490), and Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, HI ($47,200). The
   lowest paying areas included Hattiesburg, MS ($24,480), and Gadsden, AL ($24,770).

Metropolitan area data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrcma.htm.

Life, physical, and social science occupations

 --Life, physical, and social science occupations had employment of 1.4 million and an annual
   mean wage of $87,870. (See table 1.)

 --The largest life, physical, and social science occupations were medical scientists, except
   epidemiologists (136,620) and occupational health and safety specialists (122,300). (See
   table 1.)

 --The highest paying life, physical, and social science occupations were physicists
   ($158,270) and industrial-organizational psychologists ($154,380). (See table 1.)

 --The lowest paying life, physical, and social science occupations were agricultural
   technicians ($46,810), food science technicians ($54,000), and forest and conservation
   technicians ($54,260). (See table 1.)

 --The industries with the highest employment of life, physical, and social science
   occupations were scientific research and development services (213,600), the federal
   executive branch (148,200), and colleges, universities, and professional schools (119,480).
   These three industries combined accounted for nearly 35 percent of life, physical, and
   social science jobs.

 --Life, physical, and social science occupations made up 3.9 percent of employment in Durham-
   Chapel Hill, NC, compared with less than 1 percent of employment nationally. Metropolitan
   areas with the highest concentrations of life, physical, and social science occupations
   also included Fairbanks, AK (3.3 percent); Ames, IA (3.2 percent); and Charlottesville, VA
   (3.2 percent).

Largest occupations

 --The largest occupations overall were home health and personal care aides, retail
   salespersons, and fast food and counter workers, each with employment of nearly 3.7
   million. (See table 1.) 

 --Eight of the 10 largest occupations had below-average annual wages, ranging from $30,110
   for fast food and counter workers to $43,560 for general office clerks. (See table 1.) 

 --Of the 10 largest occupations, only registered nurses ($94,480) and general and operations
   managers ($129,330) had above-average annual wages. (See table 1.)

Public sector occupations

 --The public sector made up 14.4 percent of employment and had a different occupational mix
   from the private sector. 

 --Several of the largest public sector occupations were related to education. These
   occupations included elementary school teachers, except special education (public sector
   employment of 1.3 million); teaching assistants, except postsecondary (1.0 million);
   secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education (898,000); and
   middle school teachers, except special and career/technical education (553,390).

 --Outside of the educational instruction and library group, the occupations with the highest
   public sector employment were police and sheriff’s patrol officers (640,320); registered
   nurses (526,150); and janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners (491,130).

Public/private sector ownership data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrci.htm.