Data tables for the overview of May 2017 occupational employment and wages

Employment for the largest production occupations, May 2017
Occupation	Employment
Assemblers and fabricators, all other, including team assemblers	1,306,150
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	611,800
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	537,500
Helpers--production workers	402,140
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	392,910
Machinists	378,320
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	377,250
Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers	263,040
Production workers, all other	256,050
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers	209,350

Highest paying production occupations, May 2017
Occupation	Annual mean wage
Nuclear power reactor operators	$94,350
Power distributors and dispatchers	82,310
Power plant operators	75,970
Gas plant operators	69,600
Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers	68,190
Stationary engineers and boiler operators	62,710
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	62,660
Chemical plant and system operators	61,620
Plant and system operators, all other	57,150
Computer numerically controlled machine tool programmers, metal and plastic	55,770
All occupations	50,620

States with the highest and lowest employment shares of production occupations, May 2017
State	Percent
Indiana	12.4
Wisconsin	11.6
Alabama	11.3
Kentucky	10.6
Michigan	10.6
United States	6.3
Alaska	3.5
New Mexico	3.2
Maryland	2.9
Hawaii	2.4
District of Columbia	0.7

Metropolitan areas with the highest and lowest employment shares of production occupations, May 2017
Metropolitan area	Percent
Elkhart-Goshen, IN	36.0
Dalton, GA	25.7
Columbus, IN	24.8
Kokomo, IN	22.4
Cleveland, TN	20.9
United States	6.3
Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ	1.8
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	1.7
Sierra Vista-Douglas, AZ	1.4
Laredo, TX	1.2
California-Lexington Park, MD	1.2

Manufacturing industries with the highest and lowest annual mean wages for production occupations, May 2017
Industry	Annual mean wage
Petroleum and coal products manufacturing	$63,620
Aerospace product and parts manufacturing	54,040
Chemical manufacturing (3251, 3252, 3253, and 3259 only)	51,240
Motor vehicle manufacturing	49,260
Pulp, paper, and paperboard mills	48,960
Production occupations, all industries	38,070
Other leather and allied product manufacturing	28,200
Cut and sew apparel manufacturing	27,960
Seafood product preparation and packaging	27,710
Apparel knitting mills	27,280
Apparel accessories and other apparel manufacturing	27,150

Employment for the largest healthcare occupations, May 2017
Occupation	Employment
Registered nurses	2,906,840
Nursing assistants	1,453,670
Home health aides	820,960
Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses	702,700
Medical assistants	646,320
Pharmacy technicians	417,720
Physicians and surgeons, all other	355,460
Dental assistants	337,160
Clinical laboratory technologists and technicians	322,380
Pharmacists	309,330

Industries with the highest employment of registered nurses, May 2017
Industry	Employment
General medical and surgical hospitals	1,685,820
Offices of physicians	196,040
Home health care services	179,310
Nursing care facilities (skilled nursing facilities)	155,450
Outpatient care centers	132,070
Federal executive branch	79,220
Specialty (except psychiatric and substance abuse) hospitals	62,310
Elementary and secondary schools	53,490
Employment services	51,310
Psychiatric and substance abuse hospitals	39,100

Highest and lowest paying states for healthcare practitioners and technical occupations, May 2017
State	Annual mean wage
Alaska	$98,020
Hawaii	96,670
California	96,130
Massachusetts	95,660
District of Columbia	93,420
United States	80,760
Kansas	69,170
West Virginia	68,280
Arkansas	66,450
Louisiana	64,850
Mississippi	64,620

Highest and lowest paying metropolitan areas for healthcare practitioners and technical occupations, May 2017
Metropolitan area	Annual mean wage
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$115,280
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA	108,700
Salinas, CA	108,160
Yuba City, CA	106,440
Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	105,260
United States	80,760
Jefferson City, MO	59,040
Anniston-Oxford-Jacksonville, AL	58,590
Lafayette, LA	58,080
Morristown, TN	57,670
Lake Charles, LA	57,580

Employment for the largest construction and extraction occupations, May 2017
Occupation	Employment
Construction laborers	962,060
Carpenters	693,050
Electricians	631,080
First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers	556,300
Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters	428,260
Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators	365,300
Painters, construction and maintenance	221,340
Cement masons and concrete finishers	178,640
Highway maintenance workers	146,580
Sheet metal workers	132,920

Highest and lowest paying construction and extraction occupations, May 2017
Occupation	Annual mean wage
Elevator installers and repairers	$77,130
First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers	69,200
Pile-driver operators	63,770
Boilermakers	63,010
Construction and building inspectors	62,020
All occupations	50,620
Helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters	31,830
Helpers, construction trades, all other	31,830
Helpers--carpenters	31,100
Helpers--painters, paperhangers, plasterers, and stucco masons	30,570
Helpers--roofers	29,710

States with the highest and lowest employment shares of construction and extraction occupations, May 2017
State	Percent
Wyoming	9.6
North Dakota	7.8
Louisiana	6.3
Montana	6.2
New Mexico	6.1
United States	4.0
Michigan	3.2
Connecticut	3.0
New Jersey	3.0
Illinois	3.0
District of Columbia	1.9

Metropolitan areas with the highest and lowest employment shares of construction and extraction occupations, May 2017
State	Percent
Lake Charles, LA	17.1
Odessa, TX	13.4
Farmington, NM	11.1
Greeley, CO	11.1
Midland, TX	10.6
United States	4.0
Trenton, NJ	2.0
Danville, IL	2.0
Rome, GA	1.9
Ann Arbor, MI	1.7
Brownsville-Harlingen, TX	1.7

Highest and lowest paying metropolitan areas for construction and extraction occupations, May 2017
Metropolitan area	Annual mean wage
Urban Honolulu, HI	$68,800
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	68,770
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA	68,120
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	67,880
Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, HI	67,200
United States	49,930
El Paso, TX	33,740
Gadsden, AL	33,550
Killeen-Temple, TX	33,460
Sebring, FL	32,520
Brownsville-Harlingen, TX	31,820

Employment by typical entry-level educational requirement, as a percentage of total employment, May 2017
Typical entry level education required	Percent
Doctoral or professional degree	2.5
Master's degree	1.8
Bachelor's degree	21.5
Associate's degree	2.3
Postsecondary nondegree award	6.1
Some college, no degree	2.5
High school diploma or equivalent	39.0
No formal educational credential	24.3

States with the highest and lowest employment shares of occupations typically requiring an associate's degree for entry, May 2017
State	Percent
Vermont	2.9
Maryland	2.8
West Virginia	2.7
Delaware	2.7
New Mexico	2.7
United States	2.3
Arkansas	2.0
Alabama	2.0
Kentucky	2.0
Hawaii	1.9
Nevada	1.8

Annual mean wages by typical entry-level educational requirement, May 2017
Typical entry level education required	Annual mean wage
Doctoral or professional degree	$128,960
Master's degree	75,730
Bachelor's degree	85,450
Associate's degree	56,140
Postsecondary nondegree award	41,440
Some college, no degree	38,730
High school diploma or equivalent	41,920
No formal educational credential	26,910
All occupations	50,620

Highest paying occupations that typically require less than a bachelor's degree for entry, May 2017
Occupation	Annual mean wage
Air traffic controllers	$120,260
Transportation, storage, and distribution managers	100,740
Nuclear power reactor operators	94,350
Funeral service managers	93,090
First-line supervisors of police and detectives	91,590
Commercial pilots	89,350
Athletes and sports competitors	88,300
Radiation therapists	85,190
Gaming managers	83,460
First-line supervisors of non-retail sales workers	83,370
All occupations	50,620

Highest and lowest paying states for occupations typically requiring an associate's degree for entry, May 2017
State	Annual mean wage
District of Columbia	$73,500
Alaska	67,220
Washington	66,120
Virginia	64,460
California	63,090
United States	56,140
Montana	48,040
Mississippi	47,420
West Virginia	47,400
Arkansas	47,180
South Dakota	45,310

Employment for the largest STEM occupations, May 2017
Occupation	Employment
Software developers, applications	849,230
Computer user support specialists	613,780
Computer systems analysts	581,960
Software developers, systems software	394,590
Network and computer systems administrators	375,040
Computer and information systems managers	365,690
Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products	327,190
Computer occupations, all other	315,830
Civil engineers	298,910
Mechanical engineers	291,290

Highest and lowest paying STEM occupations, May 2017
Occupation	Annual mean wage
Petroleum engineers	$154,780
Computer and information systems managers	149,730
Architectural and engineering managers	146,290
Natural sciences managers	133,670
Physicists	123,080
All occupations	50,620
Environmental science and protection technicians, including health	49,310
Biological technicians	47,410
Surveying and mapping technicians	46,350
Agricultural and food science technicians	42,910
Forest and conservation technicians	39,180

Metropolitan areas with the highest employment shares of STEM occupations, May 2017
Metropolitan area	Percent
California-Lexington Park, MD	26.2
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	20.5
Boulder, CO	17.4
Huntsville, AL	16.3
Corvallis, OR	14.3
Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	12.7
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	11.7
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	11.5
Ames, IA	11.4
Raleigh, NC	11.3
United States	6.2

Employment for the largest occupations, May 2017
Occupation	Employment (millions)
Retail salespersons	4.4
Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food	3.6
Cashiers	3.6
Office clerks, general	3.0
Registered nurses	2.9
Customer service representatives	2.8
Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand	2.7
Waiters and waitresses	2.6
Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive	2.3
General and operations managers	2.2

Annual mean wages for the largest occupations, May 2017
Occupation	Annual mean wage
General and operations managers	$123,460
Registered nurses	73,550
All occupations	50,620
Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive	36,920
Customer service representatives	35,650
Office clerks, general	33,910
Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand	29,690
Retail salespersons	27,460
Waiters and waitresses	25,280
Cashiers	22,130
Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food	21,230

Major occupational groups as a percentage of total employment, May 2017
Occupational group	Percent
Office and administrative support	15.4
Sales and related	10.2
Food preparation and serving related	9.3
Transportation and material moving	7.0
Production	6.3
Education, training, and library	6.1
Healthcare practitioners and technical	6.0
Business and financial operations	5.2
Management	5.1
Construction and extraction	4.0
Installation, maintenance, and repair	3.9
Personal care and service	3.6
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance	3.1
Computer and mathematical	3.0
Healthcare support	2.9
Protective service	2.4
Architecture and engineering	1.8
Community and social service	1.5
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media	1.4
Life, physical, and social science	0.8
Legal	0.8
Farming, fishing, and forestry	0.3

Occupations with the highest employment in the public sector, May 2017
Occupation	Employment
Elementary school teachers, except special education	1,267,330
Teacher assistants	1,016,250
Secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education	908,480
Police and sheriff's patrol officers	656,000
Office clerks, general	553,830
Middle school teachers, except special and career/technical education	552,500
Substitute teachers	515,200
Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive	508,590
Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners	501,860
Registered nurses	475,810

Last Modified Date: March 30, 2018